Damaged hire car

[Strawberryshortcake40]

Back in October I had an accident in my car. It needed repairing so my insurance company arranged a hire car. It was delivered promptly and I was shown the car by the driver. It had a few scratches on it which he noted on the paperwork. I only needed it for two days, they then took over a week to collect it. During this time it was safely on my drive where I walked past it whenever I went in my front door. On the day they finally collected it it was absolutely fine when I left the house. They had advised me to leave the keys under the wheel arch as I'd waited in three days for them to collect and needed to get to work.

Came home, it was gone, job done I thought. Three weeks later I received a letter saying it had damage to it and I would need to pay the excess. They stated it had a scratch on the area that was noted on my paperwork.

I emailed, with a copy of the report showing it had damage already there. Saying the car was perfectly fine that morning. No reply.

This morning I have a pretty shitty letter detailing the £700 worth of work needed as the car had been keyed allegedly, in the exact area where it did have a big scratch when it was delivered to me. And which is on the form!

I'm kicking myself I didn't photograph all the scratches but tbh the fact they were noted I didn't think I needed to. I have written back saying I do not accept the damage was done in my care as the scratch was already there. But where do I stand on this?

[prh47bridge]

They cannot claim the excess from you for damage that existed when the car was delivered to you. If there is additional damage that is another matter. If they try to take you to court over this it will be decided on the balance of probabilities. It is difficult to be sure but, given that the paperwork showed there was already a big scratch when you got the car, the hire company may struggle to convince the court that the damage needing repair is new.

[wowfudge]

I take it you have a copy of the form which detailed the condition when it was dropped off with you? If you haven't already, send them a photocopy of the form and restate you believe the 'damage' they are saying happened whilst you had the car is the same damaged which was noted when it was dropped off.

[Strawberryshortcake40]

Yes I have a copy and they sent me another copy. It clearly has a circle on the area of the car where the damage was and says "scratches in area".
Strangely enough it has several areas marked when it was delivered but only one on pick up.

[19lottie82]

My friend and I had similar problems when we hired a van a few years ago. They tried to claim an extortionate amount for damage that was already therewhen we picked the van up.

We refused to pay and they took us to court. They lost.