What to do if had an at-fault accident in a rental car?
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What to do if had an at-fault accident in a rental car?
My primary insurance paid most of the bill. My credit card rental car insurance would not pay the balance because I did not return their claim forms in time. The car rental agency sent the claim to a “claims management company”, and tacked on another $250 to the bill for “administrative fees”. The bill included $500 deductible, 25 days loss of use @ $49/day = $1225, diminished value = $869.86 (25% of damage), and $250 for a total of $2844.86. I don’t dispute the deductible, but the loss of use and diminished value numbers both seem high, and the $250 is just an arbitrary amount tacked on. Is there any way to get these numbers reduced?
Asked on January 23, 2015 under Accident Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You can negotiate with them: you can let them know that you believe that these numbers are too-high and will not pay them, but will pay a lesser amount--and that if you can't come to an agreement, you'll refuse to pay, they'll have to sue you to try to recover the money. They don't want to sue--there's alwasy a chance of losing, and lawsuits cost money and take time anyway. You can probably get the number down to around $1,200 $1,500, which may be worth paying for you, since in a lawsuit, while you might get a lower amount, you also could potentially be held liable for the whole thing.
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