Rental Car Damage - Any Experiences?

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floydbloke

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#168507 16-Mar-2015 16:14

Has anyone here had to return a rental car with damage that occurred while it was in your possession? How long did the assessment/investigation take? Did it seem to be a fair process? If it wasn't your fault and they could recover costs from the other party, how long did it take for them to refund your excess?

Probably needless to say at this stage that I had a mishap yesterday. While parked another car pulled up next to me (we were sitting in it) and their rear door slammed into my rental leaving significant damage - I got the other party's details. It certainly didn't take the rental company long to charge the excess to my credit card and I'm keen to get this back as soon as I can. Very pleased now that I bought the excess reduction so we're talking about $350 instead of $3500.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

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#1260395 16-Mar-2015 16:28

Yeouch. Worst case scenario.

Will be on the other party honesty I guess. The high excess is for the corporate insurance costs flowing down. In a carpark the owners distance themselves from any liability. So it falls on the parties involved. As long as they got in contact with their insurance and advised them of what happened/who the rental company is etc I guess it would be the same as if you owned the car. If not faster due to commercial account.

Only ever been involved myself when a tyre iron was on the motorway in queensland, buggered the back tyre. Luckily that was a case of cheaper to replace tyre than deal with it as if vehicle damage.

SATTV

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#1260484 16-Mar-2015 17:54

I have had no issues however the director of a sister company had a dent about the size of a 20 cent piece in Sydney, Australia. The rental car company took the full $2500 excess, and some weeks / months later he got the balance back, the car was off the road being repaired for a few days and they charged for that too, all up I think they charged $850.
from then on, it was compulsory for us ( and out sister companies ) to have the reduced excess on rental cars.

Hopefully it is a pain free experience getting your excess back.

I know enough to be dangerous

mattwnz

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#1260487 16-Mar-2015 17:58

floydbloke: Has anyone here had to return a rental car with damage that occurred while it was in your possession? How long did the assessment/investigation take? Did it seem to be a fair process? If it wasn't your fault and they could recover costs from the other party, how long did it take for them to refund your excess?

Probably needless to say at this stage that I had a mishap yesterday. While parked another car pulled up next to me (we were sitting in it) and their rear door slammed into my rental leaving significant damage - I got the other party's details. It certainly didn't take the rental company long to charge the excess to my credit card and I'm keen to get this back as soon as I can. Very pleased now that I bought the excess reduction so we're talking about $350 instead of $3500.

Do you get the excess back as a cost from the other parties insurer? I can understand not getting it back if you were at fault, but it would be grossly unfair if you were out of pocket, due to another party. But I guess you could always take the other owner to the disputes tribunal for the excess charge.

Lias

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#1260488 16-Mar-2015 18:02

Only time I ever pranged a rental, it was booked with no insurance via the rental company and just our corporate cover. Rather glad about that because the excesses are madness at most rental places, and I pranged a rather shiny new ford territory (reversed it into a pole in a tiny cramped basement carpark I probably shouldn't have taken it into in the first place)

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floydbloke

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#1260547 16-Mar-2015 19:26

mattwnz:

Do you get the excess back as a cost from the other parties insurer?...

I'm hoping (expecting really) that the rental company's insurer will try to recover the full amount from the other party's insurer, including my excess. I spoke to the rental company this morning and they did confirm that they would refund it if they can recover. Charging the credit card straight away for the full excess is standard practice when you have reported damage.

Not a huge amount of damage:

but I would expect it to be more than $350 so the rental company's insurer won't want to be out of pocket. I'm so, so glad that I bought the excess reduction (I never have in the past) otherwise the excess would have been $3,500. I expect the repair to be cheaper than that so in that case there would be nothing in it for the rental company's insurer to seek re-compense, other than perhaps that I 'paid' for that service through the insurance component of the rental charge.

mattwnz:.. but it would be grossly unfair if you were out of pocket, due to another party...

Fortunately I was in the car when it happened, what's to say if they would or wouldn't have left their details if I hadn't been in the car. Can happen to anyone at any time I guess.

mattwnz:... But I guess you could always take the other owner to the disputes tribunal for the excess charge.

That has crossed my mind. It's early days and hoping it won' come to that. I'm just so bl**dy impatient and I just want to get it sorted. They'll notify me (by letter apparently - what's wrong with a phonecall and/or an email) in 5 - 7 working days.

Edit: I should add that the driver of the other vehicle (not the same person who didn't control the door causing the damage) was cooperative and forthcoming with their details. They certainly didn't try to deny that their party 'caused' (carelessness or may have been the wind, it was blowing strongly) the damage.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

andrewNZ

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#1260551 16-Mar-2015 19:40

I'll bet a small child was responsible for this.

