Originally Posted by
me4tux
Hello, Need some advice.
Pre-Booked and rented a car with Chase MileagePlus CC. Good thing it had the Primary insurance. The rental is 4 days, Portland Oregon.
I had a 4-day rental which I just completed/returned today. On day 1, someone bumped into my rear quarter panel near the wheel. It was minor damage but the other other person had more substantial damage to her bumper. We exchanged information, and I have her lic & insurance card & phone.
Clearly it was her fault, and she did not see my car. She didn't admit it but was apologetic. I still think she's capable of turning on me and doing something tricky... maybe...
Interesting that I only provided her my lic & hertz rental agreeement & phone. Thats it. I did not provide her my personal car insurance info. She didn't ask for anything else and took off.
I did visit a Portland based Auto body to get a repair quote and they estimated the cost to be ~$3K. I have a copy of the estimate.
Fast forward, when I returned the car earlier today, and got my final print-out; I stayed back to observe.... I saw the Hertz attendant walked around, past the damage area and drove off to take the car away....
So, what is the best course of action now? And, what possible scenarios could play out?
Option 1: When I get home today, should I just file the Hertz accident report and Chase MileagePlus CC accident claim?
Option 2: Should I just wait it out? Maybe Hertz will not see the damage?
Option 3: Should I wait until I get the Hertz letter or bill about the damage and then file the Hertz Accident report and Chase report?
Option 4: What if the other person tried to file a claim against me, and Hertz finds out about the accident later?
I hope someone can give me advice and the best direction about this matter. I am relived that I do have the Primary coverage from Chase, but I have read in some cases that Chase does nickel and dime on payout... I am not sure....
Thanks in advance...
The issue for you is that there's a 60-day window to notify Chase of an accident then then the claim form must be submitted within 100 days. It's possible that Hertz may take longer than that to initiate contact about the damage. I once received a letter about hail damage to a rental car six months after I returned it. (As an aside, the hail claim was completely bogus. Apparently, the damage occurred several weeks after I rented the car yet they still tried to charge me for it. How that can be allowed is flabbergasting to me.)
I'd suggest that you go ahead and submit the claim form with Chase along with all the documentation that you have (photos, rental agreement, etc). Once you have done that you have a full year to provide any remaining documentation, such as the Hertz demand letter if they send you one. If you never hear anything from Hertz you can just abandon the claim.
ETA: I'm sure you already know this, but the Chase insurance only covers damage to the rental car. If the other driver files a claim that would have to be handled by your own insurance unless you purchased supplemental liability from Hertz. You should file an accident report online with your version of events. In fact I just checked the
Oregon DMV website and filing a report is required if there's more than $2500 of damage.