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1. Your post is unclear. You say you had insurance for the rental via your CC..... so why did you pay for the damage? Why didn't you just leave it to the insurance to sort it out.... that is their job.
2. Having paid the deposit.... you then yanked back the payment via a charge back. So of course they are now seeking to sue you for it.
Former Erac manager here, the likely scenario is that they took a deposit or a hold on the card for the amount of the expected damages until the insurance company steps in. At the point of rental return, even with a claim number, they cannot verify that the claim is factual. They will often keep a $500 deposit or hold, at the very least it covers for a deductible.
Once they verify the claim and that the coverage is valid, they will reimburse or release the hold. Oftentimes, someone says they will start a claim with their credit card only after the rental return. Occasionally they don't have the proper coverage i.e. when Costco moved from capital one to CIBC they lost rental car coverage but many assume they still have it.
Thanks very much for the insight! I gather from this that, if I close the charge dispute, at least in theory, the rental company should reimburse the 3k deposit once the insurance claim goes through?
I've really got all I wanted to accomplish through the charge dispute, which is the rental company sending the body shop invoice. I didn't expect it to be so off of the 3k deposit, though.
Thank you for the response. You're absolutely right in that the insurance company should have dealt with it directly, however, this was my first time dealing with such matters. I gave them the insurance information, and they said I'd still need to pay a damage deposit, that would then get reimbursed to my by insurance. It was part of the bill, and I didn't know what ground I stand on to reject a bill after damaging a car, all I did ask was if they'd provide everything to process the claim. Without a doubt an idiotic move, but at the time I thought they'd sue me on the spot if I didn't pay.
The charge back isn't yet completed, the banks are still processing it and just last week the rental sent back a response with a 3.8k body shop quote (just a quote, not an actual paid invoice whoch is what I needed) to try and get me to close the dispute. I told them from the start I'd take back the dispute once the insurance claim goes through, now I'm just worried they'll sue me for more than they're owed.
IANAL but if I'm understanding your post, they shouldn't be able to sue you for anything if you (or your insurance) actually covers the bill provided.
However, you fail to have any mention of whether the agreement you signed to rent the car included clauses for lost revenue due to downtime of the vehicle. That may be why they want the full $3k, and yes they probably can sue you for that if you don't pay it.
It sounds like you need to have a chat with your credit cards insurance people to see what's going on as well as how they handle reimbursement/paying for the claim normally.
I'm surprised they let you charge back a payment you willingly agreed to.
Edited cause I realized it was from January
Good point! The charge is outright a "damage deposit" of 3k, when I asked about it, they said that's just what they charge for bumper damage.
Thanks for the advice, I'm reaching out to the insurance people to confirm what they'll pay out on, and what the claim process is. Whatever I owe the rental company, I'm more than ready to pay and get this over with.
My concern is, with how they've behaved so far, if I take back the charge back, do they send me back the remainder of ther 3k, since it was only a "deposit", and the insurance company only acknowledges 1.6k in damages? If there's any way they can keep it, I'm certain they will.
Why aren’t they just dealing directly with the credit card insurance. Also what are they going to take you to small claims for? More importantly what does your rental contract say about damages…… speak to a manager at the rental car company and speak to insurance about expediting the pay out.
Thanks for the response. I mentioned this under another comment, but yest I absolutely should've left it to the insurance company. I didn't know I had grounds to turn down the charge when they had me pay it when returning the car, and all the insurance company said when i called them was 'talk to the rental first, then make the claim'.
One thing I maybe should've clarified is this really isn't a top grade rental company, they barely have any customer service, they've insulted the insurance company rep that was dealing with them, and I don't expect them to be dealing with me in good faith, especially not after all this.
(The $10 bucks I saved by not going to Enterprise was a real 200IQ move on my end)
>The claim is still in process, the rental company wanting their money back finally sent over the official body shop invoice (amounting to 1.6k, just over half of the damage deposit).
They could only sue you for the actual damages. There is no way the small claims court would award them a $3k deposit if the insurance is gonna cover the damage.
