Rental car scratches and I did not cause them – What to do

It’s the moment every renter fears: you walk back to your car and see it. A scratch, a small dent, or worse, a chipped windscreen. What happens next? For most people, this one scratch can turn into a $500 to $1,000 charge, often weeks after they get home. 

I’ve been there. In this guide, I’m going to walk you through the three phases of a damage claim and show you how to ensure you never pay a dollar out of pocket.

Phase 1: Get Prepared – Build Your Financial Firewall

The best time to deal with a scratch is actually before you even get the keys. This is Phase One, where you build your Financial Support.

Usually, a rented car comes with a mandatory Third Party Liability Insurance and more often than not a CDW, or Collision Damage Waver; however, there is usually a deductible or ‘excess,’ that can go from 1,000 dollars or euros to a massive 7,000.

This is your out-of-pocket money, and if there are one or more scratches or dents, you are going to pay for them up to that amount.

I wrote a full, comprehensive guide in case you are not familiar with car rental insurance.

But let’s move on, when you pick up the car at the desk, they will warn you and try to upsell their overpriced insurance, which sometimes doesn’t even cover the entire out-of-pocket for 30 to 50 dollars or euros a day, which may be even a higher price than the cost of the car itself.

I know, that’s a steep price.

I personally always do full insurance, but not at the desk, way too expensive. Instead, for the last 5 years, I have been booking my cars on a comparison website called DiscoverCars that works as an Airbnb for car rentals, where every provider is rated with genuine customer reviews between 5 and 10 stars.

I usually filter above 8 or even 9 stars to get the most trusted operators and book from that shortlist, usually at a great price, and now comes the best, I can include a full comprehensive insurance for just 8-9 Euros or dollars a day.

It costs a fraction of the desk price and saves me from the usual upsell.

Phase 2: Rental car scratched while parked

Let’s move to phase two, the moment of the damage. Let me say first that whether you cause the damage or not, you must assume you will be blamed. 

So a good rule of thumb is always document the car before you drive out of the car rental parking area. Take plenty of photos around the car, both interior and exterior of the car, including close-ups of the roof, the wheels, the undercarriage and inside the windscreen.

This proves the initial status of the car.

Last year, I rented a car in Milan for a roadtrip of the Italian lakes. After a couple of days, I was at the supermarket, and once back, I noticed someone bumped into my car and damaged it. Not a big one, but still, super annoying as they did not leave any phone number.

Once back, the rental company charged e 450 Euros. Luckily, I had that 8Euro full insurance, which I was refunded after a couple of days.

Now, if a scratch occurs and you cause it, bad luck, take a few photos and move on because you have full insurance, assuming you followed my previous suggestions.

However, if another car is involved, call the police immediately, regardless of how small the scratch is. Insurance companies typically want a police report.

And I know, in a few countries, police will not come, but at least document your effort to call, take photos of the damage, the license plate, documents and get the phone number of the other car driver.

Finally, let the car rental company know if there’s considerable damage.

Phase 3: Dropping off the car

The drop-off time is when the rental agent inspects the car. 

If you did not buy zero-excess insurance or full insurance, the agent will find a scratch, and they will immediately charge the cost of the repair, up to your deductible, based on the size of the damage, right there, on your credit card. 

If you have Full Coverage, for example, the one from DiscoverCars, the rental company will still charge you directly for the deductible. The process is PAY AND CLAIM. You must pay and then file a claim through DiscoverCars, and they will refund the money to you, usually within 1-2 weeks. 

I personally damaged a car for 4,500 AUD on a trip when I rented a car in Sydney/Australia, and I got fully refunded in 2 weeks.

If you prefer to take the insurance at the counter, it’s going to be much more expensive; however, in case of any damage, they handle the claim internally and will not charge your credit card in the first place. You pay for peace of mind, but at a huge daily cost.

A few shady operators may try to claim pre-existing damages, but hopefully, you took photos when you collected the car, and you can prove the original status. 

Key takeaways

To wrap up: What happens if you scratch a rental car? The rental company will always charge you. But your job is simple:

1. Buy a full, cheap, web insurance upfront,
2. Pay the damage charge, and
3. Claim every dollar back.

It really is that simple.