An accident that occurs on the road is by definition a most unpleasant event, even in cases where there are no physical victims and the damage caused to the car is minimal. In the event that the owner of his own vehicle gets into an accident, he knows what to do.
But what to do when the trip was conducted in a rented car? Here a lot of questions arise that can baffle even an experienced driver, what can we say about a beginner:
How much will you have to pay the service;
who will cover the damage;
what to do if the culprit of the accident is the driver of the rental car?
Let's try to figure it out.
Who will compensate for the damage?
Cars used in rental services are insured without fail. Even in cases where the culprit of the accident is determined to be the driver of the rental car, the damage caused is compensated by the insurance company. In cases where the insurance policy does not cover the damage caused, the guilty driver will have to pay the difference.
An important point that you need to know is that the price of car rental almost always includes a share of the civil liability insurance of the person who takes the vehicle for use. For this reason, people driving rental cars have better protection from monetary expenses that occur as a result of an accident. Car owners, getting into similar situations, nervously smoke on the sidelines.
Of course, the car sharing client is responsible for the car used, but his share of responsibility rarely exceeds the amount of the deposit. Deviations from this rule are cases of gross violation of traffic rules, drunk driving and other similar offenses.
All of the above applies to cases when the person who rented the car is found guilty of an accident. If the fault in the accident falls on another road user, then the client of the rental service should not pay for damage to the rental vehicle.
What to do in case of an accident?
The contractual documentation signed when renting a car contains detailed instructions in the event of an accident. All of them are simple and logical. The driver is obliged to immediately notify the relevant authority, the rental company, and perform all actions prescribed in the traffic rules.
Violation of the algorithm leads to situations when the insurance company refuses to compensate for damage, and this obligation passes to the renter.
To summarize, the driver of a car sharing car is responsible for the consequences of an accident only in the absence of:
a document from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate confirming his innocence;
the defendant, through whose fault the damage was caused (this includes damage to the car, its theft or its individual elements).
You should always remember that compliance with traffic rules, attentiveness and respectful attitude towards all road users reduces the risk of emergency situations
