Originally Posted by Strawb

Just like to get some advice from experienced drivers as I have never been in this situation before. Last weekend I hired a car in Majorca, Spain and on the way back to the airport I was involved in a very minor collision with a van.

About 20 mins from the airport I was rather tired and struggled to keep my eyes open (I had a very late night the previous night and woke up far too early). The next thing I know I heard a loud scrape and opened my eyes in a jolt. I had clipped the rear bumper of the van in the offside lane. Hardly any damage to the van, however, my front offside alloys were scratched and blackened and there was a little scratch to the offside bumper below the door mirror, which was knocked back but didn't sustain any damage.

When I picked up the car I declined the CDW to reduce the excess (750€) to zero. I used my Amex which Hertz put a 150€ hold on it instead of a much higher amount than if I hadn't used Amex. I didn't use my Amex Platinum, which would have fully covered the excess, as it had expired so I didn't have 3rd party cover.

I can now see that Hertz has charged me the 150€ and in addition 207€ for the damage. Is this correct? I thought the 150€ was just a pre-authorisation. Also is there any further charges they can impose if the driver claims? Thanks for any advice.