It’s a claim that has finally, and I mean finally, arrived. It was delivered yesterday.
I’ve been renting cars in Europe for 8 years now, and this is the first time I’ve had an accident (self-inflicted damage) of this magnitude. I have never had such an accident (self-inflicted damage) before.
I’d like to keep a proper record of what happened for future reference.
Local Background
In the morning of April 28, 2014, I was on my way to a beautiful village called « Viggianello » in Basilicata, Southern Italy, when I was honked by an oncoming car that was rushing into the corner at a high speed just after I turned a right angle curve with poor visibility in a small village. I was so startled that I unconsciously turned the steering wheel to the right and hit the right rear door hard against the wall of a stone house.
Not only was the door dented, but it appears that the rubber attachment that was originally attached to avoid contact was also removed. Immediately after the collision, it was difficult to find a place to stop to check, so we drove for about 5 minutes and stopped on the shoulder of a suburban road, at which time we were able to check the damage to the door.
Because it was the entrance of the curve of the narrow road, and in addition, it was a right-angle corner, it was enough to assume that the oncoming car which turned would overhang to some extent. I couldn’t help but feel resentful, but since it had already happened, there was nothing I could do about it.
In fact, the accident that I caused in the parking lot in Syracuse about a week later, in which the upper part of the right rear tire was damaged, was an accident caused by my own carelessness and I had no excuse at all.
However, as it turned out, the damage from the first collision was more significant, and the most important key was how this repair would be done.
By the way, the self-damage in Syracuse seemed to be caused by the poor setting angle of the right side mirror. I thought that there was more difference between the inside and outside of the borrowed Peugeot than I thought, but I didn’t notice the defect of the side mirror.
Everything is an experience….
By the way, what we did when we returned the car was that the person from the rental car company checked the damaged parts and took photos. Then, I had to fill out a document explaining the situation of the accident. This was OK in English.
To put it simply, « A car came out of the oncoming lane, so I quickly avoided it and hit the wall on the right. I wrote it on the spot, so I’m not sure if it’s in proper English (laughs).
Although there were these after-the-fact procedures, I was able to complete all the procedures and return the car in about 20 minutes total.
I’ve been waiting to hear from them later, and finally yesterday, I received the repair details and invoice.
Contents of repair
Now what happened to the repair and the amount?
In the beginning, a cover letter like this was attached.
請求額はカバーレター中断にありました。1.148,36 + V.A.T. 22%とのこと。相変わらずヨーロッパはVAT（付加価値税）が高い。
When I looked at my credit card statement, it ended up being « 1,401 Euro » in total, or « 199,311 Yen » in Japanese Yen. (Euro conversion: 1 euro = 142.26 yen). There is a small error (about a few euros), but I guess that’s a commission.
Of course, it’s a painful bill, but I got the impression that it was cheaper than I thought it would be, since they apparently didn’t even have to replace the door to fix it.
We’ll also look at the details of the claim.
First, the top row. Is this the list of repair contents and replacement parts?
There are some terms I don’t understand, but from a cursory glance, there don’t seem to be any unusually expensive parts.
On the other hand, the bottom row is here.
I don’t know the basis for the calculation, but the part circled in red seems to be labor costs. Most of the bill seems to be this amount. If I were in Japan, I would ask the reason until I was satisfied, but I guess it is impossible to ask in Italy…
No insurance CDW coverage?
Now, of course, this should be insurable, but when you look closely at the cover letter…
No way, it’s a typo, maybe it’s « not »…. So, maybe it’s not in the CDW list? Oh, my God…
However, I’m not one to fall down and get up for free, and I had subscribed to rentalcars.com DER. I decided to attempt this application.
What is the DER (Damage Compensation for Own Vehicle)?
If you look at the booking confirmation on rentalcar.com, you will see this.
If we were to translate this English plainly…
「もしレンタル期間中に車が損傷して現地のレンタカー会社から請求が来たとしてもrefundしますよ」
That’s right. Does that mean I don’t have to pay this bill?
