Car hire issue

corblimey

Really not sure where to post this, feel free to move if applicable.

I took a short business trip to the UK last week and hired a car from Hertz while I was there. The first night, my car was hit by someone or something. They left a small mark on the back right panel, but destroyed the hubcap and blew the tyre. As per Hertz's instructions, I called out AA who came by and fixed the tyre - tbh I don't know if they put a new tyre on or just put on the spare - I suspect they put on a brand new tyre.

I eventually managed to contact Hertz and informed them of the incident. The guy I spoke to said that "there probably wouldn't be a charge for it" (yeah, ok not legally binding). I returned the car 2 days later and was informed that I would be charged £169STG for the new tyre. The woman's basic attitude was "we're going to charge you for it, you can complain to customer services if you want".

Once I came back here, I sent an email to Hertz customer services outlining the issue. There's a 10 day turnaround and there doesn't seem to be any other way of contacting them. I tried my travel insurance company just on the off chance and they said that this wasn't covered.

Can anyone tell me, just in case, if there's anything else I should be doing to try and get my 160 odd quid back, or do I need to swallow it?

Oh, and I asked the hotel aswell but they used the old "Cars are left at the owner's risk and the hotel does not accept any responsibility for damage or loss"

Nody

Check your contract of what your liability was but most likely yes, you're going to have to pay it (that is what the liability is there for after all).

Toots

I think you may have to pay on this one OP

Any time I've rented cars and taken out extra insurance, it hasn't covered the tyres. AFAIK, this is a fairly general clause in policies.

corblimey

Nody wrote: »

Check your contract of what your liability was but most likely yes, you're going to have to pay it (that is what the liability is there for after all).

Yeah, it's the first thing I checked as I assumed I had some sort of insurance with Hertz. There is a Collision Damage Waiver which I think covers this sort of thing, but it has a massive £550STG excess, so that's no good.

whippet

corblimey wrote: »

Yeah, it's the first thing I checked as I assumed I had some sort of insurance with Hertz. There is a Collision Damage Waiver which I think covers this sort of thing, but it has a massive £550STG excess, so that's no good.

at the time of collecting the car you would have had the option to reduce your excess to zero for a few extra quid ... I never rent a car unless the excess is zero or as close to zero as possible .. regardless of how careful you are with the car you can't leglislate for the carelessness of others.

Nody

corblimey wrote: »

Yeah, it's the first thing I checked as I assumed I had some sort of insurance with Hertz. There is a Collision Damage Waiver which I think covers this sort of thing, but it has a massive £550STG excess, so that's no good.

Well there's your answer then, you signed a contract you would pay for any damage up to 550 GBP (exception would be if you where hit and the other person had an insurance to cover your part obviously) and hence you where asked to pay the damage.

corblimey

whippet wrote: »

at the time of collecting the car you would have had the option to reduce your excess to zero for a few extra quid ... I never rent a car unless the excess is zero or as close to zero as possible .. regardless of how careful you are with the car you can't leglislate for the carelessness of others.

Yeah, I see there's a super cover that would reduce the excess to nil and I have a vague recollection of being asked that when I hired the car. Silly me, I'll know in future.

Welease

Assuming you are not self employed, it may be worth checking with your company.. We decline all insurance as standard, as it works out cheaper to fork out for the few claims that are required.. You might get lucky..

darc

If you hire on a reglar basis, get car hire excess insurance, most insurance companies do it. Axa charge €56 per year https://www.axacarhireexcess.ie/quote/carhire.aspx?ProductID=106&TerritoryID=104

£169 for a tyre !!-:eek:

jor el

You should query the price on that tyre before you pay it. £169 for a tyre is not right, unless it needed a new rim (alloy) too. If they are billing you for it, then you're entitled to see exactly what it is.

Check also if the hotel had CCTV in the carpark that might have caught whoever hit your car.

corblimey

Yeah, I've not bought a tyre in years but that seemed steep to me. Unfortunately since they had my cc, I had no say in them immediately tacking 169 quid onto the bill and then charging the lot.

I think the wheels looked like this is that alloy and so would be pricier than usual?

eth0_

corblimey wrote: »

I think the wheels looked like this is that alloy and so would be pricier than usual?

Yeah that's an alloy. Was the tyre just irreparably punctured or was the wheel/alloy buckled as well? If that was the case then £160 could be right.

EKRIUQ

corblimey wrote: »

Yeah, I see there's a super cover that would reduce the excess to nil and I have a vague recollection of being asked that when I hired the car. Silly me, I'll know in future.

It's £12 per day for everything to be covered which is fine if your only hiring for a couple of days but it adds up if it's for a week or more. Hertz £550 excess takes the piss a bit as your already paying for collision damage waiver.

Toots

Yes, that's an alloy, it also looks like a slightly low profile tyre too, so that would bump up the cost a bit more. Also it depends on what sort of tyre they put on, if they fitted a higher quality one like goodyear or something like that it would be pricier. Do you have any record of what the AA actually did to the car? Is there any way you can contact them to find out.