Scratch on Rental Car

[TFMont]

I got a rental car yesterday because the air conditioner in my van went out so it is in the shop. The car dealership is paying for the rental because I am still under warranty. Enterprise offered insurance to me for $10.99 a day which I declined because I already pay for my own insurance. Now I wish I had taken it.

Anyway, I hit a curb yesterday and there is a scratch on the bumper that is slightly noticeable. Has anyone had experience in turning in a rental with a scratch and did they make you pay? I had someone I work with come outside and look at the car and he didn't even see the scratch but I'm afraid the rental company will be more diligent about looking for scratches and will find it. There are also some scratches on the underside but I am not worried about those because we didn't check that part of the car when I was getting it.

 

[LindaR]

Yep........my boss rented a car in Hawaii...........didn't notice whether the scratch was there or if he put it there...........he had declined the additional insurance because we use platinum cards....they sent us info stating that they had a claim.......it was over $500 (and it stated that they may/may not get it fixed). I called American Express and learned how this really works! AMEX will pay reasonable expenses if the agency shows proof.........didn't happen.

ANYWAY............I ended up calling the rental company..........because my boss travels all the time and rents all the time........I threatened to stop doing business with them if they persued this..........they dropped the claim. Now, in his case, this worked because he is a high-end client, they looked at his rental history, and decided that they wanted to keep his business.

Good luck.

 

[TFMont]

I'm a little worried that they will make me pay my deductible. Then again, I'm not sure how they can make me pay when it is rented through the dealership. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I return it.

 

[DMickey28]

I am not sure who you have for insurance but usually the way it would work with say Enterprise Rental Car is they would put a claim through your insurance company directly. Or You can put the claim into your insurance company. Usually a rental car is seen by your insurance as a non-owned vehicle and the claim is filed under Property Damage (liability) hence not having a decutible.

THat is how we always did it with the company I worked for, large nationwide insurance company. I was a claims rep and dealt with rental car accidents all the time...