Warning about valet parking!

[Maistre Gracey]

I opted to put this on a DVC board since valet parking is a free perk for Members, and many of us take advantage of it.

I just got home from several days at work, and decided to sort through some email. I noticed one from Avis, my usual car rental company, labled "changes in rental terms & conditions" .
I generally just heave these types of things, but for some reason I took the time to read this one.

As I read the section on approved drivers, I noticed the absence of "valet/parking attendant".
They used to be covered drivers for the sole purposes of parking the car, but no longer.
I figured it was just an oversight so I called Avis. They said it was likely an oversight, so they put me on hold while they checked...
They came back and said a parking attendant is no longer approved as a driver.

I then checked Hertz and Budget, and saw the same wording in their terms & conditions.

I'm not sure what would happen if I just let them park the car anyway.
Likely nothing, but what if they had some sort of incident? Would my personal insurance not cover the incident since I knowingly let an unauthorized person drive the car?
What other ramifications could I run up against?

I am really mad about this as I am the king of all valet parkers, but I'm thinking the valet days at WDW are over...

MG

 

[Lora]

I never even thought about that. Thanks for bringing that up. We're not renting a car this time, but it's good to know these things. What happens for your own car/insurance with valet attendants? I wonder if that's ever an issue.

 

[bom_noite]

I would assume that the Valet Drivers are insured by their company? But, that is interesting.

 

[Uncleromulus]

It is interesting. Pehaps someone in the industry will know--or someone who had a "valet incident" can let us know what happened insurance-wise.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have recently begun to appreciate the perk!!

I hope there is insurance from some source.

Bobbi

 

[bicker]

This change protects the rental car company from the difference between the financial loss they can substantiate from damage caused by a valet and the amount of money a lawsuit against (or financial insurance settlement with) the employer of the valet would possibly yield. It also insulates them from the cost of the lawsuit itself (or insurance settlement negotiations themselves), pushing all that risk onto the renter. In a nutshell, we're now liable for that financial difference. You can check with your own personal liability policies. General personal liability policies probably cover the gap, while most specific automobile liability insurance policies won't. You'll be liable to cover the gap from your own resources.

 

[bom_noite]

We have recently begun to appreciate the perk!!

I hope there is insurance from some source.

Bobbi

My FAVORITE DVC Perk!

 

[dwelty]

I would not worry about this change as Disney would be responsible for any damage done by their valet driver. As far as other places outside of Disney, I would be careful.

 

[lllovell]

We never purchase the insurance on rental cars as our insurance policy on our cars at home covers us to drive rental cars. That said, I have no idea if valet personnel would be covered. Interesting.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Thanx for all the input!

I never purchase the LDW from the rental company, as my personal insurance will cover me just fine.
I would also assume Disney would somehow cover losses caused by a valet driver.

But what about other than just the insurance aspect? I mean, why do the rental companies want specific "approved drivers" listed on the contract even if you don't purchase the LDW and liability insurance from them?

If it was all about insurance, and I don't purchase their insurance, why would they care who drives the car?
The T&C actually say they can repossess the car if an unauthorized driver is found driving.

MG

 

[mamatojon]

Hi MG,

Here is part of the *********** agreement from Alamo, I haven't received anything that indicates it has changed - you might call and check to be sure. Their rates are usually pretty good and they have a program similar to National where you can bypass the check in. I've bolded the sentence you are concerned about.
Edited, okay I'm not sure why that ****'d out but basically this is from Alamo's frequent customer program.

8. AUTHORIZED DRIVERS: I am the authorized driver if I have a valid driver's license and meet all of your rental requirements. I and the following persons, with my permission, may operate the car: (1) my spouse; or (2) my employer, or fellow employees incidental to their business duties, provided the persons have a valid driver's license and meet all of your rental requirements and are not impaired from operating the rental car. Except to the extent necessary for valet parking or in an emergency as permitted by law, no other persons are permitted to operate the car unless all such persons appear at the time of rental and are named on the Rental Agreement. I understand that all additional drivers must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age except in New York (18), and have a valid driver's license. At our discretion, other qualifications may be in effect at the time and place of rental, which may include a charge for any additional driver or any driver under twenty-five (25) years of age. ALL OTHER DRIVERS ARE UNAUTHORIZED. Not withstanding anything herein, I am always responsible for any losses or damages caused by any driver of the rental car.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

8. AUTHORIZED DRIVERS: I am the authorized driver if I have a valid driver's license and meet all of your rental requirements. I and the following persons, with my permission, may operate the car: (1) my spouse; or (2) my employer, or fellow employees incidental to their business duties, provided the persons have a valid driver's license and meet all of your rental requirements and are not impaired from operating the rental car. Except to the extent necessary for valet parking or in an emergency as permitted by law, no other persons are permitted to operate the car unless all such persons appear at the time of rental and are named on the Rental Agreement.

