Help! Any garage mechanics around - horrific bill for hire car damage. Pics included.

[WSID44]

Back in the summer I damaged a hire car when on holiday in Germany. Not massively, I reversed into a wooden post when trying to get out of someone's way, and scratched the paintwork. I was perfectly honest about it when I returned the car and heard no more. Until now. They have just sent me a bill for nearly 3k euro to mend it 😱Could anyone take a look at the pics and tell me how it can possibly have cost this much?? Thanks!

@Galliano It seems as geunine as it can be. Has pics of the damage. Has an image of my form where I admitted I had done some damage.

@KnickerlessParsons Its a big international company so imagine they know how to pursue a claim from another country, unfortunately

At least call them and check.
How have they asked for payment?

@WSID44 - what is the excess on your contract with the hire company? I would be surprised it is more than 1000/1500 euros. Also why are the insurance company not paying?

This is terrifying! Things like this worry me so much. I always try to get insurance cover, I’d be really upset if I found out it wasn’t covered.

would you mind sharing who the policy was with? Was it one of those that you take out specifically as car hire insurance? And what was missing/wrong/unapparent in the wording?

thinking about hiring one on holiday next month and now I’m overthinking 🙁

It's a lot of money, but the quote for the number of damaged panels is within realistic possibility. Remember companies don't shop around for cheap quotes and contractors serving company accounts will nearly always be more expensive than what an individual would pay. It's how business is , which is unfortunate for you, the one paying. Labour charges will also be high on Germany..

They’re taking the p*ss….we rented a bigger car in Switzerland last year…managed to cause major damage….wing mirror taken off, huge dents on the arch and panel and also punctured right tyre and damaged it’s alloys. Got billed approx £1200 for it all….luckily insurance repaid the amount back to us….so 3000 euros for your damage which is minor compares to mine is daylight robbery and most insurers have in house mechanics who use the cheapest materials.

Really? I have never heard of insurers having in house mechanics using cheapest materials. Our car was a financial write off because the insurance company said they would only use Peugeot official parts. We bought it back from the insurance company and fixed it with generic parts for £500.

In all likely hood this car could be fixed/touched up for a lot less but the hire companies insurance company will be using official parts/paint etc because why wouldn't they when they are not paying for it?

If you paid for the hire with a credit card will that insurance cover you?

When I returned to the policy details I realised I had misunderstood a key bit and I was not covered.

Which bit did you misunderstand?
We have an annual car hire policy. Thankfully. It covered us for an incident in France.