QuestionQUESTION: hi, i was in an accident last year. i was driving a rental car at the time and paid the rental expenses with a visa card and declined the CDW on the car too.
so, the visa company had to cover the damages to the rental vehicle as i fitted in their category(acc. to their listed norms).
i did not have collision damage insurance on my existing car.
now, the visa has agreed on a settlement amount which is less that the amount cited by the rental company. and as such the rental company is charging me the difference.
what do i do, i thought i was well covered but the visa company says that they cannot force the rental company to reach an agreement.
does that mean i have to pay the difference?.
what options do i have, cause i think it is the responsibility of the visa company to cover the damages and i should not have to pay any difference.
kindly advise
ANSWER: Hi Zaheedaa,
CDW is not an insurance policy controlled by the state laws in which a car is rented and the benefits and restrictions so CDW vary from different auto rental firms.
Likewise, the benefit provided under your Visa card is not an insurance policy and does not meet the insurance laws of your state of residence. The benefit provided by the Visa card varies depending on the rules of the bank that issued the card.
Unless you retained the brochure mailed to you by the bank that issued your Visa card, you are going to need to ask for a copy so
you can learn the exact provisions.
It appears that one of several things may be happening. Your Visa company may disagree with the amount that is being quoted to repair the car and are offering a lesser amount. It is also standard in the rental car agreement that you owe them for lost income while the damaged car was out of service for repairs. There is a strong possibility that your Visa benefits do not cover that portion and that may be the amount for which you are being billed.
You need to discuss this issue more thoroughly with Visa and the rental agency to learn the source of the extra charges.
I hope this information has been of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: as per my conversation with Visa, they are covering most of the part of the claim inclusive of the loss of use of the vehicle, they are just trying to knock off 10% of the value of the car in an effort to get a reasonable negotiation.
also, the rental company maintains its stand that she cannot approve of this knock off price because the value of the car at the date of Loss is in fact more that what she quoted acc. to NADA.
how do i convince Visa to reach a negotiation?
AnswerHi Zaheedaa,
In my opinion, as long as Visa is convinced that the damage estimate is 10% to high, they are not going to pay a higher amount.
All you can do is keep talking to Visa and the Rental agency and try to get each side to compromise a little and settle the claim.
Good Luck,
Bennie
