Damage charged with no inspection report · every company, all across Europe

Damage charged with no joint inspection report

It is the most frequent dispute in the forums where these cases get told, and the one where the traveller is most often told it is their own fault. The pattern varies little: a quick walk around in a badly lit car park, a form barely filled in or not at all, then weeks later a charge for a scratch, sometimes with a blurred photograph and no timestamp, sometimes with no photograph at all.

Start my claim See the routes

The short answer

Can a company charge me for damage that was never jointly recorded?

It has to prove it, and an internal tariff is not proof. The burden lies with the trader: it must show that the damage is attributable to you, when it was recorded, and what it actually cost, with a paid invoice rather than an estimate. A blank inspection form does not document a damage free handover, it documents that no inspection was recorded at all, which is the company's own failure.

The legal basis

Why this charge can be contested

Three arguments, to be set out in this order in your complaint. They are the ones the portal writes for you in your letters.

The burden of proof lies with the trader

It is not for you to prove that you damaged nothing. It is for the company to establish what it attributes to you, when the damage was recorded, and the amount actually spent. Without a joint inspection report, that chain is broken at its first link.

An estimate is not proof of loss

What is recoverable is the cost actually incurred, evidenced by a paid invoice. On a wheel rim or a bumper, the real invoice is often far below the flat rate charged, and that gap is an argument in itself.

The gap in time works against the company

Between the moment you handed over the keys and the moment the damage was recorded, the vehicle was in the company's hands. The longer that gap, the weaker the attribution. Ask for the date the damage was first logged and the mileage at that moment.

The file

What to gather, and nothing else

A slightly smaller file that cannot be attacked always beats a padded one. Only claim what is genuinely contestable.

Your own photographs or video at pickup, kept in their original form, with metadata intact and never re encoded.
The pickup inspection report and the return inspection report, even if blank: a blank form is evidence.
The timestamped photographs the company relies on, requested in writing.
The paid repair invoice, not an estimate.
The date the damage was first recorded, and the mileage at that date.
The bank statement showing the disputed debit.

Every PDF you upload is read automaticallyThe portal extracts the booking reference, the dates, the branch and the vehicle from your documents, and fills in the fields you left empty. No amount is ever extracted automatically: a wrong figure in a letter would lose the case, so the amounts stay yours.

The standoff

What the company answers, and what to answer back

Customer service replies are standardised. So are the counter arguments.

"You signed the agreement, so you accepted the condition of the vehicle"Signing an agreement is not the same as jointly recording damage. If the inspection form is blank or was completed without you, nothing establishes the condition of the vehicle at handover, in either direction.

"The damage was found during the post return check"Ask when, by whom, and with what photographic evidence. A check carried out without you, hours or days after the return, does not establish that the damage is attributable to you.

"The amount corresponds to our damage matrix"A matrix is a commercial tariff, not compensation for loss. Ask for the paid invoice. If the company refuses to produce it, say so in your official complaint: the refusal is itself a point in your favour.

Getting the money back

Five free levers, to run in parallel

Five free routes, to run in parallel

Written complaint to the rental company, dated facts, the exact amount, a fourteen day deadline. Every other procedure requires it first. Guide
The official route of the country where you rented: complaints register in Portugal, hoja de reclamaciones and consumer arbitration in Spain, chamber of commerce conciliation in Italy, consumer ombudsman in Greece, SignalConso in France, FPS Economy and Belmed in Belgium. The portal picks the right one from the country saved in your file. Guide
European Consumer Centre, of your country of residence, free of charge, which takes the matter up with its counterpart in the company's country. Competent as soon as the trader is established in a country other than yours. Guide
Card dispute, for a service not provided and charges you never agreed to, to be opened within 60 to 120 days of the debit, the deadline that expires first. It goes through your bank's secure messaging or its formal complaints form, not through a plain email. If the bank refuses, insist on a written and reasoned refusal: that document is what opens the financial ombudsman, free of charge. Guide
Legal expenses cover, often already included in a car or household insurance policy: the insurer instructs a lawyer at its own expense. Guide

These five levers are independent of one another: only one of them has to give way. None of them costs money.

The fastest route

Your letters, already written, in ten minutes

You describe what happened, you confirm your email address, you upload your documents. The portal writes every letter in your name, adapted to your rental company, to the country where you rented and to your type of dispute, and sends them back as a PDF. No blanks to fill in, no commission, no mandate: you send them yourself, from your own mailbox.

Start my claim See the raw templates

Frequently asked questions

What we get asked most often

I have photos from pickup. Is that enough?

It is the strongest piece in the file, provided the originals are kept as they are. Do not re encode them, do not send them through a messaging app that strips metadata, and keep the original files. Send copies, keep the originals.

The inspection form was completely blank. Does that help or hurt me?

It helps you. A blank form does not record a damage free vehicle, it records that no joint inspection took place. The obligation to carry one out lies with the company.

Can I still act if the money has already been taken?

Yes. The file is not dead once the money is gone: the written complaint, the official route of the country where you rented and the European Consumer Centre all stay open. Only the card dispute has a short window, running from the debit.

The other disputes: charged after returning the car, deposit not refunded, fuel charged twice, insurance forced at the counter.