Damage to sliding door on hire van - what's the *actual* imp

[StuffedThePanelVan]

I've hired a 23 plate long wheel base van from a well known hire company.

I have excess protection with a third party insurance company I took out specifically for this hire.

I've damaged the sliding panel door on the side, scraped on a plastic bollard. There is a tiny scratch, but more importantly it's dented, visibility, with the plastic trim on the side *slightly* coming away. The door opens and closes fine, but it's clearly been damaged.

I'm a new ish driver and basically:

• I'm with a budget insurer for my car insurance.
• I have claims on my car insurance history, 1 year NCB, and my premium this year, started in December was a little over £2k.

What I'm trying to work out is:

1. I've heard stories of people being charged like £10k+ by hire companies for lost revenue. This can't be true can it? I gather my excess protection insurance won't cover this, but isn't this what the damage waiver at the rental company is for?
2. Also the van door opens and closes fine, you can just see it's dented, so surely there wouldn't be any lost revenue as it only needs to be off the road for a day or so to get a new door at worst?
3. Presumably I need to declare this to my car insurance company, but I'll retain my NCB as it wasn't on their policy. What is the impact of this likely to be on a £2k insurance policy when it comes to renewal in 11 months time?

Very frustrated with myself as, since the minor collisions I had early on after passing my test, I've gone out of my way to make my insurance cheaper - taking an advanced driving course, a skid pan session, Pass Plus, getting dashcams, being a more careful driver, and getting a NCB started. But I feel like this is going to set me back massively.

[msportpanda]

I used to work for a rental company that rhymes with swiftly when I was 18. I hit the side of the van into an obstruction and dented the living daylights out of it (first time ever driving a van), once I stopped shaking I still had to go and deliver it to the customer and it remained on rent for a few months in it's battered state until it was defleeted.

Theoretically, as most big rental car places are self insured, any claim is not logged against an individual - do with that what you will.

[StuffedThePanelVan]

msportpanda said:

I used to work for a rental company that rhymes with swiftly when I was 18. I hit the side of the van into an obstruction and dented the living daylights out of it (first time ever driving a van), once I stopped shaking I still had to go and deliver it to the customer and it remained on rent for a few months in it's battered state until it was defleeted.

Doesn't surprise me. I've hired a few vans now and most have been battered. The van works absolutely fine and frankly from a distance nobody can even see the damage, but when you get close it is a bit obvious. Makes sense that vans often lent out to people do don't normally drive vans end up coming back damaged.

msportpanda said:

Theoretically, as most big rental car places are self insured, any claim is not logged against an individual - do with that what you will.

Interesting! I assumed it would be reported under the driver's name to the central insurance database..

[Shinyfings]

Do you have a decent paintless dent person? If you can lose the dent a small scratch won’t bother them and no need to report anything to anyone.

[StuffedThePanelVan]

Shinyfings said:

Do you have a decent paintless dent person? If you can lose the dent a small scratch won’t bother them and no need to report anything to anyone.

Due back tomorrow unfortunately and everywhere is shut today. Suppose I could extend the hire and the insurance policy? The dent is quite long, but doesn't touch the company branding at the top.

[James_33]

StuffedThePanelVan said:

Shinyfings said:

Do you have a decent paintless dent person? If you can lose the dent a small scratch won’t bother them and no need to report anything to anyone.

Due back tomorrow unfortunately and everywhere is shut today. Suppose I could extend the hire and the insurance policy? The dent is quite long, but doesn't touch the company branding at the top.

I was going to suggest maybe extending the hire depending on how much that would cost and then seeing if someone could sort it at short notice before sending it back, unless it's something that needs more than a touch up and more a body shop job.

[StuffedThePanelVan]

James_33 said:

StuffedThePanelVan said:

Shinyfings said:

Do you have a decent paintless dent person? If you can lose the dent a small scratch won’t bother them and no need to report anything to anyone.

Due back tomorrow unfortunately and everywhere is shut today. Suppose I could extend the hire and the insurance policy? The dent is quite long, but doesn't touch the company branding at the top.

I was going to suggest maybe extending the hire depending on how much that would cost and then seeing if someone could sort it at short notice before sending it back, unless it's something that needs more than a touch up and more a body shop job.

Yeah would be worthwhile if I thought it would pop out.

Mind you, I might have a crack at that myself as I can get to the panel from the inside quite easily behind a screw-on plastic screen.

Pretty sure the scratch is smaller than their little template thing before they consider it chargeable.

[Auto810graphy]

Just accept you damaged it. The excess should not be any more than £1000.

[gazza285]

Most hire companies do not charge for minor damage.
Did you not accept the collision damage waiver? It is included in most van hire, and limits the excess payable.

