Travel Troubleshooter: He totaled his rental car, but Enterprise won’t send an invoice

Q: I recently damaged a car I rented through Enterprise while I was in Germany. My car insurance company has been requesting a repair invoice from Enterprise for two months, in order to close the claim and determine how much to pay them.

Enterprise wrote that they will not share additional documentation and instead demands immediate payment.

My insurance company is giving me two months to get those documents from Enterprise. If I don’t obtain them, the claim will be closed, and the insurance company may not pay for it.

A: I normally handle complaints from car rental customers who claim that they’ve been falsely accused of damaging a rental car. It’s nice to hear from someone who wants to own up to the damage and is trying to do the right thing.

And when I got your case, I wondered why Enterprise wasn’t helping you. Isn’t it in the company’s best interest to get you to file a successful insurance claim? (I’ll have the answer in a moment.)

Based on the claim information you sent me, it looks like you totaled your rental car. Enterprise originally wanted to bill you for the full value of the vehicle ($31,309), but then agreed to settle for about half ($15,654).

The offer was contingent on your paying quickly. By the time you reached out to me, Enterprise’s offer had expired, and it had been extended for another 10 days. If you didn’t pay, you would be liable for the full $31,309.

Enterprise says it does not have to provide you with a repair invoice under German law. It says that it has the right to choose to receive the amount of money that would be required to return the car to working order..