pritch Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 After inheriting a load of kit, we needed to move it, so a van has been hired. Whilst negotiating a particularly tight corner, the side of the van encountered a wrought iron fence (which had clearly been hit a few times by other people, judging by the state of it). Initial thoughts were to T-cut this out and hope that nobody noticed, but it's quite a deep scratch, and about 18" long. I'm guessing someone here will have experience of having a minor prang in a hire van. How much fuss did the rental company kick up? Did they take money off you? Fortunately two other crew members were with me, who have agreed that it was an utter swine of a corner, so hopefully I can manage to escape some of the wrath of our treasurer when I hand her my expenses claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpitkin Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 It depends really, if the van wasnt in as new condition when you got it, the company may be ok about it... A few months ago we had a hire van out for a week or so, and it was reasonably new, and got charged for every dent and mark in the bulkhead, a bit of step that was so weak it had snapped off, oh and a dent at top back corner from reversing in to a tree, which clearly was our fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 Largely my thinking, actually. It's an 04 reg, so quite old for a hire vehicle. The offside is showing evidence of previous dings, so my argument would be that I've just given the nearside a matching look! Edit: Bugger me, it's a big van. I've just looked out of my kitchen window, and it's sitting outside, dwarfing my Landy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 Whilst negotiating a particularly tight corner, the side of the van encountered a wrought iron fence... Initial thoughts were to T-cut this out and hope that nobody noticed, but it's quite a deep scratch, and about 18" long.Or in other words: to attempt to defraud the hire company. Tsk tsk I'm guessing someone here will have experience of having a minor prang in a hire van. How much fuss did the rental company kick up? Did they take money off you?It's been a while since I hired anything, but the last time I did, there was an "insurance deposit", refundable upon safe return of the vehicle, in the condidtion it was hired in. All dents and scratches present on collection were noted on a sheet which was shown to me and signed for. Any additional damage on return would lead to automatic loss of said deposit. Fortunately two other crew members were with me, who have agreed that it was an utter swine of a corner...Maybe, but ultimately the driver is responsible, so any additional charges will be at the discretion of the hire company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 Fortunately two other crew members were with me, who have agreed that it was an utter swine of a corner...Maybe, but ultimately the driver is responsible, so any additional charges will be at the discretion of the hire company. I'm aware of that, I'm just trying to think of ways to avoid incurring the wrath of our treasurer when I hand in the (slightly larger than expected) bill for hiring the vehicle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 It is always driver error! The exact terms of hire insurance and the age and prior condition of the vehicle will determine the company's attitude. I hired a car a while ago and a small black mark on the rear bumper -like a mark from a rubber sole- had been listed as charged to a previous hirer. A hire co can spot a dink in their vehicle at 50 paces. If it is truly only an adhesive dirty mark then cleaning it off is fair, if thesurface is damaged then the hire co will see your attempt to cover up (the extent of ) the damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 And bear in mind that if you do try to cover it up the hire company would probably charge you to remove the work you had done to cover it and then again to repair it properly (I've had this with paintwork in a building before) - it will also piss them off more.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 I should probably point out that the idea of T-cutting it out lasted for all of about five minutes. This was until I saw just how big it was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzerman Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 Try ringing up one of those dent removal companies from the Yellow Pages. They really are cack-hot at getting dings out of your motor, so long as there isn't a crease in it. Even if there is, they can get most of it out. I think they charge roundabout £40 depending on the size of the ding. Certainly worth a call, I'd say. The good thing about a van is that they can get behind most of the panels which helps them knock/pull/suck them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 Try ringing up one of those dent removal companies from the Yellow Pages. I'm really not that bothered. I was only really wondering *if* they'd charge me; probably a bit silly asking the question of a load of people who haven't seen the damage, and don't work for van hire companies, I suppose. At the end of the day, it's an 04 plate, so it's seen a bit of action in its life, I'm hoping they may just ignore it. If they don't, that's life, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 Did you put down a deposit? the last van I pranged, they kept the £250 excess I had to leave as a deposit. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 the last van I hired had the usual bumps and scrapes on it. As has been said, all these were marked on an official sheet, there was one particularly bad mark from the wheel arch to the back corner which looked like someone turning too fast and the slight overhang cathing a fence or railing or something. I asked the guy if he knew how that one had happened. He said. oh... I've missed that one, good job you spotted it or you'd have been charged for it. he laughed, somehow I failed to see the funny side. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundo26 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Unfortunately, a hire co will always charge for damage as that is part of their business and if the person that did the damage doesn't pay then they will have to. Just consider yourself lucky that the damage is only minor, a company I once worked for hired a van to do a job and the tech driving it had an accident that put the van off the road. Our company had to cover the hire cost until the hire co got round to getting it fixed (5weeks) plus the cost of repair, an extremely hefty bill in the end!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 I've seen both extremes - taking a hire vehicle back and having it checked witha fine-tooth comb is the norm. However, we once took back a tranny van which the driver (not me, honest!) had attempted to take into a basement car park which didn't have enough clearance. We had to let the tyres down to get the thing out. The guy at the hire company said "don't worry about it...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonino Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 it also depends how frequent/likely to be a frequent customer you are as to if they'll bill you or not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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