Hertz damage charge after return: how to dispute it

Updated 16 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

If Hertz has charged you, or written to ask you to pay, for damage found after you returned the car, you can dispute it. Hertz publishes its own damage policy for Europe, and Hertz takes part in a free dispute service whose decisions bind it. Start by holding Hertz to its own rules. This guide is not linked to Hertz in any way.

What Hertz's EU damage policy says

Hertz's damage policy for its European rentals sets out what it will do before it charges you:

• It will tell you about the damage at least 7 days before it takes the charge.
• For bigger damage that needs a proper assessment, it says the assessment takes 30 to 90 days, and you get the evidence 7 days before any charge.
• The evidence it lists is: the rental agreement number, the date and place of return, a body-shop appraisal or a repair invoice, the signed condition report, any accident form, photos of the damage on the car, and a photo of the odometer.
• Disputes go first to the collections team, then to Customer Relations (which aims to answer within 14 days), and after that to an independent adjudicator whose decision, Hertz says, binds Hertz.

Hertz also says its damage criteria vary by country, and points you to the back of the vehicle condition report. Read that page of your paperwork.

Step 1: reply in writing and ask for the evidence

Reply to the email or letter from Hertz, and keep a copy. Say clearly that you dispute the charge. Then ask for:

• the vehicle condition report from pick-up and the one from return;
• the photos of the damage, with dates and times, and the odometer photo;
• the time the car was inspected after you returned it, and who did it;
• the body-shop appraisal or the real repair invoice, and how the amount was worked out;
• if you returned the car out of hours, the key-drop record.

Ask for the charge to be put on hold while the dispute is open. Hertz was one of the five big companies that gave commitments to EU consumer authorities in 2015, and the industry guidelines that came out of them (the Leaseurope Guidelines, which ECRCS uses to decide cases) say a disputed charge should be put on hold until the dispute is resolved.

You do not have to prove you did nothing. Hertz has to show that the damage exists, that it was not there when you picked the car up, that it is more than normal wear, and what it really costs. Saying "it was not my fault" is weaker, because most rental contracts make you liable up to the excess whatever the cause. The strong questions are "show me it happened during my rental" and "show me the amount is real".

Step 2: check the dates and the paperwork

Compare what Hertz sends with its policy and with the card rules:

• Did you get notice at least 7 days before the charge?
• Did you get a repair quote or invoice, or only a figure?
• Visa's rules for rental damage charges say the company must send, within 10 business days of the return, an explanation, at least 2 repair quotes, and a statement that paying by card is optional, then wait 20 business days before charging. Note anything that is missing. You may need it later.

Step 3: get Hertz's final answer

Keep going through Hertz's own complaint steps until you have its final answer in writing. You need it for the free dispute body, and it is the most common reason cases there are turned away.

Step 4: ECRCS, the free route that binds Hertz

Hertz, with Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly, takes part in the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS). You can use it if:

• you live in the EU or the UK and rented in a different EU country;
• you booked directly with Hertz, not through a broker or travel agent;
• you have Hertz's final answer, and you file within 12 months of it;
• you have not raised the case with your bank or card company, a court or another dispute body.

ECRCS is free. Its decision binds Hertz, not you, and you keep the right to go to court. Read how ECRCS works before you file.

If you rented with Hertz in the UK, the UK's rental trade body, the BVRLA, runs a similar free service for its members' UK rentals, with the same rule about your bank.

If ECRCS is not open to you

• Booked through a broker, or rented in your own country: the European Consumer Centre in your country can help for free with a cross-border case, if you live in the EU, Norway or Iceland.
• Hertz already took the money: a card dispute may work, especially if the notice or the repair quotes were missing. Do not report it as fraud. See our card dispute guide, and mind the bank's deadlines.

Honest limits

If you signed a return report that shows the new damage, or there was an accident, your case is much harder. The free bodies cannot award compensation for your time or stress, and ECRCS says it cannot judge the repair method or cost. Nobody can promise you the money back.

In short

1. Dispute in writing, ask for the evidence and for the charge to be on hold.
2. Check the 7-day notice and the repair paperwork.
3. Get Hertz's final answer.
4. ECRCS within 12 months, before any bank dispute, or your bank if ECRCS is closed.

If you want the letters written for your rental, with the dates worked out, our pack does that for a flat fee after a free check.