Hertz Europe Rental Fine

longtale_Parker

Good morning all,
Whilst this isn't a parking issue, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some help or guidance with a rental damage fine (Parking tickets, fines and parking)? It may be a stretch but here goes…

To save you reading the detail, my question is, how do I defend this claim? - I've been contacted by a debt collection firm, EOS in Warrington, but before I get back to them I wondered if they would need to take me to court and how I could defend the claim? It seems the ECRCS have failed to get any evidence from Hertz to support their claim and based on the evidence they have (or lack of) they have replied to say the contract states the customer is liable.

I rented a car in Mallorca, booked on Hertz's UK website but apparently the contract was with Hertz Europe. As seems to be quite common, I collected the keys from an office in the airport and eventually found the car, wedged into the tightest, dingy spot in a dark multi-story car park. I could barely squeeze in to the car, and had to drive it out of the space to let the family in. As it was close to an exit ramp, as soon as I stopped to let them in, a few cars were queuing behind me, so we rushed out of the car park.

As a result I didn't make a thorough inspection but did notice later the wheels were slightly scuffed. I looked at the paperwork that was emailed to me (which I didn't see until we got to our hotel) and noted that some pre-existing damage was recorded, but there was no pictures of the damaged wheels, so I assumed these were not considered noteworthy (within tolerances or similar).

When I returned the car, the drop off location was supremely well lit and very spacious, so when the curt representative took the keys for the inspection he took a long time and came back with a suggestion that we'd damaged the wheels and had a bill of around 300 euros.

I kind of get that this is fairly common, but I absolutely refute the suggestion that I caused the damage and went through the paperwork. As there were only a few pictures of pre-existing damage (to a wing mirror and valance at the front) there were no photos showing the state of the vehicle generally - as is common when using the Hertz 24/7 app in the UK. I did notice though that the photos were taken in a different location - outside somewhere with the car parked diagonally across a couple of bays.

Hertz claim that the "pre-rental report" was shared at pickup time, showing existing damage - which they did not - but my argument is that the code of practice states the "The ECRCS Rental Code of Best Practice requires rental companies to provide customers with information regarding the vehicle's condition at the commencement of the rental". This did not happen; they emailed the report but, because the photos were taken at a different time/ location, they do not relate to the commencement of the rental.

The photos were not taken at handover time and were taken in a different location, so damage to the wheels could have been caused after the photos when the car was moved into the multi-story, or indeed at any time in between. Hertz didn't show me any damage report, but simply emailed the report to me, which I saw much later on. The fact that there are no photos of the "damaged" wheels does not mean they weren't damaged!

I did try to dispute the claim in the UK but was informed the body responsible was a European counterpart - European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) - but, as you may all have anticipated, they only considered the evidence provided and concluded "Based on the evidence available, we are satisfied that Hertz has provided documentation supporting its decision to attribute the damage to this rental period. As a result, we do not have grounds to require Hertz to cancel the charges."

I asked them to request information from Hertz regarding when the pre-rental photos were taken - as this could have been days or weeks before my rental - and it seems Hertz have won this dispute by simply ignoring such requests and failing to take part.

Car1980

You've done far too much already. They would have to make a court claim against you and the onus would be on them to prove everything.

Instead they've just told a powerless debt collection to try and persuade you to pay.

Just ignore them.

longtale_Parker

Thank you @Car1980!
I did think the onus would be on them to prove liability

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82173116#Comment_82173116

Are you qualified to advise on Spanish court procedures?

Mildly_Miffed

There's two questions here rolled into one.

1. Do you owe Hertz Spain for damage to the car you hired?
You agree that you returned it with damage that was not noted on the check-out sheet.

2. Is a Spanish debt enforceable within the UK?
TBH, I'm surprised they didn't just charge the card that you used to book the car.

longtale_Parker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82173454#Comment_82173454

It has been handed over to a UK debt collector. I assume they will pursue (or not) through UK processes

longtale_Parker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82173590#Comment_82173590

My answer to Q1 isn't straightforward. I do agree there was damage noted upon return that wasn't noted on the "check-out sheet" BUT I do not agree that I caused it or that I "owe Hertz Spain for damage". It may be the case that another Hertz employee noted the pre-existing damage but felt it was within tolerance for a scratch on a wheel and decided not to take pictures, or the photos on the "check-out sheet" were taken some time before commencement of the rental and in a different location (as they most definitely were) and the damage was caused by a Hertz employee and not recorded. The "check-out sheet" only records existing damage (that has been identified and deemed worthy of recording) and does not capture unblemished areas such as bumpers, wing mirrors and wheels to show there is no damage at the time.

I don't know the answer to Q2. The communication from the debt collector says they have been engaged by Hertz Europe, so they haven't switched back to the UK arm, but I would be willing to go to court to fight this.

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174170#Comment_82174170

The OP said "apparently the contract was with Hertz Europe". I was responding to a later poster who raised the issue of the burden of proof in court.

Since the OP says "apparently", I'd guess he doesn't have a copy of the contract. I'd also guess it says something to the effect "this contract is governed by the laws of Spain". Whatever country it is, it won't be anywhere in the UK.

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82174205#Comment_82174205

Whether you agree you caused it or not is, with all due respect, beside the point.

You signed that you agreed the condition of the car on collection.
There was damage not noted on that report which was noted on return.
Golden rule of hiring a car - MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS NOTED. Go round it and take photos or video on collection.

Whether you owe or not would have between you and Hertz Spain, but that debt has now been transferred to a UK company to collect.

As I say, the only surprise here is that they didn't just put the damage straight on your card.

Did you not have insurance for the hire? They would have covered this cost.