[rallycross]

StuffedThePanelVan said:

Due back tomorrow unfortunately and everywhere is shut today. Suppose I could extend the hire and the insurance policy? The dent is quite long, but doesn't touch the company branding at the top.

If you are near surrey I use a bodyshop with quick turnarounds and low cost he does a lot of Amazon vans

[Cledus Snow]

gazza285 said:

Most hire companies do not charge for minor damage.

Yes they do.

You’ll be charged the insurance excess, you should be able to claim this back from the third party excess protection co.

[skyebear]

Cledus Snow said:

gazza285 said:

Most hire companies do not charge for minor damage.

Yes they do.

You’ll be charged the insurance excess, you should be able to claim this back from the third party excess protection co.

Depends. I normally use Enterprise who use a ruler thingy for dents, scratches and chips. So long as the damage is within it they won't charge. They also state they don't bother about kerbed wheels however any tyre damage will result in charges.

I used a great hire company in Italy where zero excess was included. When I clarified this at collection they said, "no drink driving, no smoking otherwise drop it off in any condition, we don't care".

[BikoBikoBiko]

I was in a very similar situation a little more than 5 years ago although the damage to the sliding door was a bit worse. First check the rental terms, I had to inform the rental firm within 24 hrs of the incident. When I returned the van i told them to speak to the 3rd party excess insurer, didn’t cost me a penny at the time. When I renewed the car insurance later in the year the agent said they would be able to find details of the van crash in the event of me making a claim which could invalidate the insurance- I never found out if that was a lie or not but paid higher premiums for a while.

[KungFuPanda]

You say you’ve got excess protection with a third party company. Why aren’t you using that to protect you from whatever the hire company might charge you?

[Cledus Snow]

gazza285 said:

Most hire companies do not charge for minor damage.

Yes they do.

You’ll be charged the insurance excess, you should be able to claim this back from the third party excess protection co.

[Bobupndown]

rallycross said:

If you are near surrey I use a bodyshop with quick turnarounds and low cost he does a lot of Amazon vans

He must be busy!
Not seen an Amazon van with a straight panel on it.

[HTP99]

Cledus Snow said:

gazza285 said:

Most hire companies do not charge for minor damage.

Yes they do.

You’ll be charged the insurance excess, you should be able to claim this back from the third party excess protection co.

Hired a 2 year old Fiat 500 in October from one of the big companies but the name escapes me, when signing for the car at the central desk, paperwork was presented to me detailing the recorded damage, he said if I had a look round and found more then to take pcs and show the guy when the car was returned.

There was loads of unrecorded scratches, dents, missing trim, kerbed alloys etc, upon returning the car I mentioned it to the person seeing the car in, showed him a few bits and the pictures, he said "oh we don't worry about things that size, if we did we would be here for ages", he literally glanced round it, my deposit was refunded without 10 mins.

[5lab]

A lot of excess policies specifically exclude commercial and motorhomes. Op are you sure your policy even applies here?

[Unreal]

StuffedThePanelVan said:

I've hired a 23 plate long wheel base van from a well known hire company.

I have excess protection with a third party insurance company I took out specifically for this hire.

I've damaged the sliding panel door on the side, scraped on a plastic bollard. There is a tiny scratch, but more importantly it's dented, visibility, with the plastic trim on the side *slightly* coming away. The door opens and closes fine, but it's clearly been damaged.

I'm a new ish driver and basically:

• I'm with a budget insurer for my car insurance.
• I have claims on my car insurance history, 1 year NCB, and my premium this year, started in December was a little over £2k.

What I'm trying to work out is:

1. I've heard stories of people being charged like £10k+ by hire companies for lost revenue. This can't be true can it? I gather my excess protection insurance won't cover this, but isn't this what the damage waiver at the rental company is for?
2. Also the van door opens and closes fine, you can just see it's dented, so surely there wouldn't be any lost revenue as it only needs to be off the road for a day or so to get a new door at worst?
3. Presumably I need to declare this to my car insurance company, but I'll retain my NCB as it wasn't on their policy. What is the impact of this likely to be on a £2k insurance policy when it comes to renewal in 11 months time?

Very frustrated with myself as, since the minor collisions I had early on after passing my test, I've gone out of my way to make my insurance cheaper - taking an advanced driving course, a skid pan session, Pass Plus, getting dashcams, being a more careful driver, and getting a NCB started. But I feel like this is going to set me back massively.

You say you have excess protection. Use it.

[Alex_225]

Auto810graphy said:

Just accept you damaged it. The excess should not be any more than £1000.

Basically this, there is usually a high excess, you pay that and job done.

If it were me, maybe I'd try and get that trim back on and see if they notice. They may not say anything.