Insurance denied payment to rental car agency

[rotormom]

Jurisdiction

New York

We hit a deer in a rental car while traveling in New York. The car was rented in New Jersey. Our auto insurance paid the claim for damages but denied paying for diminution value (25%) of the damages and 22 days of loss of use. The car rental agency has now sent me a bill for my deductible along with those charges for diminished value and loss of use, along with an appraisal charge and administration fee. How do I fight this?

 

[adjusterjack]

You turn the bill over to your insurance company. If your insurance company continues to deny it your insurance company is obligated to provide you a defense attorney if you get sued for it.

 

[zddoodah]

The car rental agency has now sent me a bill for my deductible

I assume this means that your insurer handled this as a claim under the collision coverage portion of your insurance and, as a result, paid the cost to repair the damage less your deductible. Assuming that's correct, why haven't you paid that amount to the rental car company?

Beyond that, I agree with the prior response.

 

[army judge]

How do I fight this?

I suggest you go to the company's website and print out a copy of the contract you signed when you rented the vehicle.

Read that contract.

If there are any chinks in the company's position, that is where you'll find them.

Writer's note: I suspect your search will be fruitless, but it must be done before you proceed further.

You can eventually defend yourself in a court of law when the rental car company sues you.

Note, I said you can defend, but you'll be sitting in a defenseless position.

Your other option is negotiate with the rental car company's agency hired to extract the most money possible from people in your position.

In other words, don't expect the person to whom you'll be speaking to be anything but intractable.

 

[rotormom]

As a followup, with help from other forums and using example letters, I sent my own letter disputing the charges and why. I politely told the company hired by the rental car agency that I would only speak to them by email. Along with my letter I enclosed my deductible via cashiers check and sent it signature required.
Yesterday I received an email from the rental car agency saying that they had received my dispute letter and deductible. They have asked the company they hired to remove all other fees and charges and accept my deductible as payment in full. They also state they will pursue no further collection of monies from me and the case is now closed.
Just goes to show you what happens when the little guy fights back against "anticipated" loss of use and diminished value. These companies are allowed to charge these junk fees but failed to give me proof of how they came up with the dollar amounts. Hopefully this helps someone else to do the work and take the steps to fight back. I'm glad I did. Turned a bill of over $4,000 into $0.