Wow talk about overly dramatic. So you damaged a car owned by a big corporation. Did you really expe

A couple of days ago I posted about how I (stupidly) had an accident in my rental car in Germany , and you guys were more helpful than I could have ever dreamed of, so thank you! Up front, here s a picture of the damage, since a lot of you have been asking just how bad it was:
I was driving without a driver's side mirror so was worried I'd be pulled over by the police, las vegas luxury sport car rentals though amazingly enough I didn't see a single police car until we were on the airport grounds about to return the car, at which point the police car followed us.
He drove up close behind me and it looked like they were running the license plate. I made a left turn and the cop made a left turn as well. Crap. Fortunately when I turned into the rental car return area the cop didn't follow me, so at least I didn't have to deal with the police.
I was even more terrified of the reaction I'd have to deal with from the people at the rental car agency. Munich Airport has contract workers that handle rental car returns, so all agencies' cars are returned in the same place, and employees come up to your car once you park it to take the keys, record las vegas luxury sport car rentals the speedometer, etc.
I was embarrassed and terrified about the situation, so as the guy walked up to my car I simply said "I had a bit of an accident, unfortunately." He didn't say a word, took a few pictures of the damage using the portable tablet he had, and said "okay." "Okay?!?" I was fully expecting someone like Matt from "Operation Repo" to come outside and kick my a$$ when they saw my accident, las vegas luxury sport car rentals though las vegas luxury sport car rentals there was none of that.
He said "okay, and what do you want me to do?" I said "shouldn't las vegas luxury sport car rentals I fill out a form or something?" He walked las vegas luxury sport car rentals away and said "you can fill out this form." I just had to write down my name, address, and my recap of the accident (aka "I'm an idiot and hit a pole"). He photocopied it and sent me on my way. He said they would contact me if I needed to pay anything, though said when the damage isn't too bad they usually won't even contact the person.
las vegas luxury sport car rentals So yeah, that was far too easy. Maybe they deal with accidents all the time, but I was amazed by how calm/lax everyone was about it. I figured a manager would be called right away, he'd ridicule me, and then I'd have to fill out paperwork for hours.
I'm not sure what exactly I should do now. I believe I have 30 days to file my claim with American Express. My Europcar rental came with 1,050 Euros worth of insurance, which is the standard for them, so I'm not sure if that will cover it or not (I suspect not?).
las vegas luxury sport car rentals Do I contact las vegas luxury sport car rentals American Express anyway to open a claim, or should I wait a couple of weeks to see when Europcar contacts me, still leaving plenty of time for me to file a claim with American Express if need be?
Thanks again to everyone for their help, and I've gotta say this experience was at pleasant as I could possibly imagine (well, within the realm of being an accident). Unfortunately I suspect it s not over yet, but I guess we ll see!
Actually, your rental most probably didn t come with 1,050 Euros of insurance but 1,050 Euros is the amount you have to pay yourself and the rest is insured. That s how it usually works with rentals here in Germany.
Rotten luck. The vehicle will have been inspected and damage assessed after you left the outstation. Fortunately the damage las vegas luxury sport car rentals does appear to be limited to the door panel but Europcar s repair shop may elect to repaint the adjacent panels. Going on past experience you re probably looking at around €2,000 of repairs. Paintwork is frighteningly expensive. It s worth double checking the excess on your CDW €1,050 does seem high but annoyingly it s not unusual. An invoice will be sent out to you. Stay calm, and in the meantime explore other insurance policies you have to see if they will cover the excess. Good luck!
Lucky, I had a similar accident in Iceland last year. The dealership can t do much until they take it to a shop. In my case, I don t have auto insurance and I didn t pay for any CDW, the car rental company deducted about 1,800USD from my VISA Signature card after sending me the invoice from the shop. I filed a case with VISA signature and was eventually able to get all my money back (took about 4-5 month). las vegas luxury sport car rentals Make sure you keep all the picture, documents, police report and rental agreement. I suggest you file a claim with AMEX asap so you get the process las vegas luxury sport car rentals started. The process with VISA signature las vegas luxury sport car rentals was done all online, didn t speak to one customer service throughout this process. Good Luck.
Like other I assume the 1050 EUR is Selbstbehalt, i.e. the amount of money you have to pay to Europcar yourself if you have an accident. Should be the maximun you have to pay (if this assumption is right).
My advise is to read t c and contact AmEx as soon as possible and finally ask them about the procedures. Usually las vegas luxury sport car rentals you have to fill out a police report (even if no other car was involved but a tree, pole, sign, etc.)
