Auto Insurance Claims: Rental Car Accident, hyundai elentra, rental car company

Question
I was driving northbound on 101 near sanjose with a rental car from AVIS without insurance. Due to traffic I slowed down a little bit. But the driver behind me, was not paying attention to the road (cellphone messaging) and hit the back bumper of the rental Hyundai Elentra car (Slight paint scratch on the back bumper). Police came and wrote a report. And the guy had insurance. So it would be no problem because he was liable and the insurance should have paid. I returned the car. Everything was fine. I wrote down the accident for avis that I was hit from behind to the back bumper. But after 2 month, (29 Fen 2008) I recieved a mail that they claimed 1094$ for the accident. First problem is that the car had already a minor hit on its trunk (upper edge, a coin-sized damage), that was there before renting. However, when I got it from LA airport rental location (I changed the car during my trip because of oil problems), nobody inspected the car and I thought they have it on their records (and I think in airports they don't check the car before giving you the keys, and I didn't check the car in the airport). Now they have fixed everything by a mechanic and they have supposed that it was me who caused that hit on the trunk. But it was there from before. So they have charged me for that fix too. Next issue is that, I think they should get the money from that guy's insurance company and not me. They were supposed to do that as they are the owners of the car.

would you Please tell me what should I do ?

Thank you so much for your help ,

Truly yours ,
Mehrdad

Answer
Hi Mehrdad,

When you rent a car you are personally responsible for any damage that is on the car even if someone else is af-fault for the damage. The rental car company will not go after the at fault person because your rental contract says that you are responsible no matter what.

You will need to contact the at-fault persons insurance comapny to file a claim. You will need to present all documentatin of the accident (police report) and all documentation of the repairs (repair estimate). You should just assume that the small dent in the trunk is part of the accident. The other insurance company will do an investigation and will pay either you or th rental car company.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh