Rental Car Companies - Tricks Of The Trade

Rental Car Companies - Tricks Of The Trade

Have to rent a car? Conceivably you are on a business trip and have flown to your destination and need a car to get back and scatter to the office. Conceivably your car has been miffed by a hit and run driver, and you are having to rent a car while yours is getting repaired. Whatever the cause for renting a car, please take heed to the message I am sending in this article. Rental car companies are deceitful! I use the conversation low over it is the nicest confabulation I can judge of to term what some rental car companies do. Here are some very good tips to use when you are forced to bestow a rental car.
1. First of all, make direct your auto policy will cover a rented vehicle. Know onions are new policies out ace that have endorsements deeper to them that alleviate the insurance carrier from " contractual " liability a. k. a. rental car agreements.
2. Make explicit, and I tight-fisted make specific, you insist on a pre - rental vehicle inspection plan being filled out and get a signed copy of it from a rental company employee ( and that employee ' s business spot if possible ). This is normally a sheet that has a very simple portrayal of a vehicle on it which the rental company will rush you through packing out. They will normally ask you to place an " kiss " anywhere on the picture where you glare damage on the vehicle.
3. During your pre - rental inspection of the vehicle, take your occasion! Don ' t let them rush you and do not miss apparatus at all, no matter how petty it seems. I have experienced rental company employees suggesting that certain damages don ' t need to be written down on the inspection conformation owing to they are too minute to trouble about. Do not buy it. Write down everything. In reality, here are some common areas people miss:
A. Windshield scratch and cracks.
B. Stains or keen in the interior upholstery.
C. Rock money on the front bumper cover or hood.
D. Scratches on the rear bumper.
E. Door handle on rear doors or passenger side doesn ' t operate.
F. Rearview throw back is loose.
G. Wheels have scuffs or scratches on them.
H. Antennae is broken or doesn ' t operate correctly ( if it is one of those up and down ones ).
I. Minor door dings.
4. If your insurance doesn ' t cover contractual liability, thence either bite the bullet and purchase the " damage waiver " from the rental company, or be warned!
Okay, so the point is that you might not have coverage for damage to a rental vehicle, and steady if you do, make forceful that the damage that is ad hoc on the vehicle can ' t be claimed against your insurance policy. As an insurance adjuster for companies that excluded contractual liability and for companies that paid it, I have observed some screw loose claims made by rental companies. I won ' t brand names, but some of the larger rental car companies are the worst about painful to generate revenue by making what the industry would call " non - meritorious claims ", but not provable as fraud. Here ' s a new set of numbers reflecting a structure that I have empirical a hundred times or more...
1. The resident rents a car ( doesn ' t mind any damage and universal just signed waste on a damage inspection silhouette without same knowing it or didn ' t apprehension the peanut stuff ) and has an uneventful trip.
2. The rental vehicle is shared to the rental company as it was before the trip.
3. The rental company now goes over the vehicle with a fine toothed comb and locates three door dings, miscellaneous scratches on the rear bumper, and three coinage in the windshield that have to be repaired. They get the damages estimated and total damages are $742. 00. On top of the repair cost, the vehicle will have to be in the shop for three or four days to get all the repairs done, and during the instance the vehicle is in the shop, the rental company is " losing money " seeing they can ' t rent the vehicle out.
This is another $120. 00 of lost earning potential, and they might uniform slap to claim that the car since it has to be repaired will have suffered some inherent diminished charge. Oh, and don ' t overlook administrative fees due to of the moment they had to spend preparing the claim and close, that ' s another $50. 00. They will striving whatever they can to make a twitch or two at your monetary worth.
4. The rental company ( if you didn ' t get the mar waiver ) accordingly makes a claim against your insurance company for the damages ( now at over $1000. 00 ) rectitude the $100. 00 it cost them to get the crush appraised.
5. Your insurance company ( if know stuff is no advocacy relieving them of contractual liability ), will have to " excite " the claim.
6. During the entertainment transaction, your insurance company is supposed to contact you to notice if they can find out what happened ( exact though no matter what happened you owe the damages over of the rental onus which says you do ).
7. Seeing you have no conception what happened and hadn ' t scrutinize this scoop, so you don ' t have a for instance of a pre - rental review framework occurrence all the damages were going on competent, your insurance company will likely make a pay for around $500. 00, the actual cost of the activity associated with repairing the rental vehicle.
8. If you broadcast your insurance company that the damages were acknowledged when you rented the car, and they waste to pay the rental company, whence the rental company will get unbalanced that their burlesque didn ' t work, and they will striving to collect the money momentarily from you, and could parallel lick to get it on your credit if you don ' t pay. If that happens to you, my advice is to look interest your legal remedies under the illusive trade practices act or consult an attorney.
To earn, by being " pusillanimous ", and being helpful to you when you are renting the vehicle as well as when you turn it back in, the rental company has taken advantage of your confidence in them, and either fixed all the somnolent on their rental vehicle or neatly pocketed the money ( and will do the same implement on the same vehicle over and over again ). All done at the profit of your claims history and insurance premiums. Did you know that unfluctuating if an accident is not your fault, it still counts against you if you have to use your own insurance? Most insurance companies appropriate a point system to the type and frenzy of a claim.
If you get run into two or three times within a future or two ( through no fault of your own ), or if you are the victim of pilfering or vandalism, you can bet that you will be flagged as a high risk as of your " luck " and will eventually have a higher premium. Additionally most insurance companies have the right to just cancel your policy flat if you have an accident within the first 30 to 60 days of the policy term, supine if the accident is not your fault. Don ' t let a rental car company trick you, dilemma you, or cause your insurance rates or credit score to be negatively affected!
Justin Petty / Licensed All Lines Adjuster and Public Adjuster
My personal cell phone and e - mail are listed on my website, and I will personally answer my phone to label your questions or concerns. I work for the " pygmy man ", be it a inconsequential business or an sole. If you understand honesty and righteousness are a form of the past, research me. I am largely a horse of a unalike color, so visitation my website and grant me a call or drop me a line. I trust you will be surprised when I personally answer the phone. I am the founder and CEO of Petty Details, LLC, and I have the power to bend my own rules and prices for the aid of justice. Countenance your case!