Car rental and breakdown

Imagine that you are on holiday the whole family, rent a car and take your children on a promised trip to an amazing place. Suddenly the lights in the car start flickering and the vehicle stops. Or there is an even worse scenario - you don't have time to apply the brakes, which causes a collision with another car. What then? We will tell you what to do when a rented vehicle breaks down and what will be the consequences of a crash.

Before renting a car, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the rental agreement and regulations. It contains all the information concerning actions related to the circumstances of an accident or collision. The responsibility depends on whether the fault lies with the car hirer, the driver who caused the collision with the rented vehicle, or the hire company which caused the breakdown due to certain deficiencies.

Breakdown of the rented car

If you are unlucky enough to have a breakdown in your rental car, the first thing you should do is to inform the landlord immediately. Don't worry if this happens at night - most of these companies have 24-hour assistance hotlines. An office worker will instruct you what steps you need to take to make the event run smoothly and in an appropriate manner.

Depending on the type of failure, the company will organize adequate assistance. Rentals very often sign contracts with insurers or vehicle repair stations. Therefore, they will ensure, among other things, that the car is repaired in the place where the fault occurred, that another replacement car is provided, or even that all travellers are accommodated in the nearest hotel until the fault has been repaired. The costs of repair and registration are covered by the owner of the vehicle, if the defect was due to his fault, but if he was not at fault, he does not have to worry about the costs charged to him.

Examples of damage that can occur through the fault of the driver are wheel or tyre damage, clutch burnout, engine seizure, upholstery dirty or rear brake linings damaged by hand brake. In such cases, you must be aware that the repair costs will be covered by you. However, you will not worry about it if you take advantage of the insurance offer offered by the landlord, which protects you against civil liability for damages caused.

However, if the car hire company does not keep to the contract, or commits certain deficiencies, resulting in a breakdown or collision, then the driver can claim compensation.

Crash in a rented car

It's much worse if you have a collision or road accident. Regardless of how serious they are and whether you or another road user is at fault, you must call the police to write a note for the insurer and to help establish the course of the collision. You should also contact the asisstance helpline to find out what more steps should be taken to get help. A collision with a rented car can happen even for a moment of inattention and is not always caused by your carelessness, but it is important not to panic, but to analyze calmly what happened and what steps should be taken.

Car rental and insurance

To minimize the cost to you as a result of an accident caused by your carelessness, buy insurance beforehand. Its price depends on the class of the car, its size and equipment. As you can guess, we will pay higher insurance for a larger vehicle. There are several options to choose from - you can choose from among others: vehicle damage insurance, SCDW - insurance completely releasing from financial liability in case of damage or PAI - personal accident insurance for all passengers in the rented car.

When renting a car it is worth paying attention not only to its aesthetic values, additional equipment or driving comfort. First of all, make sure that it is insured, that in the event of a breakdown, collision or breakage, you receive the necessary assistance and are not exposed to high repair costs.