I hired a van from Sixt Car Hire in Leeds in early June in order to move my belongings to a new house.

I hired the van just for the day and used Sixt as the prices were competitive and they were located nearby.

When I picked up the van I was shown around it and giving a considerably long list of pre-existing damages.

It was clear the van had been in quite a few incidents before as there was considerable dents, scuffs, scratches etc.

When I rent a car I usually take my own pictures of the car but stupidly didn’t in this case mostly due to the tight time schedule I had for being able to access the loading area near my flat (my fault). I used the van for the day without incident.

When I returned the van, the office was closed and there was no one there to receive me or check the van.

There was only a locked drop box for hire keys.

The van could only be left in the car park which has no gate or fence, just open to the public.

The next day I received an email from Sixt saying thank you for using them and my deposit was returned.

A few weeks later I received an email saying there was damage to the van and that I was liable to pay £586 pounds in damages.

They attached a form which had a box for me to state whether or not I believed I was responsible for the damages.

I said that I wasn’t and that there were no incidents whilst the van was hired to me.

About a month passed and I received an email from Sixt stating that they reviewed my response and decided I was responsible for the damages and that I had two weeks to pay them the money.

In response I requested that they please send me time stamped photos of the damages before and after I hired the van and proof that the van wasn’t damaged after I left it in the drop off area.

Sixt didn’t acknowledge my email and just responded that I had 14 days to pay the damages.

I again replied requesting the data and attached the previous email I had sent to them and stated that I formally was disputing the claims.

Sixt then responded with photos of the van which when I looked at the files had no time stamp on them.

There is also no photo which shows the claimed damages as well as the van in the same photo.

Only far away photos of the van I hired and then very close up photos of the damages where you can’t see any distinguishable details of the van.

They also have not responded about how no one was there to receive and check the van when I dropped it off.

Two days later I received an email from Sixt stating the following:

Further to our previous letters regarding the above damage, we have still not received your payment for the claim.

This account will now be passed to our external solicitors to commence recovery action against you unless you make a payment within 14 days.

I have no idea what I can do to refute this, I didn’t damage the van and feel that I have no way of defending myself.

I feel like if I don’t pay the damages the fees will just get larger.

If anyone could please advise I would be very grateful.

Steph

prove you caused the damage

prove it was not there when you hired it.

obv they cant do that.

let see where they go with this.

as an aside

they don't have your card number do they?

theyd have to prove the damage wasnt there before you hired the vehicle in court. They cant just send a couple random photos with no time/date stamp.

Thanks for your feedback. Any advice on how to respond to their letter? I've copied it below.

Dear customer,

Further to our previous letters dated 20.07.2018 regarding the above damage, we have still not received your payment for the

claim. This account will now be passed to our external solicitors to commence recovery action against you unless you make a

payment within 14 days.

You can make payments using a debit or credit card, or by bank transfer to the account below, or by cheque made payable to

Sixt Rent a Car Limited.

If you do not make payment and legal proceedings are commenced, we will add a claim for costs and interest at 8% per

annum under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984.

Please ensure that you make payment immediately.

If you have any comments or questions then you can contact us between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM Monday to Friday using the

contact details below and quoting the damage number mentioned above. You should also read clause 14 of our Terms and

Conditions and our FAQs, both of which can be found on our website.

Yours faithfully

Sixt rent a car

They had my card number but then returned the deposit and haven't tried to charge my card so i'm not sure what they're planning to do.

Thanks again,

Steph

pes i'd let it run