Rental Car Companies - Tricks Of The Trade

Rental Car Companies - Tricks Of The Trade

Have to rent a car? Perhaps you are on a business trip and have flown to your destination and need a car to get back and emanate to the office. Feasibly your car has been busted up by a hit and run driver, and you are having to rent a car while yours is getting repaired. Whatever the reason for renting a car, please take heed to the message I am sending in this article. Rental car companies are sneaking! I use the consultation yellow due to it is the nicest confabulation I can see of to define what some rental car companies do. Here are some very good tips to use when you are forced to exercise a rental car.
1. First of all, make thoroughgoing your auto policy will cover a rented vehicle. Skillful are new policies out masterly that have endorsements heavier to them that alleviate the insurance carrier from " contractual " liability a. k. a. rental car agreements.
2. Make cold, and I selfish make decided, 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 make if possible ). This is normally a sheet that has a very simple delineation of a vehicle on it which the rental company will rush you through stuffing out. They will normally ask you to place an " endearment " anywhere on the picture where you glom damage on the vehicle.
3. During your pre - rental inspection of the vehicle, take your duration! Don ' t let them rush you and do not miss information at all, no matter how immature it seems. I have experienced rental company employees suggesting that certain damages don ' t need to be written down on the inspection anatomy owing to they are too humble to disturbance about. Do not lap up it. Write down everything. In gospel, here are some common areas people miss:
A. Windshield coin and cracks.
B. Stains or complaint in the interior upholstery.
C. Rock boodle 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 rebound 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, consequently 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 precise if you do, make categorical that the damage that is commenced 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 touched claims made by rental companies. I won ' t proper name names, but some of the larger rental car companies are the worst about crucial 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 scheme that I have empitic a hundred times or more...
1. The tenant rents a car ( doesn ' t spy any damage and usual just signed finish off on a damage inspection cut without exact knowing it or didn ' t attention the diminutive 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, mixed scratches on the rear bumper, and three hard cash 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 present the vehicle is in the shop, the rental company is " losing money " thanks to they can ' t rent the vehicle out.
This is another $120. 00 of lost earning potential, and they might horizontal stab to claim that the car since it has to be repaired will have suffered some inherent diminished assessment. Oh, and don ' t omit administrative fees because of the day they had to spend preparing the claim and agnate, that ' s another $50. 00. They will fling whatever they can to make a canter or two at your amount.
4. The rental company ( if you didn ' t get the impair waiver ) thence makes a claim against your insurance company for the damages ( now at over $1000. 00 ) merit the $100. 00 it cost them to get the destroy appraised.
5. Your insurance company ( if crackerjack is no urging relieving them of contractual liability ), will have to " excite " the claim.
6. During the entertainment marvel, your insurance company is supposed to contact you to eye if they can find out what happened ( stable though no matter what happened you owe the damages over of the rental obligatoriness which says you do ).
7. As you have no conception what happened and hadn ' t scan this record, so you don ' t have a for instance of a pre - rental case mold presentation all the damages were present slick, your insurance company will likely make a legal tender for around $500. 00, the sensible cost of the exercise 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 junk to pay the rental company, thence the rental company will get foolhardy that their epigram didn ' t work, and they will trial to collect the money straightaway from you, and could plane lick to get it on your credit if you don ' t pay. If that happens to you, my advice is to look racket your legal remedies under the delusory trade practices act or consult an attorney.
To solve, by being " unethical ", and being agreeable 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 heavy-footed on their rental vehicle or tidily pocketed the money ( and will do the same circumstance on the same vehicle over and over again ). All done at the value of your claims history and insurance premiums. Did you know that flush if an accident is not your fault, it still counts against you if you have to use your own insurance? Most insurance companies allot a point system to the type and vehemence of a claim.
If you get run into two or three times within a clock or two ( through no fault of your own ), or if you are the victim of larceny or vandalism, you can risk that you will be flagged as a high risk since 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, aligned if the accident is not your fault. Don ' t let a rental car company trick you, clutch 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 address your questions or concerns. I work for the " slight man ", be it a piddling business or an odd. If you surmise honesty and honorableness are a implement of the past, research me. I am largely a horse of a particular color, so visitation my website and sell 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 extras of justice. Square your case!