Thinking of entrusting your car to a Disney valet?

[jsilvers]

http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-this-enough-compensation-disney-totaled-my-minivan/

 

[Lewisc]

Read the fine print in your rental agreement. A valet isn't always considered an approved additional driver.

Many states the valet isn't even required to have a drivers license since the car isn't being driven on a public road.

 

[maxiesmom]

To be honest, as soon as someone thows out the whole "I spend a bazillion dollars at WDW they should treat me like royalty" argument, I turn against them.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Besides the possible drawn out claims process, she got what the vehicle was worth, regardless of how the accident occured, a claim payment will only be made to what the vehicle value is deemed. To be honest, she seems to want special treatment or additional payment for something that was compensated in full.

For FL in particular, valet is allowed for the major companies (and most personal insurance companies apply the same rules when it comes to coverage). There are exceptions, especially with some smaller companies or those who deal in the exotic car rental industry, but in general you would be covered in FL and most states for valet parking and for personal insurance coverage, you should have zero issues.

To caveat and agree with Lewisc though, it's always best to read your coverage and read your contracts, no matter how long they are!

 

[goofy4tink]

No way am I allowing anyone other than 'approved' drivers touch my rental car.
When we were in WDW last week, we traveled with another couple. They shared the cost of the rental car...total for a full size was $153 for the week. I was considered an addtl driver but since I am the main renter's spouse, I was added with no addtl cost. But, this other guy wanted to drive as well. Yeah, not happening bucko. He kept saying he had paid for half the car, why couldn't he drive. I kept telling him that he had paid for the back half of the car...where he was sitting.
Nope, valet drivers are not on my list of approved drivers. I've seen how they drive.

 

[seashoreCM]

While the car was damaged in the valet parking area, we still need to compare the situation with a situation where the car got damaged out in an open area such as the self park lot.

IN both situation I think the car owner/renter should push for retail value plus substitute transportaiton.

Shenanigans unique to valets do exist, for example a valet uses the car to go somewhere, or, (in a city) parks the car on the street illegally where it gets ticketed.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

IN both situation I think the car owner/renter should push for retail value plus substitute transportaiton.

She was provided with substitute transportation for a period of time, my guess is the substitute transportation was terminated after the claim was settled (albeit not to the individuals satisfaction), but the article leaves out the full time line. Or the claim exceeded 30 days, and that was the maximum coverage her policy afforded her if she self claimed (which it sounds like she did considering her insurance company paid for the claim). Again, the article doesn't say how long she was provided a vehicle just that it wasn't enough time for her to find a new one. That leads me to believe that she is complaining because she may have taken her time to find a car, and it exceeded reasonable expectations (30 days is usually considered sufficient when it comes to insurance claims).

As for the amount she was paid, she was paid a retail value of what a replacement vehicle would cost in pre-accident condition. Assuming this happened recently, a 2003 Honda Oddysey in Average condition (sorry, I doubt "very good" is the same as excellent condition, and even "very good" is arbitrary without seeing the actual analysis report) with 120,000 miles would be worth right on par with what she was paid, in terms of retail value.

In the end, I think she got what she should have received, she got paid for an amount that would be reasonable to replace her vehicle with a like vehicle and she was provided transportation for a reasonable time frame (probably 3 - 4 weeks). Accidents happen, and that is why we have things like insurance, but we shouldn't expect to "make" money on an accident, we should only expect to be made reasonably whole.

On a side note, I like Chris Elliott, he usually puts a voice of reason into travel issues, but he really should stick with travel issues and stay out of offering insurance advice for what companies should do or what is or is not reasonable without providing facts to support his broad based opinion.

 

[achenator]

She is delusional about the value of her car. We traded in a 2003 Oddy 3.5 years ago with less miles and only got 7-8k IIRC.

 

[Sea Creature Turner]

To be honest, as soon as someone thows out the whole "I spend a bazillion dollars at WDW they should treat me like royalty" argument, I turn against them.

Unless/until the same thing or something similar happens to you, correct?

 

[maxiesmom]

Unless/until the same thing or something similar happens to you, correct?

Incorrect. I would expect to be taken care of, but I would never spout off about how much money my family spent, which implies that somehow that makes me deserving of better than other folk. That whole argument smacks of "you must treat me better, you can treat those other people like dirt if you want". Ick.

 

[Uncleromulus]

To answer the OP's question directly--sure. We have always used valet parking at WDW and never an issue. And that's even after they switched to that outside vendor.

 

[kaytieeldr]

As for the amount she was paid, she was paid a retail value of what a replacement vehicle would cost in pre-accident condition. Assuming this happened recently, a 2003 Honda Oddysey in Average condition (sorry, I doubt "very good" is the same as excellent condition, and even "very good" is arbitrary without seeing the actual analysis report) with 120,000 miles would be worth right on par with what she was paid, in terms of retail value.

You would be correct; KBB shows the retail price for a private sale of this vehicle in VG condition (I'm gullible ) as $6,669 - less than what Allstate paid her.

 

[DCTooTall]

Interesting.... But I agree the lady in the complaint is suffering from some delusion regarding what she should expect to receive via insurance for a totaled vehicle. it's EXTREMELY rare for someone to come out ahead when dealing with a car being totaled.


What's really interesting from just the first few comments I read was people talking about how Disney supposedly "whisked away the driver in secret" before she was notified. There are 3 easy factors in this....

1. With the description of parts of her minivan being "all across the parking lot", and the vehicle being totaled.... It's not unreasonable that the driver may have been injured and taken to medical care.

2. Even if the Drivers weren't injured (Both Valet and 'the other disney vehicle'), It's highly likely Disney would've taken them for a quick eval and post-incident drug/alcohol screening for insurance and worker's comp purposes.

3. less likely... but Disney may have removed the drivers from the scene after management/security had arrived in order to get their statements... similar to processes we've all seen/heard about from any other type of incident on property involving employees.