Charged for damage after returning a rental car

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

You returned the car, and nobody said anything. Then an email or a card charge arrives: damage, often a few hundred euros, sometimes more. This page is the short map. It tells you what to do first, what the rental company has to show, and which free route fits your rental.

The first 5 steps

1. Do not pay and do not call your bank yet. Two free dispute services refuse cases you have already raised with your bank. Decide the order first.
2. Keep everything. The rental agreement, the pick-up and return reports, the claim, your emails, and your photos and videos as original files.
3. Note the dates. When you returned the car, when the claim came, and when the card was charged. Some deadlines run from these dates.
4. Write to the company. Dispute the charge in writing, ask for the evidence, and ask for the charge to be put on hold while you dispute it.
5. Get its final answer in writing. The free dispute services need it.

What the company has to show

The company says you damaged the car, so it has to show it. In practice that means:

• the damage is real, with dated photos;
• it happened during your rental, not before or after (compare the pick-up report);
• the amount is real: a repair invoice or quotes, not just a price from a table;
• normal wear and tear is not charged.

The rental industry's own guidelines (Leaseurope, which the big brands follow in Europe) say the company should give you the evidence and the cost calculation before it charges, give you time to challenge it, and put the charge on hold while you do. Visa's rules add their own steps for damage charged to a card later. More in our card dispute guide.

Which free route fits

• Booked direct with a member brand, in a country you do not live in (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Alamo, National, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and others): ECRCS. Its decision binds the company.
• A rental in the UK with a BVRLA member: BVRLA conciliation.
• You live in the EU, Norway or Iceland and rented in another of these countries: the European Consumer Centre in your country.
• None of these, or they failed: your card issuer (chargeback), then small claims.

ECRCS and BVRLA both need the company's final answer first. Most cases ECRCS turns away fail on that step, not on the facts.

Common situations

• Key drop-box or out-of-hours return: ask when the car was inspected.
• A small scratch or chip: wear and tear is not chargeable.
• Excess insurance: dispute first or claim?
• Spain: Goldcar, Centauro, Record Go, OK Mobility, Malaga and Alicante. Portugal: Faro.
• The big brands: Sixt, Hertz, Europcar, Avis and Budget, Enterprise and Alamo.

Honest limits

None of this guarantees a refund. If the company has dated photos of new damage and a real repair bill, a dispute is weak. If it has a damage table price, no pick-up report and no inspection time, it is much stronger. You can do every step on this page yourself for free. If you want the letters written for you, our pack does that for a flat price.