Read the rentalcars.com website carefully. It looks like this
At rentalcars.com, we sell a vehicle damage waiver that you can purchase prior to using your vehicle. This is a product that allows you to claim reimbursement for the deductible you have actually paid locally. (Commissions and business guarantee fees are not covered. Terms and conditions apply.
The purchase of a vehicle damage insurance policy provides you with peace of mind in the event of an accident while renting a vehicle. We cannot automatically reimburse you if you do not report an accident, so please submit a reimbursement request with the necessary documentation.
Oh, that’s a relief!
I’m a little curious about the « disclaimer », what is the disclaimer here? It was written in the site properly.
免責とは実際事故があった場合にお客様がご負担いただく金額です。こちらは全てのレンタカー会社にて行われています。
The main driver’s credit card will be blocked on site for the duration of the rental as a security deposit. This will be refunded to you usually 7 business days after the rental is over.
この免責は弊社の自車両損害補償制度や現地販売の任意の保険で軽減または、ゼロにすることが可能です。
Hmmm, come to think of it, I think the deposit amount is already REFUNDED…. In fact, there is no charge for that on my credit card. I’m worried because I think the situation is a bit different…
In addition, this system has a bad reputation according to the Q&A on the internet overseas. refund is not accepted…
Any suggestions about Rentalcars Damage Excess Product? – Italy Message Board – TripAdvisor
If you look closely, you can actually point out that the person writing in simply doesn’t understand how this « application » works…
Anyway, there are many unknowns, but there is a lot of significance to do it. I decided to apply for it.
Apply for the DER (Damage Compensation for Own Vehicle)
You can apply for DER from « Help (bottom of the top screen) » > « Apply for DER ».
When you press this « Apply for DER (Damage Compensation for Own Vehicle) », you will go to the following screen. Enter your e-mail address at the time of reservation in the upper row and your reservation number in the lower row.
Next, confirm the reservation details, etc., and select « Make a claim against your Damage Excess Refund purchased » from the pull-down menu as shown below.
After selecting the above pull down menu, the following screen will appear below, select the damaged part of the car.
Further down the page is a section for commenting on the details of the accident, and answers to various other questions.
I created and uploaded a pdf file, which is basically all the documents sent by the rental car company, plus a credit card payment record. You can upload multiple files, and the maximum size of one file is about 3M.
The inquiry screen is only this position screen, and it submits and it advances, and the application procedure is ended.
That’s all we can do until today. Let’s wait and hope for a good reply from rentalcars.com.
Lessons for the future
Even if rentalcars.com’s DER application were to go through, once the local car rental company bills & pays, it’s also a hassle to apply for DER, honestly!
rentalcars.comで予約しDERに加入した or デフォルト加入になっていたとしても、必ず現地にて最低限CDWに加入しているかどうかを確認、他のヨーロッパ地域とは違って特に南イタリアのようにCDWが強制加入にはなっておらず任意加入になっている場合には、必ず追加で加入する
I’ll do it.
今回の失敗はこのrentalcars.comのDERだけで満足して、現地でCDWの加入についてきちんと確認しなかったことが起因でした。もっともこれって南イタリアだけなのかもしれませんが、どのエリアであっても必ず確認する癖はつけておくべきです。
I mean, in France, Germany, or any other country except Italy, there is no way that you don’t have this important insurance, and if you don’t, you will be asked at the counter if you don’t have it….
Anyway, don’t be satisfied with just the service of rentalcars.com.
As long as you keep that in mind, I think you’ll feel comfortable using rentalcars.com, which has by far the lowest prices. Because this cheap price is really great.
And another lesson learned. We now have a standard for the degree of damage and the cost of repair. Of course, the level of sheet metal cost in Europe depends on each situation, and that’s why you can’t find much useful information on the Internet.
I think it’s a big deal mentally to be able to have a standard for how much I should be prepared to pay in the event of a self-inflicted injury like this one. There is nothing more unsettling than not knowing how much you are going to pay until the bill comes.
If you live in Japan, you tend to think that you will be charged as much as a foreign car, but it seems not to be so. But it seems not so.
rentalcars.comの進捗があり次第、再度blogでこの話題に触れてみたいと思います。