I've had exactly the same thing happen to my car after I'd specifically chosen a spot away from others. I couldn't believe the parents, it didn't bother them one bit.

I hope it sorts itself out for you.

mdf

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#1260557 16-Mar-2015 19:48

Do you have travel insurance (if you were overseas when it happened) or house and contents insurance (if you were in NZ)? Some policies will cover you for the excess charged by car rental companies. It's worth checking the fine print of your other cover.

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floydbloke

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#1260566 16-Mar-2015 19:54

andrewNZ: I'll bet a small child was responsible for this.

I've had exactly the same thing happen to my car after I'd specifically chosen a spot away from others. I couldn't believe the parents, it didn't bother them one bit.

I hope it sorts itself out for you.

It was a woman who looked to be 55+. She chose not to take part in the discussion I had with the driver (they appear to be a family, English is not their first language.)

Thank you and everyone for your support. Feels good to have a bit of a rant. I know it's not a huge amount of money, it's just friggin' annoying.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

floydbloke

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#1260569 16-Mar-2015 19:58

mdf: Do you have travel insurance (if you were overseas when it happened) or house and contents insurance (if you were in NZ)? Some policies will cover you for the excess charged by car rental companies. It's worth checking the fine print of your other cover.

No, it happened in Auckland. Top of One Tree Hill to be exact.
I did buy insurance from AirNZ with the flight tickets, but upon checking that only covers events directly related to the flights ( cancellation due to illness, delays, lost luggage etc.)

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

mdf

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#1260574 16-Mar-2015 20:04

floydbloke:
mdf: Do you have travel insurance (if you were overseas when it happened) or house and contents insurance (if you were in NZ)? Some policies will cover you for the excess charged by car rental companies. It's worth checking the fine print of your other cover.

No, it happened in Auckland. Top of One Tree Hill to be exact.
I did buy insurance from AirNZ with the flight tickets, but upon checking that only covers events directly related to the flights ( cancellation due to illness, delays, lost luggage etc.)

Rats eh. I've just had a quick look at Air NZ's travel insurance page. They do have a claim form for rental excess claims. Doesn't apply to you? Of course, it would be helpful if they actually put the policy wording up...

floydbloke

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#1260585 16-Mar-2015 20:10

mdf:
floydbloke:
mdf: Do you have travel insurance (if you were overseas when it happened) or house and contents insurance (if you were in NZ)? Some policies will cover you for the excess charged by car rental companies. It's worth checking the fine print of your other cover.

No, it happened in Auckland. Top of One Tree Hill to be exact.
I did buy insurance from AirNZ with the flight tickets, but upon checking that only covers events directly related to the flights ( cancellation due to illness, delays, lost luggage etc.)

Rats eh. I've just had a quick look at Air NZ's travel insurance page. They do have a claim form for rental excess claims. Doesn't apply to you? Of course, it would be helpful if they actually put the policy wording up...

Good find, thank you. I will check it out some more. I also missed your other suggestion of house & contents insurance, I'll check that as well. Our own insurances happen to be with the same provider as the other party's car insurance. May or may not make things easier.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

mdf

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#1260624 16-Mar-2015 21:14

Good luck!

Wheelbarrow01

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#1260819 17-Mar-2015 10:21

My rental car in Sydney got broken into a few years ago. No actual damage apart from the smashed window. It happened the night before the rental ended and I flew home, so I was not in a position to arrange fixing it myself, as much as I would have liked to.

They took the full $3500 excess off my credit card upon return. It then took them around 10 days to get it fixed for some reason (and I was charged rental at the rack rate while it was off the road). It then took another 6 weeks (and several irate phonecalls) before they returned the balance of the excess to me.

The kicker was the interest (and currency conversion fees) I was charged during that entire period. It was the one and only time I forgot travel insurance.....

floydbloke

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#1260875 17-Mar-2015 11:08

Wheelbarrow01: My rental car in Sydney got broken into a few years ago. No actual damage apart from the smashed window. It happened the night before the rental ended and I flew home, so I was not in a position to arrange fixing it myself, as much as I would have liked to.

They took the full $3500 excess off my credit card upon return. It then took them around 10 days to get it fixed for some reason (and I was charged rental at the rack rate while it was off the road). It then took another 6 weeks (and several irate phonecalls) before they returned the balance of the excess to me.

The kicker was the interest (and currency conversion fees) I was charged during that entire period. It was the one and only time I forgot travel insurance.....

Ouch!!

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

qyiet

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#1260941 17-Mar-2015 11:56

Not actually me in this one, but I did know someone who had a rental damaged while in their possession, and I like any excuse to laugh at them and post the photo. (AFAIK as it wasn't their fault the Rental Company got them a new car pretty much straight away for the remainder of their trip)

Warning: reality may differ from above post

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