What are my options for filing car damage for a rented car?

[mysti9uemirage]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
Hi, I rented my car through CompanyA and I missed their 24 hour damage reporting window so they said that it's not covered. When I gave it to the renter, we signed the paper that everything is in good condition, and when I asked him to drop it off at CompanyB (because he decided to return it earlier and I couldn't meet him that day, at that time), CompanyB took pictures at drop off that showed that the problem appeared, so it must have happened during his rental. I would like to know how to proceed with this. Please help. Thank you.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
Hi, I rented my car through CompanyA and I missed their 24 hour damage reporting window so they said that it's not covered. When I gave it to the renter, we signed the paper that everything is in good condition, and when I asked him to drop it off at CompanyB (because he decided to return it earlier and I couldn't meet him that day, at that time), CompanyB took pictures at drop off that showed that the problem appeared, so it must have happened during his rental. I would like to know how to proceed with this. Please help. Thank you.

Contact your insurance company. You DO have appropriate insurance for this venture, right?

 

[FlyingRon]

Contact your insurance company. You DO have appropriate insurance for this venture, right?

I assume he is talking about one of the social/peer-to-peer rentals which provides insurance for such use. The problem he is having is he screwed up the claims on that service's insurance by not making a timely report and they aren't accepting the claim now. All he can do is beat on the site and their insurer to hope that they relent. However, they're not legally obliged to if he didn't follow the rules no matter what proof he had that the renter did damage the vehicle.

 

[mysti9uemirage]

However, they're not legally obliged to if he didn't follow the rules no matter what proof he had that the renter did damage the vehicle.

Thank you for your replies. FlyingRon's assumption is correct. Besides claiming it with CompanyA, do I not have any other alternatives? I'm thinking of making the renter take responsibility. To me, this is like a hit-and-run. They damaged my property, didn't inform me about it, and is trying to evade responsibility.
In addition, CompanyA has an option to let the renter return the car to a specified location, and putting the key in the lockbox, in case the owner cannot be there at pickup/return. I don't understand how they can expect the owner to file a report within 24 hour in such cases. What if the owner is away on a business trip and doesn't get back in time?

In any case, I understand that I didn't follow CompanyA's rules, but only because stuff did happen in my life that you wouldn't care to know, and I wouldn't want to disclose. However, I would like to know if you have additional inputs regarding what I can do because $700+ to fix this is a really large sum of money for me to swallow.

 

[Zigner]

I don't see how you are going to prove who damaged the vehicle.

 

[mysti9uemirage]

I have a paper that we signed during dropoff that states we both agree that nothing is wrong with the car. The car was dropoff at CompanyB, and CompanyB took pictures of the car once it comes into their possession, and it showed that the damage was there at dropoff.

 

[Zigner]

I have a paper that we signed during dropoff that states we both agree that nothing is wrong with the car.

Right - it was dropped off with no damage.

The car was dropoff at CompanyB, and CompanyB took pictures of the car once it comes into their possession, and it showed that the damage was there at dropoff.

No, the pictures show that there was damage present when the pictures were taken. Unfortunately, there is a signed document stating that no damage was present at the time the vehicle was dropped off. As I said above, you have no proof of who caused the damage. In fact, it seems more likely that company B damaged the vehicle.

 

[mysti9uemirage]

Right - it was dropped off with no damage.

That was just due to my typo - it meant when I gave the car to the person. Basically, 5/31: Signed paper that everything is OK. 8/17: Renter returned car to CompanyB. CompanyB took picture right when the renter returned the car. The car even showed signs of having rusted - it couldn't have happened in the few hours that CompanyB had the car, even if CompanyB had lied and was slow in taking the pictures.