Workshop takes longer: Do you have to pay for rental cars yourself?
An accident, only damage to the bodywork, no one involved is at fault - and the opposing insurance company is willing to pay principle. All good then? Not always, as this dispute over rental car costs shows.
The so-called garage risk, following an accident, usually lies with the culprit and their car insurance. This means: If the repair of one's own car takes longer than expected after an accident that was not one's fault, the insurer must fully cover the rental car costs. This is shown in a decision of the Bonn Regional Court, which the ADAC refers to. (Az.: 17 O 102/23)
In the case in question, a touring bus had driven past an immobile car parked by the roadside and scraped it. The car driver demanded compensation for damages from the opposing insurance company and submitted a report accordingly. This report noted, among other things, a repair time of eight to nine days. However, the car did not come out of the workshop until 18 days later. This was due to a prolonged illness in the workshop.
The driver demanded full compensation for the rental car costs for this period. The insurer of the accident driver tried to resist and paid only for nine days, citing the previous report.
Health-related absences in the workshop
The insurer's argument: If the repair takes longer, it is the risk of the damaged party. The reason for the longer repair time was stated by the workshop to be health-related absences of the personnel - the events took place during the peak of the Corona pandemic. The matter eventually went to court.
However, the driver was right in this case. The report calculated the repair time under the assumption of uninterrupted progress. If, however, a longer period had been caused by illnesses, this could not be at the expense of the driver. Accordingly, the insurer had to pay the rental car costs for the full 18 days.
Tips on booking a rental car can be found here.
- Despite the car rental company being willing to pay for the principle damage, the consumer faced issues with covering the rental car costs due to legal errors in the calculation of repair time.
- The consumer, following a car accident with no fault involved, sought full compensation for the rental car costs during the extended repair period due to health-related absences in the workshop.
- The car insurance company argued that longer repair times should falls under the risk of the damaged party, citing health-related absences as the reason for the delay.
- Consumers should be aware of these legal complexities and consider seeking advice from consumer centers before renting a car, especially during periods of high health-related risks.
- In this case, the consumer centers might have advised the consumer to document all correspondence with the insurance company and rental car agency, ensuring a clear understanding of the rental agreement and expectations for payment.
