How to dispute a rental car damage charge

The car is back, the trip is over, and then an email arrives: a photo of a scratch and a bill. This happens more often than it used to. Hertz renters reported charges of several hundred dollars for small marks found by automated scanners, with complaints still being reported in August 2026 (Your Mileage May Vary).

Here is a calm order of steps. It works whether the claim is from Hertz, Sixt, Avis, Enterprise, Europcar or a local company.

1. Don't pay yet

A damage bill is a claim, not a verdict. Before you pay anything, read what they sent. Note the dates: when the damage was supposedly found, and when you returned the car. A bill that arrives a week later, for damage "found at return", deserves questions.

2. Ask for their evidence, in writing

Reply by email so you have a dated record. Ask for:

• photos of the damage, with the date and time they were taken;
• the check-out record or photos from when you picked up the car;
• the check-in record from when you returned it;
• an itemised repair estimate or invoice, not just a total;
• any extra fees, such as "loss of use" or admin charges, and how each was worked out.

The pickup record matters most. If they can't show the car without that mark when you collected it, they can't show the mark happened during your rental.

3. Send your own photos

Now compare. Find your pickup photos of the same panel or wheel. If the damage is visible in your pickup photos, say so and attach them. If the panel is clean in your return photos, attach those too.

What makes your photos stronger:

• The time is not set by you. Camera roll dates can be edited. A timestamp from a third-party server is harder to argue with.
• Nothing has been changed. A fingerprint (a hash) recorded at the time shows the photo is the one taken that day.
• Both ends are covered. Pickup and return, same angle, same order.

Handback records all three. Each photo is fingerprinted and timestamped by our server, and you send one link that the rental company can check without an account.

4. Check what covers it

Before you pay or dispute, check who might cover the damage if it was real:

• the rental company's damage waiver, if you bought it;
• your credit card's rental car benefit, if you paid with that card and declined the waiver;
• your own car insurance, which in some countries extends to rentals;
• travel insurance with rental excess cover.

Each has its own claim deadline, so check them early.

5. If the charge already hit your card

In the US, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute billing errors on a credit card. The FTC says your letter must reach the card issuer within 60 days after the first bill showing the charge was sent to you. Send it to the address the issuer gives for billing inquiries, not the payment address. The issuer must acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days (FTC).

A phone call is a good start, but follow it with a letter or the issuer's online dispute form, and attach your evidence: the rental agreement, the return receipt, your photos, and the emails with the rental company.

Outside the US, card schemes have their own chargeback rules and banks set their own deadlines. Ask your bank as soon as the charge appears.

6. Keep a timeline

Write down every date: pickup, return, when the bill arrived, when you replied, what they sent. Keep copies of everything. If the dispute goes on for months, this timeline is what you will use.

If you don't have photos

You can still ask for their evidence and question a bill that has no dated pickup record. But it is much harder. Next time, take five minutes at the counter. Our rental car inspection checklist lists the 18 shots that cover a car.

Sources

• Federal Trade Commission, "Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges". consumer.ftc.gov
• California Attorney General, "Credit Cards: Disputing a Charge". oag.ca.gov
• Your Mileage May Vary, "Hertz's AI Scanners Are Still Charging For Tiny Damage", 19 August 2026. yourmileagemayvary.com
• Carscoops, coverage of calls for an FTC inquiry into Hertz's damage scanners, April 2026. carscoops.com