Hi All,

2 months back I had rented a car from Discount Car Rental for 2 days. The car met with an accident. I had taken zero liability Collision damage waiver insurance from them. The accident happened due to bad weather and poor visibility. I even got ticket for careless driving but the charges were dropped or rather I got a letter saying that the prosecution has not even filed the charges when I requested for a trial.

Now after two months the discount car rental company directly charges my credit card with $ 1250 as towing charges (not mentioned in the statement) and they say that this is because the accident happened due to my fault. I told them that the court has already dropped the charges, he said that just because court says it doesnt mean it is not your fault. I was very surprised by the response he gave. The accident happened in the night when discount was not even available on phone to advice me what should be done with the car. I called up their claims helpline and even they did not provide me proper solution on what is to be done with the car.

I have already disputed the transaction but I am worried a lot because $ 1250 is a big amount and I am a student and worried on outcome of the dispute. Any suggestions or advice one could give me, it would be great.

Regards
Vivek Narayan

///I had taken zero liability Collision damage waiver insurance from them. ///

what do you mean by that , did you take 100 % insurance form discount car. if have taken insurance company should be paying towing charges. May be you can go to small claims court.

Yes I had taken 100% insurance from discount car by paying 20 $ per day to them. They say it is my fault accident. I don't understand this really. How can there be clauses like this.. the problem is they have even charged my credit card. How can one charge the credit card like this. I have even raised dispute for this transaction with the bank.

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Originally posted by skal

///I had taken zero liability Collision damage waiver insurance from them. ///

what do you mean by that , did you take 100 % insurance form discount car. if have taken insurance company should be paying towing charges. May be you can go to small claims court.

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Sorry to hear about the accident and situation you are in as a student.
1) Since you took the insurance including comprehensive collsion, they should not charge you for towing or for that matter anything. You did good thing by putting it in on hold but that is temporary. Get more details such as what the $1250 charges are for?
2) Check with your credit card company/bank for the card that was used to rent the car. Most of the credit cards have insurance on rentals...there are some exceptions but do check with them as well.
3) Do you have CAA? If so walk into any of their office and they should also provide you some guidance on how to approach this situation and how much CAA will re-imburse towards towing.
Hope this helps and keep the forum updated.
Good luck!

looks like you only took third party insurance ie if you hit somebody's car , insurance company will pay only opposite party car damages.

No I took CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) from them with zero liability, other wise the car damage was so much that the car was sold. But I am being charged for towing and the reason they are giving is I am at "FAULT" for the accident. But isn't it the court which has to prove that I am at fault. The court has already dismissed the charges against me. How can the car company say that I am at fault?. The below is the email conversation between me and car company which I am attaching. Please look at the sentence in the reply from him where he again says I am at fault. How am I supposed to be on fault if I am not at fault with no charges/ convictions against me. He doesn't have any records for it.



I am writing in reference to the rental agreement number. I have been charged with $ 1250 as a towing charge for the accident which took place on 13th November 2011 around 10:40 PM. The reason for that is being told that the accident was due to my fault.
This is what I have been telling from Day 1 to the police as well as the court when I went ahead for trial. The weather was extremely bad with poor visibility. The truck was travelling in the right lane at much greater speed and the road was winding due to which the truck rubbed the car from right. Had it been my fault, I would have got crushed. I am a safe driver and there was no injury as well. When I requested for trial, this is what I mentioned. But the prosecution had no evidence for it and the charges were dropped. I would have not gone for trial if it was not my fault.
Even after the accident occurred, I called up the accident reporting centre to tell them about the accident. You would be having the same recorded call as well. When I called them they told that they just report accidents and they have not much idea about what is to be done with the vehicle. I tried to call discount and they were closed. I called the accident reporting centre and I spoke to them again and they again told that I have to call “Discount “for this. I called road side assistance which was closed again. So in this situation I was helpless and I could not leave the car simply that way so I did the best possible thing. I called up the claims centre again and they told that I could use any towing to get it towed and that would be covered by insurance. Since Discount was closed I even don’t know where the nearest Discount location is.
I am a student having no income and currently doing my studies at Queen's University. The amount which you have deducted is equal to my 3 months rent. I have no money to pay this and that too for no fault of mine. I am sure you can consider this on case to case basis and refund my money back since this accident was not due to my fault. Please be considerate and kind and please understand my situation as well.

Reply from him

Dear Mr.,

I do understand your situation but we have guide lines in Discount that we have to follow. The CDW doesn't cover towing/storage if the renter is at fault for the accident. I have requested a copy of the police report, once I receive the copy I will review it and will advise you about the situation.

Thank you very much for your patience and will be in touch...

Regards,

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Originally posted by skal

looks like you only took third party insurance ie if you hit somebody's car , insurance company will pay only opposite party car damages.

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Vivek > Please delete name, address, e-mail address, etc. from your above message for both parties.