What is the scariest thing when you rent a car? I used to think it was the car getting stolen. Then I learned that even a small scratch on the door can make your heart jump. I booked my car on QEEQ. It was a Fiat 500X Cabrio in Naples. I picked it up around the afternoon of March 30 and I was traveling alone, feeling pretty relaxed. Around April 6 when I was about to return the car, I found a clear scratch on the door in the car park. It was not very long, but you could see it right away. In that moment I had only one thought in my head. I am going to pay a lot of money. When I returned the car, the staff at the rental counter checked everything very carefully. They saw the scratch and started to write things down. Their attitude was normal, but they told me there would be a charge and it might be high. When the bill came, it was more than seven hundred euro. I was kind of shocked. That number was scary to me. I was really glad I had bought AXA Full Coverage. If not, I think I would feel bad for a very long time. I took a few clear photos of the scratch on the door. I also kept the bank charge record. Then I sent all this information to them. I was still worried because the bill from the rental company was not very clear and they did not seem to have full repair papers. I was afraid that after all this I would still pay by myself. During this time they kept asking the rental company for proof and invoices. On my side I only had photos and my explanation, so I could only wait. I kept changing the seven hundred euro into pounds in my head and it felt like my travel budget was cut again. Later they told me the amount was checked and they would pay me based on the real charge. The payout was 801.64 euro. I checked it with the rental bill and it basically matched, so I finally felt calm. When the money arrived in my account, I almost did not believe it. I had worried for so long and in the end they really paid back the full amount. I thought about it again. If I did not buy AXA Full Coverage, this return would be a disaster for me. Now when I remember that scratch I still feel a bit scared, but more than that I feel lucky that I bought this cover.
It started with a problem. I was traveling alone in Christchurch in New Zealand and I booked my car on QEEQ. I chose a Toyota Yaris hybrid from SNAP. I picked up the car around the afternoon of February 16 and planned to return it around the 18th in Christchurch. I felt pretty happy because the car was small and used less fuel. It was automatic so it was easy for me to drive alone. Then the trouble came.
The day before I returned the car I was driving near the city. I turned at a junction and the car in front of me braked very hard. I stepped on my brake right away but there was still a small hit. The front bumper of my car got a long scratch. I had only one question in my head. How much will this cost me.
I got out and looked at the car. It did not look like a total disaster but it was clearly not a tiny scratch. I asked myself if buying AXA Full Coverage before was a good idea. I remembered when I made the booking I saw this insurance. It said it covered car damage and even things that normal rental full cover did not cover. It also said the limit was pretty high. Since I was traveling alone I wanted to feel safe so I clicked it. At that moment by the road I felt a bit lucky but I was still scared there would be a lot of trouble.
The next day I went back to the SNAP office to return the car as planned. The staff checked the car and stopped for a while at the damaged part. He pointed at the scratch and asked me what happened. I told him honestly that I hit something when I turned the day before. He took photos and wrote notes. My heart started to beat faster again. I wondered if they would charge my card a big amount right away. I asked him how much it might be. He only said they needed to follow their rules and would send me a bill later. I just nodded because there was nothing else I could do.
Back at my place I opened my email and saw the bill from the rental company. When I saw the number I asked myself again what I should do. The amount was not tiny and for a student like me it was real pressure. Then I remembered the insurance I bought. I searched my emails and found the policy. I checked it again and saw it was AXA Full Coverage. So what should I do next. I sent them an email and attached all the files. I put in the rental bill the photos and the rental agreement.
Their support team contacted me. They asked me to explain what happened and asked if anyone was hurt and if I called the police. I answered honestly. No one was hurt and there was no police report. It was just a low speed bump. After that it was time to wait. New questions came to my mind. Will they reject my claim. Will this take forever.
After a few days they told me that my documents were sent to the insurance company and were under review. They said the claim amount would be in New Zealand dollars. I wondered how much they would pay. Then they told me the number. It was NZD313.38. They said this was the reviewed payout amount and they also gave another number for comparison in another currency. I did a quick check and saw that this money could cover a big part of the bill from the rental company. For me this was very important.
They asked me to confirm if this NZD amount was okay for me. I thought if I should argue for more but I felt this already helped a lot. So I said yes. A short time later they told me that NZD313.38 would be sent to me. My new question was if the money would really arrive.
