Nicholas Chandler was rear-ended while driving an Avis rental car. Even though the other driver was at fault, Avis charged him for the entire time the vehicle was out of commission. Can he get a refund?
Q: I rented a car from Avis for one day and was unfortunately rear-ended by another vehicle. It was the other driver’s fault. Avis charged my credit card for 29 days of rental, including loss of use, totalling $7,671 for the one-day car rental.
My insurance covers loss of use, but my insurance company won’t pay because the Avis receipt shows a 29-day rental and doesn’t mention loss of use.
Avis told me over the phone that the charge is for loss of use, but they won’t provide me with a new receipt.
Sedgwick, Avis’s third-party claims service, is pursuing loss of use from the other driver’s insurance company. Sedgwick told me that they think Avis made a billing error because I was not at fault for the accident. I don’t understand why Avis charged my credit card for 29 days. When I call to ask, they say ‘loss of use.’ Can you help me get a refund? — Nicholas Chandler, Windham, Maine
A: Unfortunately, you’re on the hook for the vehicle’s loss of use. When you rent a car, you accept responsibility for the vehicle, no matter who is responsible for the accident, and since your name was on the contract, Avis sent you a bill.
However, the company made an error when it charged you.
It looks like there was a series of miscommunications in your case. For some reason, Sedgwick only charged the other driver $1,222, presumably for repairs, leaving you responsible for the difference. And, according to your records, Avis would not send you a bill for the loss of use. Instead, it just appears as if you rented a car at the most expensive daily rate, which no one would do.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that loss of use is highly controversial. The car rental company is charging you the maximum daily rate for what it would have earned if it had been able to rent the car while it was in the shop. But that assumes it could have rented the car the entire time. I believe loss of use is not a fair charge, even if your contract permits it. Many consumers, insurance companies and state regulators agree with me. We can discuss loss of use another day, though.
You were a model customer. You had insurance that covered you, and you responded promptly to Avis and Sedgwick when they requested your insurance information. You drove the car carefully. You attempted to work within the system to resolve the miscommunication.
I think you should have appealed this to a manager. I list the names, numbers, and emails of Avis and Sedgwick customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
This was a confusing case. However, after several conversations with Avis, it appears that there were “some issues” with the car rental location and the tow truck, which created confusion within their internal system.
“We’re adjusting the contract back to a one-day rental and removing all the additional days that the customer didn’t have the vehicle,” a representative told me.
A short while later, you reported back.
“Avis charged me one day for the rental as you mentioned and refunded me the rest,” you said. “The credit was posted back to my card this morning. This is incredible, and I can’t thank you enough for all of your help.”
By Christopher Elliott
BIO:
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.
© 2025 Christopher Elliott.
