Car Hire Issue - Taken too much money

willbo15

Hello, 

I recently hired a van to help me move house and while returning the van managed to scratch the side against a metal pole. I failed to take out the cover again damage (silly of me I know) and as a result had to pay £2,000 in excess.

when picking the van up the day before I spoke to the staff member at the rental company where I paid for the van hire cost and was advised there would be a £200 deposit required. I told the staff member I was happy to pay the deposit but advised that the credit card I was using for the deposit only has a limit of £1,000 so if the worst case scenario happened it couldn’t may the excess. She advised that this was fine and that if that needed to happen I could use a different card. 

Anyway, when returning the van I accepted the responsibility of the fault and advised the staff again that I would provide an alternative card to pay with. They told me I would be contacted by the repairs department and couldn’t take them payment there and then. I was then called and explained over the phone that i was able to make a payment on another card (in a different name) and paid the excess. 

Later I was called by my credit card and told my limit had been hit and I was being charged for going over. I looked and saw I had been charged 2 fees to my original credit card. The first was on the day of the hire (before any issues) of £1,000 and the second was an £800 fee. 

I have called the hire centre I rented from and they couldn’t understand why I had been charged and couldn’t help. They finally stated that the £1,000 taken the day of the hire was a mistake and should have only been £200 for the deposit. They then apologised for the second £800 charge and said I need to be refunded and have advised who to call. 

My issue is that I have been charged a total of £3,800 on top of the hire cost now. The advice when picking the van was that it only needed enough for a deposit not excess and subsequently I now have overdrawn fees and a mark on my credit score for the charges made to it in error. Especially as I made the payment within 12hours of returning and as soon as they called.

my questions really are;

1. what do I do after I’ve got my money back that was wrongly charged with the overdrawn fees and credit score mark.

2. is there anything in the fact the contact signed stated they would take a £200 deposit and instead they took £1,000 from me. I wondered if that error may void the contract and subsequently mean I was due my excess back as no contract stands (a long shot I know)? 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

Car_54

1. Write to the hire company and demand your additional expenses, and an apology which you can show to the CC company and maybe get your credit record amended? Someone with better advice will probably be along shortly.

2. No. A breach does not automatically void a contract.

born_again

2. The contract will state that they will take fee's for damage. Which you signed.. 
So no you will not get out of it.

Ectophile

willbo15 said:

my questions really are;

1. what do I do after I’ve got my money back that was wrongly charged with the overdrawn fees and credit score mark.

2. is there anything in the fact the contact signed stated they would take a £200 deposit and instead they took £1,000 from me. I wondered if that error may void the contract and subsequently mean I was due my excess back as no contract stands (a long shot I know)? 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

That's a very long shot.

If you have any paperwork from the hire company saying what the prices, deposits, fees, etc. are, then you have a much better chance of making a complaint to your card provider that the charges are unauthorised and should be reversed.

If the paperwork says you should have paid the hire fee plus £200, then they should not have taken any more than that.

user1977

willbo15 said:

I wondered if that error may void the contract and subsequently mean I was due my excess back as no contract stands (a long shot I know)? 

Following that logic, you stole the van as you didn't have a contract to hire it...

born_again

Ectophile said:

willbo15 said:

my questions really are;

1. what do I do after I’ve got my money back that was wrongly charged with the overdrawn fees and credit score mark.

2. is there anything in the fact the contact signed stated they would take a £200 deposit and instead they took £1,000 from me. I wondered if that error may void the contract and subsequently mean I was due my excess back as no contract stands (a long shot I know)? 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

That's a very long shot.

If you have any paperwork from the hire company saying what the prices, deposits, fees, etc. are, then you have a much better chance of making a complaint to your card provider that the charges are unauthorised and should be reversed.

If the paperwork says you should have paid the hire fee plus £200, then they should not have taken any more than that.

OP damaged van, so as per T/C they signed. Hire co can take the amount to cover the damage. 
If OP was lucky enough to get bank to contest this. & as soon as damage is mentioned that tends to be a NO. Hire co's tend not to contest, just go straight down the legal route to claim funds.

OP does have a right to get their own quote for the work, but you also have to factor in cost for loss of use of van while it is being repaired.

Car_54

born_again said:

Ectophile said:

willbo15 said:

my questions really are;

1. what do I do after I’ve got my money back that was wrongly charged with the overdrawn fees and credit score mark.

2. is there anything in the fact the contact signed stated they would take a £200 deposit and instead they took £1,000 from me. I wondered if that error may void the contract and subsequently mean I was due my excess back as no contract stands (a long shot I know)? 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

That's a very long shot.

If you have any paperwork from the hire company saying what the prices, deposits, fees, etc. are, then you have a much better chance of making a complaint to your card provider that the charges are unauthorised and should be reversed.

If the paperwork says you should have paid the hire fee plus £200, then they should not have taken any more than that.

OP damaged van, so as per T/C they signed. Hire co can take the amount to cover the damage. 
If OP was lucky enough to get bank to contest this. & as soon as damage is mentioned that tends to be a NO. Hire co's tend not to contest, just go straight down the legal route to claim funds.

OP does have a right to get their own quote for the work, but you also have to factor in cost for loss of use of van while it is being repaired.

Are you sure?