Went by train last week to Kalgoorlie, hired a car to drive to Leonora (about 240km) and back. On the way, an overtaking truck/trailer combo tossed up a stone which cracked the windscreen.. Luckily the glass held for the rest of the trip. I regarded this as an accident, not my fault.
Today, a week after returning home to Perth, I get a bill (just a bill, no phone call, letter or anything polite) for $310 for a new windscreen.
Is this normal? Surely hire car company vehicles are insured? And most insurance policies give you a free windscreen each year.
I intend to fight this down to the wire, but as I say, comments welcome. (It was a small local hire company, not one of the big boys).
Cheers, Tony
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It's been a few years since we hired a car and it was with one of the big boys. There was three levels of car hire fees. Lowest - basic insurance. 2nd level - part insured up to a certain amount (you pay the excess) and top level - fully insured. We took out travel insurance at that time which included insurance of a hire car so we only paid the lowest hire amount. This was a much cheaper option than paying the top level hire amount. We were asked though, when we picked up the car, if we had separate insurance to cover the car. We have our normal car insurance with RACQ and it is extra to insure the windscreen.
With regards to your hire car, do you have the paper work that went with the hiring? Do they have a web site that sets out the fees for you to check what you got for your hiring fee? Just some of my thoughts. Cheers.
-- Edited by Gaylehere on Friday 6th of May 2016 12:19:22 AM
We always take separate travel insurance to cover such claims. Hire car companies also offer cover remove the excess but it costs much more than if you take this option. Some credit cards also cover travel insurance if the hire car has been paid for with their credit card.
In the fine print will be outlined details of what your excess would have been - typically it can range from $3000 to $5000 meaning if you wrote the hire car off you would have had to pay the first $3000 to $5000 of the bill.....this is standard practice.
Larger hire companies ensure you are aware of this.
as Gayle has said, when hiring, insurance is normally an additional charge to the hirer.
A hirer basically can decline insurance cost, and take full liability for any damage, take basic cover and pay a large excess, or pay a much higher charge, and have no liability. This is how my son described it to me after he hired a car last month on a trip to Melbourne. Like yourself, the hire was through a smaller company. The damage does not have to be the hirers "fault" to be chargeable.
My question would be did you advise them about the broken windscreen when you returned the car. If not, then I can understand the invoice just arriving, but if you did then they should have advised you at the time about the charge and explained what insurance cover you had taken out, and finalised the matter then.
Lastly, an insurance policy for a hire car would be much different and much more expensive than a private individuals private insurance. As such, it is unlikely to include such things as 1 free windscreen per year, and even if it did, your car may already have had its free one. In some hires, dirt roads or broken windscreens may be specifically excluded from cover, due to local road conditions.
I would read the contract you signed closely, especially any clause re damage or insurance, look closely at what is shown as being charged on the front of the hire invoice with respect to insurance, and then be prepared to pay the invoice you have just received unless it shows very clearly that you were covered.
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Friday 6th of May 2016 07:39:54 AM
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Friday 6th of May 2016 07:40:43 AM
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Regards Ian
Chaos, mayhem, confusion. Good my job here is done
Went by train last week to Kalgoorlie, hired a car to drive to Leonora (about 240km) and back. On the way, an overtaking truck/trailer combo tossed up a stone which cracked the windscreen.. Luckily the glass held for the rest of the trip. I regarded this as an accident, not my fault. You were driving the car, therefore are responsible.
Today, a week after returning home to Perth, I get a bill (just a bill, no phone call, letter or anything polite) for $310 for a new windscreen.
Is this normal? Surely hire car company vehicles are insured? And most insurance policies give you a free windscreen each year. The following is an excerpt from an Avis Car Rental Agreement. Your hirer will have the same terms to which you will have appended your signature
LOSS DAMAGE WAIVER, DAMAGE AND LOSS OF PROPERTY 8.1 Subject to this clause 8, You are liable: (a) for the loss of, and all damage to, the Vehicle; and (b) for all damage to the property of any person: (1) which is caused or contributed to by You or any person You allow to drive the Vehicle; or (2) which arises from the use of the Vehicle by You or any person You allow to drive the Vehicle.
I intend to fight this down to the wire, but as I say, comments welcome. (It was a small local hire company, not one of the big boys). Fight as much as you like but it is your signature on the dotted line and any fight will cost you much more than the $310 for the windscreen and you will still have to pay for the new windscreen.