A few days later I checked my account and saw the money came in. It was exactly 313.38 New Zealand dollars. I was a bit surprised because from the accident to the payout there were many steps but they all worked. The money was real in my account. I looked again at the rental bill and compared it. This payout solved the part that scared me the most.
When I think about the whole thing I remember all the questions in my head. First it was how much I must pay. Then it was if the insurance would accept my claim. Then it was when the money would come. In the end each question got an answer. For someone like me who travels alone and does not have a big budget this AXA Full Coverage really helped me. That scratched bumper did not destroy my whole trip and did not break my bank.
To be honest I felt really bad when I saw a big charge on my card. I booked the car on QEEQ and picked it up at Nice airport around March 21 at noon. The rental company was Avis and they gave me a BMW X3. The car looked pretty new and I was quite happy at that moment. When I drove it out the staff walked around the car with me very fast. I took some photos by myself just in case. Around April 4 in the morning I went back to return the car. The staff said there were scratches on the body and some parts needed repair. They showed me a paper and the amount shocked me. It was about more than 1000 USD. I just stood there and felt a bit frozen. I was really worried because my trip budget felt broken in one second. Later when I calmed down at my place I remembered that I bought AXA Full Coverage when I made the booking. So I collected all the papers and photos. I also kept a clear photo of the damage bill from the rental counter. I contacted them and sent all these files. They asked me to complete my address one more time and I followed that and wrote my full address again. I could feel that they kept checking my case and they reached out when they needed something. For me the whole thing was not very hard. I just shared everything that could show what really happened. After some time they told me that my claim was approved. The amount was 1087.70 USD. It covered what the rental company charged me and even a bit more. When I saw the money come back into my account I finally relaxed and let out a long breath. I also felt really glad that I chose this AXA Full Coverage at the start. Without it I think my whole feeling about this car rental would be totally different.
What insurance did you buy that time my friend asked me on the phone. I said it was the AXA Full Coverage one and I was really glad I bought it.
So this is what happened. I booked the car on QEEQ and flew from Singapore to Osaka. I picked up the car in the city on April eighth in the afternoon. It was a Toyota Noah from CRQ CarRent a seven seater. The staff at the counter gave me the key and reminded me that the car was big so I should be careful when I park. I felt quite proud then. I thought I had many years of driving and it would be fine.
The real problem came later. One evening I parked the car in a pretty narrow parking lot. The sky was a bit dark and the lights were not very bright. When I was reversing I thought the distance was enough. When I got out and checked there was a scratch at the back of the car. The metal was scraped and it looked really bad. My family went quiet. I started to panic right away. In my head I kept thinking how much I would have to pay.
On the return day I drove the car back to the Osaka city branch two days earlier than my first plan. I reached there around three in the afternoon a bit earlier than the time on my booking. The staff walked around the car and checked everything. He quickly saw the scratch. He did not say much. He just took out a paper and asked me to sign and said there would be repair and costs later. My hands were sweaty when I signed. I kept counting in my mind. If I had to pay all of it myself my travel budget would be broken.
Back in the hotel I remembered that when I made the booking I chose AXA Full Coverage. In that moment I felt a big relief. I thought maybe I was not so careless after all. I took all the things they needed like photos of the damage and the return paper. I put them together and sent them. I was still a bit nervous when I uploaded them. I was afraid I missed something.
After some time customer service contacted me. They checked some details and asked about the time of the accident and what it was like. They sounded patient. I felt like they were helping me make the story clear. I told them honestly about the weather that day the light and how the parking lot looked. Those days I was still worried. I was not sure if there would be extra costs or some problem with my claim.
Later they told me the insurance side was working on it and I did not need to worry too much. It felt like my heart was still hanging in the air but slowly came down. After a while I got a message that said the cost of the damage was covered by AXA Full Coverage and I did not need to pay more. I let out a big sigh and read the message again and again to make sure I saw it right.
When I think about the whole thing my feelings were up and down from the start to the end. At first I was scared and I blamed myself and thought I should be more careful. Then I felt lucky because I did not try to save money by skipping the insurance. As a visitor coming from Singapore to Japan driving in a place I do not know very well there can be many small accidents. AXA Full Coverage really helped me this time and stopped a small mistake from turning into a huge problem.
