According to an article in USA Today, many frequent renters are saying that rental car companies have become increasingly vigilant about damage to their vehicles, noticing minor damage like scratches. Customers are getting charged more often as a result.
Neil Van Walbeck travels often for business, and he says he's noticed the change. "Most agents look over the car now when returned and question every little scratch," he said.
For their part, rental companies say their policies have not changed and that only a small percentage of rental transactions involve a vehicle that has been damaged. "Damages range from dents to missing equipment and from windshield cracks to total losses and unrecovered thefts," says Laura Bryant, a spokeswoman forEnterprise Holdings.
Yet, the companies admit that this small percentage adds up. Enterprise Holdings is the largest auto rental company in the country, with three brands — Enterprise, National and Alamo - that make more than 50 million rental transactions a year. Up to 1 million involve a damaged vehicle. Furthermore, out of the more than 25 million rental transitions it makes every year, Avis Budget says "tens of thousands" of its vehicles are damaged.
The most common damages are "minor dents, scratches, and glass and bumper damage, with the vast majority of these claims under $1,000," said Bryant. She also said that in more than two-thirds of Enterprise rentals that are damaged, repair costs are covered by insurance companies, employers or other third parties.
Renters who purchase a rental company's collision-damage waiver — or have it provided by a credit card issuer — usually won't be charged for loss or damage to a vehicle, the companies say. Still, a driver could be charged if they that person drove recklessly or violated terms of the rental agreement.
Moreover, the renter does not have to cause the damage to be billed for it."In signing the rental contract, customers agree to be responsible for any damage that occurs during the rental period, regardless of whether they or a third party caused the damage, just as would be the case with their own vehicle," Bryant says.
However, many frequent renters say they've been billed for damage that didn't occur while they had the car. Bobby Keenom of Meeker, Oklahoma often rents automobiles and is fighting a damage claim against National. He says a National employee climbed onto the roof when he returned an SUV at Phoenix's airport two months ago. The roof had a dent, rope burn marks, and scratches. "I was in town on business and had no reason to put anything on the roof," Keenom says. "He didn't care and said it was policy."
Matthew Hutchings, a medical sales director from Utah, had a similar experience with National. He says that his insurance company paid approximately $200 to settle a claim for windshield damage, which he was charged three weeks after he returned the car. "I drove the car with a business colleague across the parking lot from the airport to the Wichita Hilton and never went over 15 miles an hour," he said. "I am confident when I returned it back to the airport — again driving across a parking lot to the airport — there was no windshield damage."
According to John Barrows, a spokesman for Avis Budget, any employee that knowingly makes a false accusation about a customer causing damage to a vehicle would be committing "a violation of our employee code of conduct." Barrows says that the situation would be treated seriously and the employee could be fired.
Thankfully, TravelersToday has some tips to help car renters save money and protect themselves.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