Cheers, Tony
Glad to be of assistance
The Phantom
-- Edited by The Phantom on Friday 6th of May 2016 09:12:05 AM
We always take separate travel insurance to cover such claims. Hire car companies also offer cover remove the excess but it costs much more than if you take this option. Some credit cards also cover travel insurance if the hire car has been paid for with their credit card. In the fine print will be outlined details of what your excess would have been - typically it can range from $3000 to $5000 meaning if you wrote the hire car off you would have had to pay the first $3000 to $5000 of the bill.....this is standard practice. Larger hire companies ensure you are aware of this.
Good Luck.
Exactly as Hako said.
Taking out full cover, zero excess, through the RAC cost me $145.00 in Tassie in April. Didn't need to use it but well worth the peace of mind in my case.
The ACCC recently fined Hertz and one other, I think it was Budget, for charging different customers for the same damage done by an earlier hirer.
Our vehicle insurance includes a free vehicle up to the size of a Rav4 if its being repaired under the insurance and the same company insures the hire vehicle. In summary, we pay nothing to the rental company at all, even if we write their vehicle off.
I have had to also rent vehicles for various reasons where our own are not damaged and its much cheaper to get your own vehicle insurance company to cover the rental vehicle. Apparently this is quite common
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
All hire car contracts we have had, here and in Europe, have the basic cover clause, tyres and windscreen are not covered, normally they offer extra insurance, which normally costs more than the car hire !
Then I found that my credit card had insurance attached that covered the excess for these items, so now always use that card to pay for the hire and decline the extortionate cover offered.
Have hired rental vehicles in Brisbane and one company had to pay extra for windscreen, tyre an underbody damage. Now use my SA vehicle insurance cover to cover Brisbane rental vehicles.
But will not use a Brisbane rental company that does not cover hail, and there are a few.
Surely hire car company vehicles are insured? And most insurance policies give you a free windscreen each year.
No, insurance is your responsibility. You do not get insurance with hire cars unless you pay considerable extra for it ($30 to $50 per day).
Even with insurance you may still have a substantial excess amount that you will not be covered for, from $500 up to $5000 depending on the type of vehicle, your age, your risk category, etc.
No, most insurance companies do NOT cover you for windscreen damage unless you specifically pay a higher premium.
The exceptions to these rules are when your own vehicle is being repaired and your own insurance DID have these things covered by extra premiums and you were entitled to a hire/rental vehicle for the period of your vehicle being repaired.
Thanks for all the replies. I should have pointed out that I collected the car at Kalgoorlie station. The train was an hour late (making an 8-hour trip) and I was tired. The car rep was (understandably) obviously in a hurry to get on his way and asked me to sign a paper on a clipboard.
I did not get a copy (yes, I should have asked, I know). The subject of insurance was NOT mentioned. The rep gave me the keys, then drove the car to my hotel (which is opposite the station), and that was the last I saw of him.
I will now ask the hirer for a copy of what I signed (though I won't trust what is provided, if anything).
And I could not speak to anyone when I returned the car: the arrangement was that I leave it at the station and lock the keys in the boot, which I did, before catching the train back to Perth.
I admit I have been naive about not asking about insurance. It won't happen again.
Lots of letters to write, asking for explanations (and a little politeness.)
And again, thanks for the interest.
Cheers, Tony
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Tony, my feelings only but if it were I in similar circumstance I'd just put it down to experience and something you've learned. Having to pay the $310 is no more than you'd pay for a new 4WD tyre that happened to blow out when you accidentally hit a gutter with a protruding sharp edge.
Not worth the worry and all the hassles.
When you read the hire contract unless you take the very expensive insurance option the cover covers bugger all . I was amazed when I sat down and read a standard policy when I hired a car in Townsville, even though the insurance was more than the 14 day hire fee it covered bugger all unless it was at midnight following a king tide and a pack of elephant ran into me via the sun roof , LOL but it may as well been written in Hebrew as nothing was covered that could possibly damaged unless you went bush bashing which was a major exclusion anyway . If the insurance industry ever need to be investigated the vehicle hire policy exclusions is one that is well overdue .
As for travel insurances beware of the excess for making a claim can be bigger than the claim payout and the hire firms know that as well .
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