I booked the car on QEEQ and I added AXA Full Coverage at the same time. I thought I would never use it. It just made me feel safe. In early April I flew to Ibiza in Spain. I picked up the car around the afternoon of April 9 at the CLICK RENT office. It was a Volkswagen T cross with manual gear and I was actually pretty excited. The car looked quite new and I felt this rental would go very smooth.
After only a few days something bad happened. I was driving in town and there was a narrow street. I was reversing and I did not control the distance well. The right side of the car touched a pole. I heard a loud sound and I froze for a second. I got out of the car and saw a clear scratch on the side near the back door. My heart started to race. My first thought was that I would need to pay a lot of money.
On the return day around the afternoon of April 16 I drove the car back to the CLICK RENT office in Ibiza. The staff checked the car and they found the scratch right away. They showed me the paper and it said I had to pay more than one thousand euro. When I saw the number my hands started to sweat. I felt like my whole week was broken. I knew it was my mistake but this amount was very high for me and it gave me a lot of pressure.
When I went back to my place I remembered that I bought AXA Full Coverage. I started to calm down a bit. I put all the photos and the rental contract together and then I contacted their customer service. I used Spanish and that was fine for me. During the process they reminded me that my bank account information must be correct. The SWIFT code was very important. I found that I wrote it wrong at first so I checked it again and sent the right one.
In those days my mood was hanging in the air. I was afraid that the wrong bank details would stop the payment. I was also thinking how I would cover these 1051 euro from my own budget. When they told me that the amount 1051.25 euro was approved and would be paid I felt a big relief. It was like a heavy stone was taken away from my chest.
Later they sent the money to my account. When I saw the payment I almost could not believe it. I thought this insurance was just a normal add on. This time it really saved me from a big loss. Now when I think about it I feel it was a very good idea to buy AXA Full Coverage. Without it these more than one thousand euro would be a huge problem for a young person like me. The whole story had some stress in the middle but the claim result made me feel much more safe and more confident to drive again.
I will start from the result. In the end the insurance paid back the big fee I was charged for the glass damage in Budapest. They even covered the admin fee. If not I would feel this pain in my wallet for a long time as a student.
I booked the car in Hungary Budapest through QEEQ. I picked it up around April 16 in the early afternoon around one o clock from Sixt. The car was a Lexus LBX with automatic gear. I was pretty excited. The car drove very smooth. Then one day I saw a crack on the front window. It was not super clear at the beginning. It looked like a small stone hit it and the crack grew. I got nervous right away and kept thinking this is bad and I will be charged a lot.
When I returned the car it was around April 21 at about one in the morning in Budapest. The staff at the Sixt counter checked the car. He said the glass had a crack and he needed to record it. I was a bit shocked and just nodded. After some time I saw my credit card was charged a big amount. It was about 1100 euro plus some admin fee. The total was around 1435 euro. I almost broke down. In my head I just thought this trip will turn into a big debt.
When I booked this car I bought AXA Full Coverage. At that time I just thought it was one more layer of safety. I felt the chance of using it was small. Then the glass really cracked and the bill from the rental company did not match the money taken from my card. I could not understand it by myself. So I contacted them and sent all the photos of the damage and also the invoice and the credit card charge screenshot. I remember staring at the numbers and talking to myself asking if it is 1100 or 1435.
The customer service asked me some simple things like if the bank account was mine and if my address was correct. I felt like I was doing homework and just slowly gave all the information. For a while I was very worried. I was afraid the insurance would only pay a part and I would need to pay the rest on my own.
Later I got a new invoice from the rental company. It showed the damage fee was 1100 euro. My card also got a refund of about three hundred something euro. I told them this update and asked them to help me use the new amount for the claim. During that time I kept checking my email and told my friend that if this insurance really pays back the money it will save my life.
After that they also reminded me that the admin fee of a bit more than forty euro could be included too. I confirmed all these details. When the claim was approved I saw that the insurance paid about 1149.53 euro in total. It almost covered all the money I paid because of the cracked glass. At that moment I felt my whole body relax. It was like I went back from super stressed to normal student level again.
Now when I think about it if I did not buy this AXA Full Coverage I would lose a big amount of euro as a young person. That would hurt a lot. The back and forth with documents and amounts was a bit tiring but the money came back so I feel very glad that I added this insurance when I made the booking with them.
