Five years later, he gets $14,700 bill for rental car |

Avis would like Dominic Changco to fork out $14,700 after a single of its rentals gets water harm. But why did it consider 5 a long time to get the paperwork?

Q: I rented a automobile in Maui from Alamo in 2017. It rained closely for a person day and the motor vehicle ground turned soaked. All doorways and home windows have been closed.

I observed water leaking from the vents, indicating perhaps faulty weatherstripping. Business, which owns Alamo, now states it salvaged the motor vehicle and the motor won’t begin, even nevertheless we drove it there. They want me to pay back $14,700 for the motor vehicle. Can you assist me get this assert dropped? — Dominic Changco, Salinas, Calif.

A: It’s really unusual for a car or truck rental company to acquire 5 years to system a declare. For that reason by itself, I decided to search into your circumstance.

You should really hardly ever, ever, pay back for harm to a rental car. Ahead of you rent, be certain that you have sufficient insurance coverage. You can get coverage via your car policy, your credit card, the car rental company, or on the net by way of a enterprise like InsureMyRentalCar.com. But whatever you do, do not hire a auto devoid of insurance policy.

Other than the timing, there have been a number of a lot more unusual items about your scenario. You say you drove the car to the Avis ton. But now Avis (through Business) promises that the motor vehicle is inoperable.

You also claimed you had the windows and doorways shut, nevertheless the h2o still came into the car or truck. If that transpired anywhere else in the entire world, that could possibly have been not likely. But we’re talking about Maui, which is one particular of the rainiest areas on the planet. Major Lavatory on Maui is the seventh-wettest put in the earth.

The actual question is who is dependable for weatherproofing the rental auto — you or the rental car or truck enterprise? I would say it is on the car rental enterprise to send out out a car that’s roadworthy. But it is a shared accountability. It is also up to the driver to make positive the car is operated safely and carefully. I don’t think you could have acknowledged that your auto couldn’t endure the rain until it was too late.

A different challenge with your scenario is that you did not have any paperwork. It seems like you had either misplaced it or discarded it, hoping that the Avis declare was in the earlier. Only it wasn’t.

You could have contacted Business about your case to come across out why it took so lengthy to get this situation settled. I list the names, quantities and e-mails of aOrganization executives/a on my purchaser advocacy web-site, Elliott.org.

I asked Company about your $14,700 bill. A consultant acknowledged that a five-12 months hold out was “a bit strange.”

“Our data reveal that the automobile in this case sustained flood problems at a lodge,” the agent mentioned. “The resort denied coverage, and the purchaser did not have a hurt waiver. There was a refusal to pay the damages that was documented and then next, there was a series of subsequent observe-up communications amongst us and the customer with regards to payment. The consumer has been despatched to collections for non-payment, and I imagine the letter he sent you is the most latest letter from collections.”

Business would not drop the declare, but you continue to have selections. You can find out if the credit history card you made use of to rent the vehicle would fork out for the problems. Or you can call your car insurance coverage to find out if you may possibly be lined. In any situation, this is not the close of your road.

Christopher Elliott is the main advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy. Electronic mail him at [email protected] or get assistance with any consumer trouble by calling him at http://www.elliott.org/assist