Charged for damage that was already on the rental car

Updated 23 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

You collected the car, and the scratch or dent was already there. Maybe you photographed it, maybe the desk said "don't worry, that's old". Then, after the rental, the company charges you for exactly that damage. This is a common complaint. The European Consumer Centres said in 2025 that claims for pre-existing damage are still a persistent problem.

What the company has to prove

The company is the one claiming money, so it has to prove its claim. That means showing:

• the damage exists;
• it was not there when you collected the car;
• it happened during your rental;
• it is more than normal wear and tear;
• what the repair really costs.

Damage that was on the car before you collected it fails the second and third points. The rental industry's own guidelines (Leaseurope, which the big brands follow in Europe) say a charge must be backed by the pick-up and return reports, photos and repair bills or estimates.

The evidence that wins

Your best evidence is what you recorded at pick-up:

• photos or video of the damage at the pick-up spot, with the date and time in the file;
• the pick-up (check-out) report, if the damage is marked on it;
• any email, chat or text where you reported the damage before driving off;
• a photo of the car with the airport or branch in the background.

Keep the original files. Photos sent through messaging apps can lose their date and time, and dispute services ask for the originals.

If the damage is not on the pick-up report

Ask the company for its own pick-up report and its photos of the car before your rental. If its report shows no damage but your photos do, your dated photos are strong evidence. If you have no photos at all, it gets harder: in some countries, Spain for example, the law presumes you received the car in good condition when no report describes it. Then your case rests on other points, such as whether the company can show when the damage was found and what the repair cost.

Ask whether it was charged before

A useful question: has this damage been charged to an earlier customer, and was it repaired since? The UK competition authority said in 2015 that charging two customers for the same panel when it was repaired only once suggests the price is not a genuine estimate. Ask for the car's damage history and the repair invoice. If there is no repair invoice, ask why.

What to write

In your letter to the company:

1. Say the damage was there at pick-up, and attach your photos.
2. Ask for its pick-up report, its photos from before your rental, the car's damage history and the repair invoice.
3. Ask for the charge to be put on hold, or refunded if it was already taken.
4. Ask for its final answer in writing.

See what your dispute letter needs.

Where to go next

• Booked direct with a member brand in a country you do not live in: ECRCS, free and binding on the company.
• You live in the EU, Norway or Iceland and rented in another of these countries: the European Consumer Centre in your country.
• The money is already gone: your card issuer, after ECRCS if that route is open, because ECRCS refuses cases already raised with the bank.

Honest limits

If the company's dated photos show the damage was new, or your photos do not show the same spot clearly, the case is weaker. This is general information, not legal advice.