I hired a van and scratched the bumber. They want £500 excess. Do I pay?

Question

I only had £100 on me and the guy in the office said the damage wouldn't come to that. He took the money and said they would refund the difference so I would only pay the actual cost. Now I've received a letter from their head offer saying that if I don't pay the £400 extra to make up the excess they will take me to court. I think £500 is a bit much for cosmetic damage. So what do I do?

Answer 1

Read over the terms and conditions of what you signed, if it says it, then you have to pay.

Answer 2

Hello,

(ANS) Car & Vehicle hire companies are notorious for having massive amounts of small print in their contracts when you hire a vehicle. Some of their terms & conditions can be justified as you don't know how good or bad a driver the person hiring the vehicle is nor how they will treat the vehicle, so the potential for large financial losses is ever present for the hire companies, its all about risk .

However, the hire companies I have used in the past all inspected the vehicles body work before the driver took the car/van away & a careful note of any scratches or damage was made before it was taken away. The companies all inspected the car/van upon return, doing a second inspection.

**NOTE: OK! so the car/van got a scratch and OK! they may have covered such minor damage in their paper work or contract of hire or terms and conditions. But £500 for a minor scratch seems way over the top, in other words they are trying to make an excessive profit from the scratch. This sounds very unreasonable and if you challenged the company in court I think you might find you have a good case.

You could take them to the "Small Claims" court if push came to shove? This is a local court that is there to resolve disputes between you and the company where the value of the claim is less than £5,000. Its very cost effective too make a small claim, in my case I spent just £80 to recover £1500 from a furnishing firm who tried to steal my money and not deliver the goods.

You will find the small claims court in the phone book or yellow pages, Oh! its a reasonably quick process too in terms of the law and legal process.

**I would seriously consider a small claims court process as I think £500 for a scratch is way off beam.

Hope that helps?

Kind Regards Ivan

Answer 3

Well, you made your first mistake when you handed over cash straight away but that's all said and done now.

Check the contract. Find out how much you're liable for.

Don't pay anymore. Get them to get the van repaired but before they do, tell them to send you the garages original estimated bill. If the garage is only wanting £75 to repair the damage, you shouldn't be paying £500!

Once you receive the estimate, phone or call into the garage and speak to someone in charge. If you think it is expensive, ask them why it is.

Failing that, talk to citizens advice. They might know that the garage is considered a bit suspect ie owned by the brother of the person who owns the rental place or something.

Answer 4

I would demand a copy of the repair bill from those who did the repair. treat it with suspician if it is a back street garage and do a deal. They will have to produce documentation if they take you to Court before the hearing. Do not speak on the telephone write and get a certificate of posting. You are not disputing liability. If a summons is issued ask the Court staff about Payments In ot the equivilent. It can put some of their legal costs in peril if the Court awards less than you pay in. Check with Court staff if in doubt about the way to go about things. They can not and will not advise on likely success.

As someone has already said ythe cost of even a minor bump is phenominal ( my last one cost the otherdrivers insurers over £1300 and it looked only a minor dent

Answer 5

Like the previous posts say, you'll have to check the contract and pay up if you have to. Learn from this experience and be really careful when hiring a vehicle again. Read the contract and check the vehicle carefully for dents and scratches when you pick it up. Some hire companies say if you pay a little extra when hiring a vehicle they will waive the excess if you have an accident.

Its just another way that big companies manage to screw the little guy out of his/her hard earned money.

Answer 6

You need to know that the 500 xs covers the company uninsured losses. Therefore, if the bumper has to be replaced/repaired then the vehicle cannot be rented out whilst the work is being done. (loss of business)also the cost of the work. This is all covered by the xs. You agreed to this when you signed and hired the vehicle.
You could ask for a breakdown of the figures, but don't hold your breath. You will end up paying. Going to court will affect your credit rating. Your choice.
Next time you hire a vehicle, check the T&C 1st.

Answer 7

It sounds a bit excessive to me.

Some van hire company's have all sorts of hidden clauses in their contracts, so it is always best to discuss the worst scenario outcome in case of damage to the vehicle, or accident, whether it was your fault or not, before signing the contract to hire.

If you already own a car, or have your own insurance, van hire firms will often accept this as cover for the hired vehicle, but you must always ensure your cover is fully comprehensive, and includes any vehicle you drive with owners permission, borrowed, hired, or whatever.

I feel there may be some misunderstanding with the company you hired the van from, and would suggest you discuss your concerns with them, explain how the damage was caused, and that you wish to sort out the problem amicably between yourself and their company.

Although difficult in these cases, you must stay calm and polite when speaking with them.

Another tip for people hiring a vehicle, take photographs of the vehicle before set off, and when you return, as evidence of the state of the vehicle, in case of problems.

If you are a member of a motoring organisation, such as the AA, or RAC, contact their help line, they may be able to offer help and advice with regard to your situation.
Hope the above helps you, and I hope you get the problem sorted out very soon, take care.

Answer 8

Pay up! The cost of repairing even what appears to be "minor cosmetic damage" would surprise you. Be thankful that you only have £500 excess to deal with. It could have been much worse.

Answer 9

Actually, I suspect that if you read your paperwork closely they're right. Often they'd offer a "collision damage waiver" or whatever it's called these days when you hire the vehicle, which I guess you didn't take up. When you consider what the van would earn them per day if it wasn't off the road, it's not unreasonable. It's not unusual to demand the entire sum up front (they do this in case you disappear), and then refund any unused monies when all's settled & done.

Answer 10

Get your own insurance company over to assess the damage and what it would cost to rectify it. The van owners could be exaggerating the cost of repairs - this happened to my husband when a courtesy car had a stone chip on the paintwork.

My husband managed to get £150 knocked off the original estimate from the garage.

Answer 11

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