What damages are a car rental agency liable for? - Germany

I have been having a rather rough experience with the rental agency Europcar which began three months ago. It has raised alot of questions for me, but after a couple hours of German Googling and checking Toytown's archives, I couldn't really find anything directly helpful. Since I can't believe I'm the only person this has ever happened to, I thought I'd check here if anyone has had to deal with something similar and knows if I'm being treated fairly or not.

To keep the story short: I rented a moving van for three days in December and put two different dents in it (roof and side door) on two different occassions. Each time, I not only damaged the van, but also some property. On the first occassion, I took down a wooden reflector post on the side of the road, and on the second, I knocked some plastic parts off of a free-standing billboard. There were never any other vehicles involved.

I was prepared to pay the deductible that I signed for (750 Euro), since I caused the damages and fair is fair. I received a bill after a month and promptly payed. But now Europcar has sent me a second bill for the 750 Euro deductible again, which they demand be payed in the next two weeks. This second bill is for the second dent. Apparently, although I rented the van with "Vollkasko", the fine print in the contract says that the deductible is a "je Schaden" deductible, meaning that for each separate nick, scratch, dent, etc., they can bill me for the first 750 Euro of repairs.

I'm pretty angry about this, since when I rent a car and pay for "Vollkasko" (comprehensive coverage) with a 750 Euro deductible, I expect that in a worst case scenario, the most I will ever be liable for is 750 Euro, but apparently this is not the case.

I also got a bill from the company that owned the billboard for the repairs to the sign, which I quickly forwarded to the car rental company after speaking with them on the telephone. Once again, I assumed that the rental company was liable for the property damages that I caused, but now I am starting to worry that they will try to throw it back on me, and I really have no time or money to start calling lawyers.

Has anyone else ever had to pay their deductible twice on a rental car? Is it because the damages are located in two different places on the car, or because the accidents took place on two different days? What exactly constitutes a "Schadenfall"?

Unfortunately, Europcar are correct in their processing of your claims. Each individual accident constitutes a separate insurance claim, and therefore a separate deductible. It would be the same if with a private vehicle. You might want to ask then for formal evidence of the repair of each piece of damage and it's cost (or an estimate) as €750 pays for quite a bit of work if it's "only" a dent.

While you are strictly liable for the damage to the billboard this is covered by the "Haftpflicht" element of the insurance policy, so will be paid by Europcars insurance, and is not subject to any deductible. You were right to forward the third party claim to them or their insurers for processing, but make sure you keep copies of all correspondence.

Alright, that's what I thought. But are you saying that because the accidents happened in two different locations on two different days that that's what gives them the right to collect the deductible twice? What I mean is, if I had told them that the exact same damages occurred all as part of the same accident, would that have meant I would only have had to pay the deductible once, or is the real point that the damage was to two different parts of the vehicle?

If you had told them that oth dents was 1 accident then it would have been 1 € 750

You had two accidents. Two claims. As said above its no different to your having two accidents to your own car.

What awful luck.

I guess this is closing the barn door after the horses have bolted, but...

If you live here and you're going to rent a vehicle in Germany - or anywhere else in the world, for that matter - it pays to first take out a Lufthansa Business credit card. Your insurance over and above the basic third-party liability everyone charges is covered if you book with that card. The basic deductible is around €300. Last I looked the annual fee was €95, which usually pays for itself even if you only rent an average car for a few days per year.

Okay, I understand what you mean. I guess I just see the difference being that if it were my own car, the insurance is a long-term perpetual contract, whereas for a rental car, I am paying for a one-time, very short-term use of the car, where I see the insurance with a max 750 Euro deductible as being my protection against being bled out in case of an accident.

Thanks for your answers, though. I can see now that there's no point in fighting the second deductible.

For anyone who is considering renting a car from Europcar, I would tell them, though, to be very careful in believing what their poorly informed desk personnel tell you in answer to any questions you might have. Upon returning the damaged vehicle, I was informed that "with the second damage report, I would definitely exhaust my 750 Euro deductible," but not that I'd be liable for more than that.

I was also scolded in the "Du-Form" by the young prick behind the counter for not carrying a "private Haftpflichtversicherung", which (in his opinion) would have covered property damages I might have caused with a rental car. Five minutes of internet research showed this to be completely wrong. A private Haftpflichtversicherung does not cover any damages you cause with your own vehicle, much less a rented one. After contact with a few different people at the location I rented from, I discovered none of them were able to answer even the most basic questions about what the insurance I paid for when renting the car actually covered. Basically, they are just there to print out the contract for you and hand you a pen to sign with. Beyond that, they seem to know nothing really.

Which is exactly what it was - twice.
Worse than that, they earn individual commission for additional insurance they can sell you, so their motivation is to sell, not to help or provide honest answers...

So he'd have paid "around" €600 instead of €1500. Better, but not much...

Yeah, still expensive. Of course you can usually get no-deductable coverage on a rental if you're willing to pay the gouge they ask for it.

No, but at this point, after having to shell out €750 already and unexpectedly getting the bill for the next €750, €600 doesn't sound so bad anymore. For the rare occassions in the future when I rent a car for only a few days, I will definitely be paying the extra €25 or €50 to lower the deductible, and protect myself from something like this happening again.

Although you might not get many good deals on vans, most of the consolidation agencies such as DriveFTI, Sixt Urlaubwelt and Autoeurope offer their rental cars without deductible. Sixt Urlaub is usually cheaper than the parent company Sixt, and includes this facility with every rental. It's really meant for vacation hire. but works just as well on single day rental in Germany

Do you have insurance on your personal car? Depending on your coverage sometimes it extends to rentals.

(Usually) only as far as the Haftpflicht, not as far as damage to the rented vehicle or the deductible.

You can also try driving more carefully next time.