VIC Hire Car Excess for Damage - Request for Documentation?

[mac44]

I recently had a hire car which had an excess of $2000. Whilst I had the car, somebody drove into the car and damaged it (minor damage in my opinion). I have paid the $2000 to the hire car company and have requested they supply evidence of the fix/insurance claim. They are so far refusing to provide any information so I suspect they have taken the money and have got the car fixed on the cheap.

So my questions are, does the money I handed over have to be passed onto the car insurance company or can the hire car do what they like with it and am I legally entitled to request documentation to prove they used the money to fix the car?

 

[Rod]

They can't demand dollars excess and then do the repair on the cheap. They need to either make a claim and have it done through insurance, or not make a claim through and charge your their costs up to a maximum of $2K.

 

[Complex16]

Ouch. You shouldn't have paid them the money and instead requested two quotes to make sure it was going to be less than the excess. They are not obligated to lodge a claim with their motor insurer...