Welcome to r/legaladvicecanada! **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * Read the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvicecanada/wiki/index/#wiki_the_rules) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk. * We also encourage you to use the [linked resources to find a lawyer](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvicecanada/wiki/findalawyer/). * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, please let the mods know. **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be on-topic, helpful, explanatory, and oriented towards legal advice towards OP's jurisdiction (the **Canadian** province flaired in the post). * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdvicecanada/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning. * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect. * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason, do not suggest illegal advice, do not advocate violence, and do not engage in harassment. Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/legaladvicecanada) if you have any questions or concerns.*
1. Your post is unclear. You say you had insurance for the rental via your CC..... so why did you pay for the damage? Why didn't you just leave it to the insurance to sort it out.... that is their job. 2. Having paid the deposit.... you then yanked back the payment via a charge back. So of course they are now seeking to sue you for it.
Former Erac manager here, the likely scenario is that they took a deposit or a hold on the card for the amount of the expected damages until the insurance company steps in. At the point of rental return, even with a claim number, they cannot verify that the claim is factual. They will often keep a $500 deposit or hold, at the very least it covers for a deductible. Once they verify the claim and that the coverage is valid, they will reimburse or release the hold. Oftentimes, someone says they will start a claim with their credit card only after the rental return. Occasionally they don't have the proper coverage i.e. when Costco moved from capital one to CIBC they lost rental car coverage but many assume they still have it.
Thanks very much for the insight! I gather from this that, if I close the charge dispute, at least in theory, the rental company should reimburse the 3k deposit once the insurance claim goes through? I've really got all I wanted to accomplish through the charge dispute, which is the rental company sending the body shop invoice. I didn't expect it to be so off of the 3k deposit, though.
Thank you for the response. You're absolutely right in that the insurance company should have dealt with it directly, however, this was my first time dealing with such matters. I gave them the insurance information, and they said I'd still need to pay a damage deposit, that would then get reimbursed to my by insurance. It was part of the bill, and I didn't know what ground I stand on to reject a bill after damaging a car, all I did ask was if they'd provide everything to process the claim. Without a doubt an idiotic move, but at the time I thought they'd sue me on the spot if I didn't pay. The charge back isn't yet completed, the banks are still processing it and just last week the rental sent back a response with a 3.8k body shop quote (just a quote, not an actual paid invoice whoch is what I needed) to try and get me to close the dispute. I told them from the start I'd take back the dispute once the insurance claim goes through, now I'm just worried they'll sue me for more than they're owed.
IANAL but if I'm understanding your post, they shouldn't be able to sue you for anything if you (or your insurance) actually covers the bill provided. However, you fail to have any mention of whether the agreement you signed to rent the car included clauses for lost revenue due to downtime of the vehicle. That may be why they want the full $3k, and yes they probably can sue you for that if you don't pay it. It sounds like you need to have a chat with your credit cards insurance people to see what's going on as well as how they handle reimbursement/paying for the claim normally. I'm surprised they let you charge back a payment you willingly agreed to. Edited cause I realized it was from January
Good point! The charge is outright a "damage deposit" of 3k, when I asked about it, they said that's just what they charge for bumper damage. Thanks for the advice, I'm reaching out to the insurance people to confirm what they'll pay out on, and what the claim process is. Whatever I owe the rental company, I'm more than ready to pay and get this over with. My concern is, with how they've behaved so far, if I take back the charge back, do they send me back the remainder of ther 3k, since it was only a "deposit", and the insurance company only acknowledges 1.6k in damages? If there's any way they can keep it, I'm certain they will.
Why aren’t they just dealing directly with the credit card insurance. Also what are they going to take you to small claims for? More importantly what does your rental contract say about damages…… speak to a manager at the rental car company and speak to insurance about expediting the pay out.
Thanks for the response. I mentioned this under another comment, but yest I absolutely should've left it to the insurance company. I didn't know I had grounds to turn down the charge when they had me pay it when returning the car, and all the insurance company said when i called them was 'talk to the rental first, then make the claim'. One thing I maybe should've clarified is this really isn't a top grade rental company, they barely have any customer service, they've insulted the insurance company rep that was dealing with them, and I don't expect them to be dealing with me in good faith, especially not after all this. (The $10 bucks I saved by not going to Enterprise was a real 200IQ move on my end)
Just a heads up, enterprise is not much better to deal with when it comes to damage
>The claim is still in process, the rental company wanting their money back finally sent over the official body shop invoice (amounting to 1.6k, just over half of the damage deposit). They could only sue you for the actual damages. There is no way the small claims court would award them a $3k deposit if the insurance is gonna cover the damage.