Hello,

I rented a car from a small car rental company at LAX (LA airport) a few months ago.

Someone put a very long SCRATCH on the left side, while it was parked overnight.

When I returned the car, the person in charge said "Don't worry about it", in reference to the scratch.

However, a couple months later, my insurance company called to say the company was asking for $1800 in damages, and I have a $1000 deductible.

I feel they should have informed me upon checkout, so I was not very happy about this. I checked the company out on the BBB, and they had an F rating.

They have since changed their name, and I thought they might let it go, but they have contacted me again, saying they expect payment or contact within 15 days.

I will see if my credit card company will cover the $1000, but it is months later, so I don't know if they still will.

Do I have any legal recourse here?

Should I try to fight this, or just give in?

Did they get a estimate? Has your insurance company. Valididate their claim?

Never agree to anything until they provide proof.

However, a couple months later, my insurance company called to say the company was asking for $1800 in damages, and I have a $1000 deductible.Hello K:

Tell your insurance company that you are not at fault, and that they should NOT pay. They work for you.

excon

Thanks for the responses. My responses below:

Mr. Yet,
My insurance company says they did provide photos of the scratch. (I also admitted it when my insurance called me about their claim.)

I had agreed that there WAS a scratch, but I feel this is a lot of money, and they should have told me at checkout that they were going to charge me for it, so that I could have contacted my CC company right away.

After so long, I'm not sure my CC company will pay.

---

excon,
My insurance company said they had a valid claim and proof, and that this is typical of many rental companies to charge for damage after the fact, even if on checkout I was told they wouldn't charge me.

This did not seem to make sense to me, since they could have scratched the car and taken the photo after I left. (This is not the case, but I'm just saying... )

---

At this point, MY INSURANCE HAS ALREADY PAID THEM what was above the deductible. DO I HAVE ANY RECOURSE?

The rental company letter says "remit payment or contact us within 15 days in order to prevent further collection or legal action."

(What annoys me is that months ago I had left them several messages, to have them send me copies of the paperwork, and no one ever responded!)

Did you purchase a damage waiver when you rented the car? If you did, that should cover the damage. It is also possible that the credit card you used to pay for it will cover the costs. However, if you purchased no additional insurance when you rented this vehicle, then you can be held responsible for your deductible.

However, a couple months later, my insurance company called to say the company was asking for $1800 in damages, and I have a $1000 deductible. Do I have any legal recourse here?Hello again:

You know, I've never heard of a deductable on liability insurance. Collision is where you have deductables, not liability.

excon

excon is correct. Your collision insurance covers YOUR car in the case of an accident. Your liability coverage should cover damages that occur to property other than you car.

So your first step is to check your insurance policy and see if you have a deductible on your liability. If not, go back to your insurance and ask why they are applying a deductible.

I don't believe the rental company was scamming you, I don't think the clerk who checked you in had the authority to waive the damage. If your credit card provides liability coverage, then you should have contacted them immediately upon learning of the claim.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Are you saying that all rental cars should be covered by Liability Insurance, only because they are not "my" car?

I would think that the rental car would take the place of "my car" and be covered accordingly, depending on the type of incident. (In this case, it was a scratch--damage.)

However, if you're correct that it should go under liability, then it would be worth contacting my insurance company to find out.

Hello again, K:

Whichever insurance company paid the $8,000 and are dunning you for $10K. It's either YOUR insurance company or the rental car's. It doesn't matter. They should have paid the whole thing, In my opinion.

excon

Are you saying that all rental cars should be covered by Liability Insurance, only because they are not "my" car? .

Auto insurance covers two things. It covers damage to your vehicle, and it covers damage you cause while driving. So it covers your car and you as a driver. The part that covers you as a driver can cover you no matter what car you drive.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Are you saying that all rental cars should be covered by Liability Insurance, only because they are not "my" car?

I would think that the rental car would take the place of "my car" and be covered accordingly, depending on the type of incident. (In this case, it was a scratch--damage.)

However, if you're correct that it should go under liability, then it would be worth contacting my insurance company to find out.

Typically, car rental companies carry liability coverage on their fleet of vehicles. This, of course, is required by law for any car that's driven on public roads. This would cover any damage you might do to another's property or person while driving the rented car. This is exactly how your own liability insurance on your own car would work. Now, any damage or theft that's done to the rental car while it's in your possession would be covered under collision/comprehensive coverage. Again, this is identical to what happens with your own personal vehicle. Collision/comprehensive insurance is not required by law. However, if a vehicle is financed or leased, the lienholder will require you to buy it as a condition to be eligible for financing. If a vehicle is owned outright, then having collision/comprehensive coverage is strictly optional. Now, car rental companies typically do not carry collision/comprehensive coverage on their fleet of vehicles. Why they don't is beyond me, as you would think that any prudent business would take steps to protect its assets. In the past, when renting a car, it was common practice for the rental company to coerce you into purchasing a collision waiver. This was, in effect, a temporary collision/comprehensive policy, valid for the rented vehicle while it was in your possession. This typically cost $9 or $10 per day above and beyond the "advertised" rental cost and was touted by consumers as a "hidden charge", which in effect it was, since no car rental advertisement ever mentioned that it'd be required and, when you'd call a car rental company to inquire about the costs associated with renting a car from them, the sales clerk would never mention it. You weren't hit with it until you had signed the papers and had keys in hand. Now, there were sometimes ways to avoid paying this out of pocket (which is no doubt how they justified interjecting this "hidden" charge.) One way was that, if you had collision/comprehensive coverage on your own personal vehicle, you could apply that to the rented vehicle for the duration of your lease. Another way was that, depending on which credit card you used to pay for the rental, some credit cards offer as a perk to their customers, that if you use the card to rent a car, they cover the cost of the collision waiver. But, in recent years, this practice of essentially forcing car rental customers into purchasing a collision waiver has largely been discontinued, no doubt due to pressure exerted by consumer advocates and possibly litigation as well. Nowadays, when renting a car, they'll simply politely ask you if you'd like to purchase collision/comprehensive coverage and if you decline (which any reasonable person would), you just initial a statement to that effect and that's that. Now, in the case of the rental car being scratched, that was damage done by someone (or something) else, while the vehicle was parked. That would fall under collision/comprehensive coverage. Liability coverage is what would apply if you had damaged another car with the rental car while driving it, in which case the liability coverage would pay for the damage you had done to the other car. Remember, car rental companies don't carry collision/comprehensive coverage for their cars, so somehow that damage has got to be paid for. Since it occurred while the car was in your possession, you are responsible. So, depending on how much coverage you provided at the time of rental, by whatever means (your own personal policy, credit card, etc.), you may be responsible for part or all of the repair costs. Granted, $1800 sounds like an inordinate amount for a "scratch", so I would certainly demand to see a copy of the estimate and whatever other supporting documentation exists, but you may be shelling out some $$ to fix this.