If you rented the car with an Amex Platinum make sure you read the fine print. Most of these policies require that you notify Amex or the insurance underwriter las vegas luxury sport car rentals within a certain time. Amex process should be relatively painless from prior experience as long as you followed the instructions and terms conditions. I m not sure if Amex will be hung up on the fact that there is already an insurance involved as usually they say you should decline all additional insurance with the rental company.
Yes, you must open a claim now with Amex. It might be months before you hear anything from the rental car company and then it will be too late. Opening a claim with Amex will not affect your personal auto insurance rates.
las vegas luxury sport car rentals Wow talk about overly dramatic. So you damaged a car owned by a big corporation. Did you really expect las vegas luxury sport car rentals the employees to care all that much about what you did to a car they don t personally own? I m sure they see these types of things 100x a day.
Twenty years ago I totaled a brand new car in Germany by sliding las vegas luxury sport car rentals backwards on a narrow, steep icy road that serviced a retreat site just outside of Munich. I had the choice of sliding off the downhill side of the road which would have been a fatal event or guiding the car into a tree on the uphill side of the road. The tree literally bisected the car in two. I had rented the vehicle on a Mileage Plus premium car with insurance. After 6 months, las vegas luxury sport car rentals I finally received a bill from the rental car agency for ~$8000 which was the cost of the repair. (I was shocked that they were able to put that car back together again). las vegas luxury sport car rentals Unfortunately the insurance coverage on the MP card required that claims be submitted within 90 days of an accident. Before paying the bill, I wrote to Mileage las vegas luxury sport car rentals Plus explaining the accident and through unclear mechanisms they they interceded. I ended up paying nothing. I do not know if this reflected the many thousands of dollars las vegas luxury sport car rentals I have spent with United or if there was a loop hole that the credit las vegas luxury sport car rentals card company was able to exploit. In any event I very much doubt that I would receive similar treatment in today s economy.
I am suprised nobody has brought up the loss of use charges that rental car agencies add on to the damage claims. Insurance companies do not cover the loss of rental income during the vehicles down time. If they bill you for this it is usually at rack rate for each day the vehicle is out unrentable. This amount can be negotiated during settlement.
15 years ago, I returned a rental car with a broken side window (thieves). The agency said I d get something in the mail when the damage was assessed. I didn t, so I didn t file with my insurance company or credit las vegas luxury sport car rentals card. About 3 months later, I got a second notice in the mail from the rental company, and by then it was too late to report under the policy deadlines, and I ended up out of pocket about $350.
I would call Amex ASAP. The rental company is apt to simply charge your card on file for any damage they believe you owe. As the CDW waiver on the platinum card is your primary insurance, Amex will likely not bill you for the damage las vegas luxury sport car rentals charge until the accident is resolved (hopefully in your favor with no billing at all.)This way you won t be out of pocket for any money while waiting on Amex to settle the claim.
The credit card coverage is primary outside of the US because unless you have a rider covering you for international driving your US policy is not valid outside the states. The only way the rental company has to collect funds from you is to charge your card and I am sure that is in the fine print of the rental contract. While they should notify las vegas luxury sport car rentals you before they do it, I would not count on it.
As for notifying your US insurance carrier, I will leave that up to you. Many policies have a clause las vegas luxury sport car rentals requiring you to notify them of any accident in which you are involved, even if you are judged not at fault or if their coverage would not apply. While I don t think that they wold ever be able to find out, read your own policy first to see if this is a requirement. las vegas luxury sport car rentals Most (maybe all) insurance las vegas luxury sport car rentals companies use a clearing house for claims and mvrs. These are checked on policy renewals even if you have not reported anything directly. I don t think either service has international data (maybe Canada and Mexico, but surely not EU.)
I would definitely talk to someone at AMEX now and let them help you through the process. I wouldn t expect to hear from anyone at Europcar in the near future, they might not even contact you further and just bill your card for the repairs. IMO, it s better to get ahead of it than wait for a larger problem to manifest.
Agree with Paul s excellent post. As well, it is best to contact AMEX NOW as there is definitely a time limit on contacting the CC companies. You ll likely las vegas luxury sport car rentals only be on for the deductible. I always buy down the deductible when I m renting there as basic deductible amounts can be very high, but YMMV.
1050 sounds like the standard cdw excess. Given the damage, they probably will charge you this amount. You should open a case with Amex right now, they probably then reques