QuestionA couple of questions but let me set the stage by giving you some background. A couple of months back I parked my car and went in the grocery store. When I came out, I find out that a lady had run into my parked car. Her insurance paid for the damage. That said, while my car was in the shop, I had to get a rental car, which her insurance paid for. At the time of picking up the rental, as her insurance was paying for it, I did not think to pay for rental insurance coverage (realize now that may have been a mistake). Well, as luck would have it, the next day while I'm driving the rental I get into a fender bender, which was my fault.
Knowing that I would probably have to pay for the damages out of pocket (my insurance deductible is $1000), I stopped by a local autobody shop to get a quote as to how much the damages would be before taking the car back to the rental agency. The shop gave me an estimate of $565. I then took the car back to the rental shop and offered to take the car into the shop and pay for it to get it fixed (I also gave them a copy of the estimated repairs I had rec'd). They informed me that I couldn't do that and that the repairs would have to go through their national organization, and that I would likely receive a bill later for the damages.
Fast forward several months, and I have now just gotten a bill for $1150, which is what they are saying was the cost to repair the vehicle. So, obviously I am a little peeved that the bill they are sending me is for more than double the estimated cost I had gotten from my local repair shop. My question is, do I have any case in calling the rental company and telling them that I am being overcharged for the damages, and am only willing to pay the amount of the repairs which had been given to me as an estimate?
Second question, and I realize this is probably a stretch, but given that I was in the rental car in the first place due to an accident that I was not at fault in, should the insurance company that was covering my rental costs have paid for rental insurance coverage? Any way that there could be some sort of recourse back to them?
AnswerHi Jason,
I'll answer the second question first.
The insurance company from the first accident is not responsible for paying for the rental car insurance. Your personal insurance covers you while you are in a rental car. The fact that you selected a $1,000.00 deductible is a personal decision on your part.
As for the repair costs; you should request that the rental car claims department provide you with a copy of the detailed repair estimate from the body shop that did the work. You can then compare the details of that estimate to the one that you obtained to look for any differences. Without seeing the estimates it's hard for me
to tell why one was double the other. It is possible that the estimate you received included repairing some of the parts while the actual repair may have included replacing those same parts. Due the the fact that most rental cars are new current model year vehicles, they generally will not allow any parts to be repaired and must be replaced since these vehicle are generally kept by the rental companies for a short time and then are sold. Also you want to look on the details of the estimate for things like administrative charges(which are not owed).
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
