How screwed am I?

Elessar

Any help appreciated here:

Last night my own car broke down (BMW 3 series), so as it was under the insured warranty I phoned them up and within 20 mins it was collected and I was sorted with a hire car.

Being the first time I've ever used a hire car, I took what I was given (5 series) and left. This morning I noticed a rake of scratches on the corner of the front bumper :eek:

Honestly I can't be sure if it was me that caused the damage - I think I would have heard the bumper scratching against something and I was driving it pretty carefully. But I conceed it could have been on my watch. I'm just not sure

When the handover took place they phoned my insurer and did a temp transfer of insurance, and put a 100 euro hold on my credit card. I don't have any excess insurance or anything...how screwed am I here? What is likely to happen...will they claim off my insurance and/or will I be liable for a large bill?

punisher5112

Did you not look it over?

They may well look for it to be fixed and it will be a lot more then €100 if they do.


Contact them and state the marks were there. Was it dark when you got it??

Heres Johnny

What age is the 5 series and what mileage is on it? If it's well used there's every chance it wasn't you and they know about it.
Was there any form of walk around inspection of the car?
Did it come from garage stock or from a hire company?

Elessar

I did give it a quick once over but I was in a hurry and didn't pay enough attention. It is from a hire company, a 162 reg and it has I think 60k KM on the clock

Heres Johnny

Unusual for a hire company to have a 162.
But on the balance of probabilities and the fact you didn't check it properly it's more likely to have happened in the 60000 kms you didn't have it than the few kms you didn't have it but I'd give them a call to put your mind at rest.

wally1990

Relax

Take a breath

Firstly all hire companies generally have a detailed record/log of any damage already done to a vehicle before it is rented out so they have historic visual damage recorded about the car and where etc , they should have this log on file that you can see

I view this also in conjunction with giving it a once over myself when renting so I’d ask them to double check the log also

Widdensushi

You are unlikely to have damaged the car without knowing it

dingding

Also a hire company wont fix every scratch as it happens. It will be sorted when it is sold.

It is very likely it was already there and that the hire company are aware of it.

Also unlikely to scratch it without knowing.

Elessar

Thanks folks you were right. I called the company and asked them about it and they were able to check the logs, and the scratches are already noted on the log from a previous hire. That a few others I hadn't noticed. I did another walkaround of the car and saw one other paint scratch which they noted immediately, so hopefully I won't get any bills when I hand her back!

Wondering what would happen though in the event of a claim on your insurance? I assume they would pay out, less your normal excess, but the price would go through the roof on the next renewal...or could the hire company chase you for any excesses?

johndaman66

Any time I had a hire a car or van which was only 3 times ever in fairness (one of the times being when somebody ran into the back of my car and totalled it and their insurance company arranged the hire car for me as he admitted liability straight away) the hire company rep and myself would have walked around the car and any dents or scratches on it would have being jotted down and a copy kept by car hire rep as I recall and certainly a copy given to me. Assuming it wasn't and if this is the case surprised it wasn't done here?

iwillhtfu

johndaman66 wrote: »

Any time I had a hire a car or van which was only 3 times ever in fairness (one of the times being when somebody ran into the back of my car and totalled it and their insurance company arranged the hire car for me as he admitted liability straight away) the hire company rep and myself would have walked around the car and any dents or scratches on it would have being jotted down and a copy kept by car hire rep as I recall and certainly a copy given to me. Assuming it wasn't and if this is the case surprised it wasn't done here?

It rarely happens that way on a breakdown assist rental. Fair enough if you're collecting it from a compound but on the side of a road they're usually looking to get you back moving as fast as possible. OP rental companies generally only charge for cracked bumpers scratches on a bumper are generally accepted wear and tear. Deep scratches in body work have to be beyond a certain length before they're considered damage and billable to the renter.

emo72

What if you broke down at nighttime? Surely there's no way to inspect a car in the dark? So that's crazy.

Ewan Hoosarmi

Here's a thing. Any time I have hired a car, the insurance has been provided by the hire company. I wouldn't agree to changing my own policy over to a hire car. Would that not leave your own car without cover?

johndaman66

iwillhtfu wrote: »

It rarely happens that way on a breakdown assist rental. Fair enough if you're collecting it from a compound but on the side of a road they're usually looking to get you back moving as fast as possible.

Fair enough, I was collecting the car/van from the compound in all situations. The time my car was wrote off I was able to drive it home with caution and someone else dropped me to the compound to pick it up

emo72 wrote: »

What if you broke down at nighttime? Surely there's no way to inspect a car in the dark? So that's crazy.

Not ideal but a torch?

coylemj

Ewan Hoosarmi wrote: »

Here's a thing. Any time I have hired a car, the insurance has been provided by the hire company. I wouldn't agree to changing my own policy over to a hire car. Would that not leave your own car without cover?

What the OP has is called a 'replacement car', it's not a conventional hire car situation. Most dealers have a couple of cars for this purpose - people whose own car is in for a repair and they have to have a set of wheels to tide them over. They will let you have one for a lot less than a hire car but you have to move your own insurance over to cover you to drive it, hence the rental rate is far less than with a hire car. They often include a replacement car in the repair charge so it's 'free'.

Ewan Hoosarmi

My son recently had an issue with his 5 series (usual EGR crap). While the car was in he was given a 5 series from Europecar. I don't know if he had to transfer his insurance though.