Minor collision with a rental car, what to expect?

Azn310 on 28/06/2014 - 03:39
Last edited 28/06/2014 - 03:43

Hi guys,

I will try to keep the story as short as possible, hoping to get some opinion from our OzB community, hopefully one of us knows about or have worked at a car hire company.

My sister hit a car from behind, minor, visible scratches on bumpers to both cars. The driver came out and said it was her rental car (she is NSW full license, car was Vic plate), she phoned the rental company to report on the incident. My sis and her exchanged info and contact details, take pictures. The driver said she (or rental company) will contact us, my sis said all good, I will pass you on to our insurance company and they will take it from there ( we have third party property insurance ).

Its been 3 days since the incident and we still receive no phone calls from them. This is my family's first incident versus a rental car, so we are unsure of what to do next.

Do you think the rental company will treat it as wear and tear to the car, to avoid going through arguments with our insurance company? (And possibly loss of income while the incident is being investigated and car being repaired) I'm sure the insurance company will argue that the car, being a rental, is prone to have scuffs and marks, and there are no proof that the car is spotless before the incident.

Should we report it to our insurance company? I heard from friends that if you make a claim, your premium will definitely go up even though the other party decides to do nothing about the incident.

Should we contact the driver of that rental car, the rental company or just wait for a call from them?

Your opinion is much appreciated.

Automotive

Comments

  • zolinger on 28/06/2014 - 05:08

    Don't be so worried. Insurance and rental companies are like hounds awaiting for a wounded sheep. They'll come, even if its a small scratch on a door panel… happened once.

  • ferguscan on 28/06/2014 - 09:49
    +2

    I hit a kangaroo once, in a rental 4WD. Caved the bumper in, and cracked the windshield washer reservoir (fluid came pouring out - I thought I'd cracked the radiator).

    I reached around the back of the bumper, and pushed the dent out by hand. Returned the car, and didn't say anything.

    I waited for a call, but nothing happened.

    You might get lucky :)

    • Azn310 on 28/06/2014 - 17:36

      well the renter of that car reported to the company, so they have a record of what happened. I do hope my sis will get lucky this time. She couldn't sleep for days..

  • kimmylala on 28/06/2014 - 10:06
    +1

    You will sooner or later receive a letter of demand from the rental car insurance company. I've seen people not getting any contact, until 6 months later.
    And from there you could ask for the cost of repairs, and work out if it's worth putting through a claim or not.

    • Azn310 on 28/06/2014 - 17:41
      +1

      Thank you for the clear advice. Here comes the dreadful wait

  • yaziyo on 28/06/2014 - 11:18
    +1

    I assume you won't hear anything until she gives the car back to the company. After that I would expect them to be in contact. Since you have insurance, just forward all correspondence to them, that's what you pay for :)

    • yaziyo on 28/06/2014 - 11:25

      There's also a small chance you'll get lucky and it won't be pursued, but being a rental company this is unlikely. We were once rear ended (more of a love tap) and it left nothing but some small marks so even though we got the guy's details, we decided to let it slide.

      • Azn310 on 28/06/2014 - 17:38

        you are a good person. In my opinion, there are no rental car that is 100% at the end of its rental life anyways, marks on the car should be accounted for in the cars depreciation. But some rental company choose the other path and go nuts

  • c64 on 28/06/2014 - 12:14

    doesn't the rental driver get stung with a huge fee if they haven't paid for the excess waiver?

    • airzone on 28/06/2014 - 14:02

      Yep, normally. But check the specifics of your rental contract first.

    • Azn310 on 28/06/2014 - 17:39

      But in this case, the rental driver was not at fault. For insurance purpose, we will not admit fault either. So in this case, rental driver shouldn't be liable for anything right?

      • c64 on 28/06/2014 - 18:05
        +1

        i think many contracts make the hirer pay an excess regardless of who is at fault. an optional excess waiver fee can be paid before hand to either reduce or remove the excess.

        • maybeamacy on 29/06/2014 - 08:28

          +1 - a drunk driver can crash into you while parked and you still have to pay excess, if it's a luxury rental it's like a $5k excess lol.

        • airzone on 29/06/2014 - 15:57

          Avis standard cars are about $3k if I remember. And they will still relentlessly go after the other driver… It's such a scam. However someone like bayswater rental (whose excess is $300) is much more reasonable and reflective of the cost of administration.

        • Azn310 on 02/07/2014 - 12:45

          Crazy rules! I will never rent a car in my life!

  • Azn310 on 02/07/2014 - 12:44

    Update**

    So the rental company sent us an estimate that they get from a smash repair place. They ask us how we would like to pay, the estimated repair is $800 total which is alright, we can just settle that without going through our insurance.

    So now how should we pay this? Do I tell them to put the cars through the repair and send invoice to us and we pay invoice? If we do this, would the invoice be higher than estimates?

    Or do I just pay the budget company the estimates? (And maybe they just pocket that and not do any repairs at all)

    Please help, much appreciated

    • Medrad on 03/07/2014 - 17:57

      Get a copy of the estimated repair quote if you're worried (not sure how trustworthy it could be). If you want to spend the money and be done with it, speak to the rental car company and negotiate the payment. If you can pay the $800 up front and never hear from them again, I say do it. Just get it in writing.

      If you want to ask for a post-fix invoice, go ahead. Do be wary that they might charge more due to "unforseen damage" or other such reason.

      It's all a negotiation with the rental company.

      If you have time/money, maybe you can ask for a separate quote from the repairer directly?

      • Azn310 on 04/07/2014 - 00:03

        Thanks Medrad for your advice. Post-fix invoice is definitely not a good idea after you have pointed that out, thank you so much!

        I have tried asking for a quote from my local smash repair and it is the same price. Basically they are replacing the whole bumper and repainting it.

        Looks like it will come down to negotiating the payment with the rental car company.

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