Damaged rental car - obtaining statement for insurance claim?

[JohnM]

On a recent trip to Italy, I rented a car from Avis at FCO.

Part way through the trip, not too far from Milan, I struck an object, blew a tyre and caused some paintwork scratches. As the vehicle had no spare wheel (only a repair kit that was useless for a sidewall-damaged tyre :evil, the vehicle was towed away and I took a taxi to MXP to collect a replacement at MXP. Avis said they would refund up to 60Euro of such a taxi fare on presentation of the receipt.

Upon return to FCO, I was billed about 400Euro more than the quoted price. I fully expected extra charges but they were not itemised beyond 'miscellaneous charges' and a one-way fee that I don't believe I should be charged. After explaining to the agent that I needed a detailed statement in order to make an insurance claim, as well as having Avis refund the promised 60Euro taxi fare, she took copies of all paperwork and said it was referred to Avis administration in Rome for processing as it was not something that they could do at the airport office.

That sounded fair enough, especially as she gave me a reference number and email address for the administration. It all seemed quite standard practice and she indicated that they would provide an itemised statement.

However, nothing appeared after a month so I emailed the Rome customer service but they have not replied.

Has anyone else had similar experience and if so, do you have any tips about how to get a response and the detailed information of the extra costs resulting from the damage that would satisfy an insurance company?

Is it worth trying to get some action through Avis Australia?

 

[eric2011]

Have you thought about firing off a strongly worded email and threaten getting your credit card company to process a "charge in dispute" claim.

 

[VPS]

I had an issue with Avis a few years ago - picked up car in France and dropped it off in Italy - it had some damage but we had paid full insurance but we were charged an extra $1000- it took several months even go through Avis here - was escalated up and up and they still said no - luckily a friend went back to Avis in Avignon where we picked up the car and they said it was the Italians that had charged the extra and when I went back to Avis here they did say that I was right and refunded the money - I think the best approach is try the Australian Avis and if that doesn't work the odd rant on Facebook or Twitter has worked for me - they respond to them very quickly - Good luck

 

[JohnM]

I just called Avis Customer Service in Australia and Danielle was very helpful and is going to make some enquiries on my behalf.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

On a recent trip to Italy, I rented a car from Avis at FCO.

Part way through the trip, not too far from Milan, I struck an object, blew a tyre and caused some paintwork scratches. As the vehicle had no spare wheel (only a repair kit that was useless for a sidewall-damaged tyre :evil, the vehicle was towed away and I took a taxi to MXP to collect a replacement at MXP. Avis said they would refund up to 60Euro of such a taxi fare on presentation of the receipt.

Upon return to FCO, I was billed about 400Euro more than the quoted price. I fully expected extra charges but they were not itemised beyond 'miscellaneous charges' and a one-way fee that I don't believe I should be charged. After explaining to the agent that I needed a detailed statement in order to make an insurance claim, as well as having Avis refund the promised 60Euro taxi fare, she took copies of all paperwork and said it was referred to Avis administration in Rome for processing as it was not something that they could do at the airport office.

That sounded fair enough, especially as she gave me a reference number and email address for the administration. It all seemed quite standard practice and she indicated that they would provide an itemised statement.

However, nothing appeared after a month so I emailed the Rome customer service but they have not replied.

Has anyone else had similar experience and if so, do you have any tips about how to get a response and the detailed information of the extra costs resulting from the damage that would satisfy an insurance company?

Is it worth trying to get some action through Avis Australia?

I realise hindsight is always 20/20 however I would insist on retaining any paperwork or at least demanding a photocopy otherwise you're left with zero proof of anything.

Also, is it not a duty of care for a rental car company to have a spare tyre in each car or is it standard procedure not to provide this?

In any case as mentioned above contact your cc issuer to do a chargeback for the 400 Euro's as Avis have charged you for something they haven't provided. "Miscellaneous" is not a good enough explanation for a charge.

 

[JohnM]

I realise hindsight is always 20/20 however I would insist on retaining any paperwork or at least demanding a photocopy otherwise you're left with zero proof of anything.

Also, is it not a duty of care for a rental car company to have a spare tyre in each car or is it standard procedure not to provide this?

In any case as mentioned above contact your cc issuer to do a chargeback for the 400 Euro's as Avis have charged you for something they haven't provided. "Miscellaneous" is not a good enough explanation for a charge.

I certainly have all the paperwork. The Avis agent at FCO was not a problem, in fact far from it - she took copies of everything before giving it back to me but she was powerless to give me a detailed statement of the damage as that had to be done by the central administration. It all seemed SOP. My problem is that the Avis HQ in Rome hasn't responded to my email asking what has become of my detailed statement. Hopefully my approach through Avis Australia will stir them up to respond. I'll keep nagging until the information is forthcoming.

As for the absence of a spare wheel, I think you'll find it's quite common with European cars to have puncture repair kits. There has been an evolution to temporary spare wheels, run-flat tyres and puncture kits generally. Of course, most of that seems odd to Australians but in highly-urbanised environments. Even my own car here has a temporary spare wheel; I guess there are several reasons for that: a full spare of the wide alloy wheel of my top-of-the-range model wouldn't fit in the standard-size spare wheel well without a lid that bulged into the boot space, maybe the high cost of a spare full-size alloy wheel and top-line high-performance tyre, plus possibly the weight.

The ironic thing was that when I initially picked up the vehicle, a woman renting another car was making a fuss asking where was the spare wheel. I thought at the time get over it, it just isn't included and pffft, you won't need it! Famous last thoughts! She jinxed us :evil:! To top that off, my brother was in France at the same time and he punctured a tyre on his rental car! It's the first time it's ever happened to me in many, many rentals :shock:.