Posted on: 06-08-08 11:22:25
Hello,
I have the following situation with a rental car -
I rented for 1 week with one of the major car agencies (name not relevant).
When I returned the car, upon inspection, they said that there is a minor scratch on the rear bumber.
I looked at it and it was indeed there, although very minor.
99% people wouldn't even notice it - minor paint scrape, barely noticeable, but it was there.
I am not sure whether it was there before or not, or maybe it happened when I had the car - doesn't matter.
The agency said they will have the damage evaluated and send me an estimate.
At that point, I will have the choice of paying via insurance or footing the bill myself.
My questions -
1. Should I notify my insurance company?
It's not a collision for sure, not even a fender bender.
Seems like a scratch while parking or whatever.
Most likely I will not be using insurance to pay for it.
2. What kind of expenses would it be to fix a minor pain scratch?
It's about a hairline width, 2 inches long - just the top layer of the paint is scratched.
3. When the agency calls me with an estimate and I pay for it (either whichever way), is there a way I can verify that they are actually getting the damage fixed or just pocketing the money?
It is so minor that is not even worth fixing.
I want to make sure that if they are charging me that I can verify they are fixing it.
Can I inspect the car after it is fixed?
Has anyone had experience of this kind of thing before?
Thanks
I had the exact same experience... interesting if this is the same agency.
Anyways I had rented the car using my Visa and it covered the charges. I had to pay the estimated charges upfront using my Visa and claim the reimbursement from Visa with the final bill. Still I had to run behind the rental agency for some 10 times over 3-4 months to get the final bill and claim from Insurance. Always they used to tell me the car is currently rented out and on return, they will have it fixed and at that time, final bill will be available. Even escalating to their head office did no good. Then I asked Visa to block the payment I made and explained the situation to the Visa claim officer. Don't know what she did, within 24 hrs she said she got the bill from the rental agency and issued me the refund check.
Never rented from them again.
to your questions,
1 -> If you are using Visa insurance or so, you can claim. If the regular auto insurance, based on the actual $ charge associated, you may end up paying more - since this may get counted as one claim.
2 -> I was quoted $216... They initially said they will put a hold on $500 in my credit card until they have the final bill. I refused and asked for exact charge. Then they looked at some papers and came up with this number.
3 -> Doubt it. The whole idea of charging for a hard to see scratch itself is phony to me!
ALl the best
Quote:
Originally posted by OneIsACrowd
Hello,
I have the following situation with a rental car -
I rented for 1 week with one of the major car agencies (name not relevant).
When I returned the car, upon inspection, they said that there is a minor scratch on the rear bumber.
I looked at it and it was indeed there, although very minor.
99% people wouldn't even notice it - minor paint scrape, barely noticeable, but it was there.
I am not sure whether it was there before or not, or maybe it happened when I had the car - doesn't matter.
The agency said they will have the damage evaluated and send me an estimate.
At that point, I will have the choice of paying via insurance or footing the bill myself.
My questions -
1. Should I notify my insurance company?
It's not a collision for sure, not even a fender bender.
Seems like a scratch while parking or whatever.
Most likely I will not be using insurance to pay for it.
2. What kind of expenses would it be to fix a minor pain scratch?
It's about a hairline width, 2 inches long - just the top layer of the paint is scratched.
3. When the agency calls me with an estimate and I pay for it (either whichever way), is there a way I can verify that they are actually getting the damage fixed or just pocketing the money?
It is so minor that is not even worth fixing.
I want to make sure that if they are charging me that I can verify they are fixing it.
Can I inspect the car after it is fixed?
Has anyone had experience of this kind of thing before?
Thanks
If it is just a minor scratch, there are several products in the market to either mask them or remove them fairly effectively. Canadian Tire has a rack full of those.
But if the rental company is making it a big deal, chances are they are going to want you to pay for getting the entire bumper painted. And if you go to Maaco for example, I can tell you they will charge somewhere close to $300 to do the job.
Personally I would stay away from the insurance company for this as they are just looking for excuses to increase your premium 
Try and work it out with the rental company. Also, before they rent the car out to you, they are supposed to identify any such problems. Did they do it? Ask the company to provide you a copy. If they did not do their due diligence, you can maybe (maybe) accuse them that it was already there?
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If you have a gun, you can rob a bank.
If you have a bank, you can rob everyone.
- Bill Maher
Though I never had any situation like that but I think, you must read the contract carefully. What it says regarding the damages/scratches. I think you should have the option to get it fixed yourself.
Your insurance company would cover any damage to 'non owned automobile' under endorsement 27 upto certain limit like $30,000 or so but then again it would be a claim on your policy and if it happened while parking meaning it was a 'single vehicle involvement' so chances are that they will rate you 'at fault' for this. Moreover, you may have to pay few hundred dollars as the deductible. In this case, your company may not even pay a single penny and you still would have an accident or claim rated. I think, you will be better off paying to the rental company and forget about this.
I would do some more research about this company and see if they have been doing this to many customers. If yes, then complaint to the regulatory authority.
Good luck!
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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto
Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK
Quote:My credit card doesn't have coverage for rental car damages, so that option is out.
Originally posted by viggy
1 -> If you are using Visa insurance or so, you can claim. If the regular auto insurance, based on the actual $ charge associated, you may end up paying more - since this may get counted as one claim.
Quote:The scratch is indeed there.
3 -> Doubt it. The whole idea of charging for a hard to see scratch itself is phony to me!
It may have been there before and I may have missed it when I inspected the vehicle before renting it.
It's black in color, which makes it harder to notice such a thing.
And if it happened while in my possession, I don't mind paying for it.
It's just that something like $200 or $300 sounds extortion, esp. if I can't verify that they are actually fixing it.
For all you know, they'll pocket the cash and leave the mark on the car.
So, if the estimate does turn out to be 200 or 300 $ is there any point in disputing it and taking it to consumer affairs?
Thanks for your help
HI guys !
We recently had a similar discussion and it seems that I was either misquoted or I misunderstood " Full coverage " from rental co .
http://canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=20947&page=1#121274
Now I clearly understand that buying "full coverage" from rental co. saves you all the hassles that ppl have gone thru in this thread . It has nothing to do with driving records ..
It just saves 100's of $ that rental car companies might extract from you ..
Hope it helps
Ashwani
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Growing Old Is Mandatory ..Growing UP is Optional
HI guys !
We recently had a similar discussion and it seems that I was either misquoted or I misunderstood " Full coverage " from rental co .
http://canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=20947&page=1#121274
Now I clearly understand that buying "full coverage" from rental co. saves you all the hassles that ppl have gone thru in this thread . It has nothing to do with driving records ..
It just saves 100's of $ that rental car companies might extract from you ..
Hope it helps
Ashwani
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Growing Old Is Mandatory ..Growing UP is Optional
