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So, a couple of months ago I knocked the mirror off a hire car while in Sicily and had to pay 650 euros excess. No problem thinks I, we have insurance. Needless to say the documents I have are inadequate and they won't pay. I have documents to prove the excess I paid and the hire agreement but they want a damage report and say the agreement isn't signed . I signed on a digital box and I was never given a damage report. I thought it was the excess that was insured not the car. Any advice?
I paid €200 once for a cut inside the tyre once - who checks that 11pm at night in Stuttgart? Ever since I got my own excess insurance.
I was never given a damage report
Do you have a photo of the mirror hanging off ?
Sicily
hmmm ( - he said, stereotyping)
It was Aviva! Caher , this is my own excess insurance. Next time I will just pay the hire company's overpriced excess cover
Was it there cover included in car insurance
There must be an ombudsman you can complain too
Just remember who originates from Sicily and that they have your name and house number
They might come knocking
Next time I will just pay the hire company’s overpriced excess cover
That’s what I did this year, they gave me all the talk about what could go wrong even with my own excess insurance (which I had). I ended up catching an alloy wheel and when I took it back they didn’t even take a cursory look at the car - they just said ‘you’ve got our cover, it’s fine. The one next to mine was being checked over with a fine-tooth comb - I presume they didn’t have the same cover. So I think that cover will have more than paid for itself.
Doesn't help you now but a while back I had to claim from excess4insurance and they were good as gold. Saying that I had the docs. Any chance you can go back to the car hire co for the docs?
Complain. "I would like to make a complaint about the fact the fact you haven't paid my claim."
Company should give you their final response within 8 weeks.
If still unhappy, approach the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It's probably worth emailing the hire company and asking for whatever the insurer is asking for in the meantime.
I claimed via a car hire excess policy recently and although it took a while they paid out in full. However it was fairly clear in the t’s and c’s that you needed a damage report and official repair invoice in order to claim. This seems fairly reasonable to me. I checked before I left that I would get all of this from them.
The other thing to say is the rental company kept the full excess and then charged me the specific amount for the repair (a tiny scratch) once it was done (ie refunded the difference), so the actual cost was less than the full excess.
Would a replacement mirror really cost 650 euros? Sounds like the company may have fleeced you.
I use and have claimed from Questor, it was fairly painless (apart from having to initially pay excess)
Who was the car hire company? They should have given you all that. At the very least you should be able to request it.
Check all your emails from them, they may have sent you all the docs as attachments. OK Mobility ripped me off for some scuffs on a plastic bumper, but the excess insurance paid once I found all the info buried in an email they sent after I did the electronic signature at the start of the hire.