Rental Car Damaged!

[smart cookie]

You are lucky that you put it on a platinum visa as insurers in your state (Kansas) are not required to cover 'loss of use' charges. It is also interesting to note that American Express Gold/Platinum cards do not cover loss of use charges either.

It may be worth everyone's while to read up a little on the subject before renting: http://www.travelcouponsonline.com does a nice job of explaining some of the coverages.

 

[candleonwater]

I've been VERY wary of rental companies since Enterprise tried to do a bait and switch on me... they had me walk around a car to check it out, and hmmm... when the driver took the car around back to "vacuum" it out he locked the keys in the car... so they had to bring me a new car, didn't give me time to check it out (plus it was raining and I had my 3 year old with me) - and yes there was a dent on the rear bumper... when I returned it they tried to tell me I did the damage... and that I signed off on it, however I pointed out on my receipt that the car that I signed off on, and the car I was actually given were two different cars... I had to make an UGLY scene to get them to back off...

 

[CarolA]

Check your credit cards. Some of them also provide PRIMARY coverge. My Diner's Club has this. So that the claim never hits my insurance at all.

I have only used it once, but it was for a car in Madrid Spain and it was painless. I just sent Diners the info and I never heard anything else.

 

[mcnuss]

CarolA - what is Diners charging these days as an annual fee?

 

[smart cookie]

D.C. annual fee is $95. Also be aware that like the regular american express card, the balance must be paid in full every month.

 

[CarolA]

I get mine cheaper since I also have a corporate card.

Actually Diners is nicer when it comes to pay off then AmEX. You have a 60 day float before they consider it late.

 

[undertheradar]

As a former rental car manager, here are some tips. DO NOT pay for damage until proof of repair is provided. If the Durango only has a door ding, they are not going to repair it. This vehicle will be sold without the repair being done. DO NOT pay for "lost rental time." The vehicle was sent back out on rental within days of return. The rental car agency must prove 100% fleet utilization to justify charging for lost income. You have the right to view the vehicle rental history and see how many rental days that vehicle has in a given 28 day period. Unless this vehicle is rented 100% of the time, there can be no lost revenue. If the rental agency refuses to provide this info, you should withold payment.

 

[sammi]

Hi familyoffive in our case there was about $900.00 damage done to the rear left side passenger door and I was wondering what we should do about the $100.00 "Administration" charges that they want.When I last spoke with our claims adjuster she said to #%^* with that, if they want to charge an administration charge then they (my insurance co.) will be charging Dollar a $100.00 "Administration" charge to issue Dollar their cheque?

With our case I'm sure that the car would take about 2 days to fix as there was a lot of damage done to the door so I don't have a problem with that. Also at this point I'm not even sure if my insurance co. will pay for the "2 days loss of use" and the "administraion charge" or do we have to pay it? This is even worse as all these charges are in US dollars and we live in Canada.

All this because some "twit" would not stay and take responsibility for hitting our rental!

 

[undertheradar]

I would request pictures from the rental agency for proof of completed repair. I would also request the estimate copy to cost compare. The rental agency should waive any admin. fees as a gesture for being able to collect on the damage. Years ago, everyone passed on damage coverage when paying with AMEX. AMEX did not cover the damage and the rental car companies were stuck chasing renters for costs. The system that was in place at the time required the AMEX member to process al paperwork. If the paperwork was not processed, AMEX told the rental agencies that they had no responsibility for the damage. This resulted in rental agencies refusing to honor the AMEX coverage. When AMEX stopped covering the cars, they had 16+ months of claims left to handle. The agency can negotiate with you on the damage,fees, etc. A few written communications should do the trick. I would also research the damage limit and income limit that Florida law allows them to charge. As your damage was a hit and run, there may be other limits allowed.

 

[sammi]

Thanks for all the information. I had my DH take some pics of the damage done and we have that on my PC but the insurance co doesn't need them I guess. I still haven't heard from anyone and I guess no news is good news.

Crossing my fingers that this gets settled without costing us too much.

 

[Feralpeg]

I received a letter from Visa today. They are asking for 8 different items before they will process the claim. So far, I've heard nothing more from Dollar or my insurance company. Here's hoping that Dollar has decided to let it go!

Thanks so much to all of you for the valuable information and your concern.

 

[sammi]

What 8 different items are they asking for? WOW that's alot isn't it?

LOL Yes I though Dollar had forgotten about us too as it's been 3 months but no they haven't and I should be getting a "final bill" shortly.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Feralpeg]

Visa asked for a copy of the original rental agreement, a copy of the accident report, a police report (there was none), pictures of the damage, a copy of my credit card statement showing that I actually charged it on my Visa, a estimate of damage repairs from Dollar, the actual cost of the finished repairs and a copy of what my insurance company has paid.

Gosh, I hope it doesn't take that long for me to hear. I believe that the lady at Visa told me that there is a timeframe after which they will no longer pay. I better check that out.

 

[Timon]

I just wanted to add that on our previous trips to WDW, we didn't have a digital but we had a camcorder and we videotaped the whole car in the airport parking lot before we drove it. We had a white Neon and there were black scratches everywhere and I didn't want to get blamed for them so I taped it.