Fair wear and tear
This means “ordinary wear due to reasonable use” and includes minor scratches and chips, small dents
and normal wear on tyre treads and wiper blades. Please check the section “What we mean by
chargeable damage” at the bottom on your Vehicle Condition Report which you will be sent by email.
At peak times you should allow 20 to 30 minutes to complete the inspection with our staff and agree
any damage. If you don’t have time to do this any new damage will be assessed and charged in your
absence.
Hidden damage
Some damage will not be apparent on post-rental inspection, such as damage caused to inaccessible
parts of the vehicle (e.g. the engine, fuel tank or clutch) or hidden by adverse light or weather
conditions. If we find any such damage we will notify you using the email address we hold on record
for you, with evidence, before we charge you.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND CHARGING
If you have purchased an applicable damage waiver product then we will charge you for the damage
up to the value of the excess that applies (which may be zero or a reduced excess) unless the wavier
product has been invalidated.
There are two common scenarios for damage assessment and charging:
i. Damage covered in our matrix
We aim to deal with damage in a quick and practical way by using our damage repair matrix. This
contains the average cost of repairing the most common and minor damage based on the costs of
body repair shops for parts and labour. The damage matrix is audited by impartial third party auditors
on an annual basis.
Where possible we will charge for the damage in line with our matrix. We will email you the Damage
Appraisal Report (DAR) explaining the details of the damage charges, including pictures, at the time
of return. The damage costs and any applicable admin fee will be included in your final invoice.
ii. Damage not covered in our matrix
We will refer your case to our damage assessor for evaluation. We aim to complete this assessment
within 20 days. However, it can take up to 90 days if a third party or the police are involved. We will
email you the Damage Appraisal Report (DAR) listing the damage, including the pictures, at the time
of return. We will send you a separate invoice for the damage costs and any applicable admin fee
once the damage assessor has completed their evaluation. You will be notified of the cost using the
email address we hold on record for you, at least seven days before we charge your credit card.
Notification and evidence
We will provide evidence of any damage charge we make, which should include (i) the Rental
Agreement number, date and return location, (ii) a damage appraisal from a repair body shop and/