Beautiful! Thanx for that info, mamatojon!

I think my new rental company may be Alamo...

MG

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for this head's up MG. I'm using Dollar next week and will def be planning on using valet from time to time. So it's my understanding that it is my responsibility to check and see if my personal auto insurance would cover an accident incurred by a valet driver while parking my car ? This is ridiculous, because there's no way this is going to push me into buying the rental car company's insurance plan. Maybe that was their idea ?

 

[bicker]

While it is true that Disney would cover the cost of damages caused by their valets, that may not equal the amount the rental car company assesses your for the damage caused to the vehicle you rented due to the actions of the valet. Specifically, many rental car agreements provide for loss of revenue recovery from you (for the time that the rental car is unavailable to be rented to others) while you are almost surely not going to be able to recover that money from Disney. The rental car company, by putting it in writing, is obligating you to pay more than what is reasonable in the case of damage to the vehicle, but your agreement in that regard when you accept the rental car agreement doesn't obligate Disney to pay more than what is "reasonable".

 

[Maistre Gracey]

While it is true that Disney would cover the cost of damages caused by their valets, that may not equal the amount the rental car company assesses your for the damage caused to the vehicle you rented due to the actions of the valet. Specifically, many rental car agreements provide for loss of revenue recovery from you (for the time that the rental car is unavailable to be rented to others) while you are almost surely not going to be able to recover that money from Disney. The rental car company, by putting it in writing, is obligating you to pay more than what is reasonable in the case of damage to the vehicle, but your agreement in that regard when you accept the rental car agreement doesn't obligate Disney to pay more than what is "reasonable".

Okay, that makes pretty good sense.
Do you think there are any registration issues? I always thought the rental agreement was the registration, and perhaps if the driver's name is not on it, the car is not technically registered??
Even if that's the case, can the Disney resorts (not the roads on property) be considered private property, and thus no registration required?
Anyone know Florida law on this?

I'm likely making too big of a deal here, but I just want to make sure I understand what I'm up against if I decide to valet park anyway.

MG

 

[bicker]

FWIW: Orange County Police officers can and do issue tickets on WDW roads.

 

[zalansky]

I used to be a commercial auto claims adjuster - and we insured many hotels chains (not Disney) which included their valet services. While a vehicle could certainly be damaged while in the posession of the valet driver, getting him/her to admit to damaging the vehicle could be another story. I dealt many times with valet drivers who were clearly lying, but I had to go with their version on the story because virtually it is their word we had to rely on....whether we knew it was true or believed it to be false. And while I am sure there are many trustworthy valets out there and quite possibly a majority of them work at Disney there could always be one bad apple.

In the event this happened and the rental company had an exclusion, it would fall back to your personal auto carrier.

 

[CarolA]

Beautiful! Thanx for that info, mamatojon!

I think my new rental company may be Alamo...

MG

It would take more then this to get me to EVER use Alamo....

In return for the lousy service I have experienced with them I get Valet coverage...not worth it IMHO.

 

[mamatojon]

It would take more then this to get me to EVER use Alamo....

In return for the lousy service I have experienced with them I get Valet coverage...not worth it IMHO.

We've always been very happy with them. We only ever use National or Alamo now whenever we travel. We had bad experiences with Dollar and Enterprise though.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

For all you valet parkers you might want to check Disney's policies on damage due to using the service. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that they aren't liable for damages...given the potential size of the awards, the potential frequency with which the question could arise plus the inconvenience of proving/disproving when the damage took place.

The other thing I wouldn't assume is that your personal auto insurance would cover the damage given that you are violating your rental agreement by letting the valet park your car. The key here is that its the rental agreement being violated not the extra insurance portion of the agreement. It seems pretty likely that if you let an unauthorized person drive your rental car & they damaged it (and possibly someone else's car) that your personal insurance would not cover it.

In fact this begs the question in my mind if an authorized driver would be covered if they aren't covered under your policy.