Thread: Car Hire Company Duty of Care

Can't help you there, sounds like a trip to a lawyer might be needed. But that is interesting that through no fault of your friend they are charged for "an act of God". Thanks for the headsup as I occasionally hire vehicles and it might be worthwhile me checking with the hire company next time I take out a rental.

Originally Posted by Saitch

A person I know arrived at Brissie airport from Rocky 1 hour before the storm last Thursday. They picked up their pre-arranged hire car & left to drive to Chermside. Not far into the trip they got hit by the rain & hail. On returning the car they were informed that they were liable for a $3000 debit from their card which will be used for hail damage repairs. (The excess was $7000) If the repairs are less than the $3000 then a refund will be forthcoming.
Now this person was not informed of the storm by the rental people even though there were storm warnings issued. Surely the hire company has a duty of care to inform a new arrival that there is a severe storm warning current before letting them drive off!

duty of care would be limited to "do you have a license?"


the person signed the form, which says he has to pay the excess. its sucky but i dont think he has a leg to stand on.

I would seek legal advice, duty of care laws are constantly being questioned and found to be misunderstood quite often, for instance, last week i was relocating some AC units from one part of a building to another, our own electrician wired all the interconnecting and control wiring, however the site electrician had to provide the power supply, they were hesitant because in their words, the duty of care laws would require them to take responsibility of there was any problem with any part of the AC units as they were the last ones to work on the electrical side.

So my point is and how I would argue the point is, the hire car company would have/ should have been aware there were storms about, if it can be proven they did and did not warn the driver who was on a plane and most likely not aware of the Severe Storm Warning then they failed in there duty of care to inform the driver of the potential for damage and that he would be held liable.

Maybe I am wrong maybe I am not but for the kind of coin your suggesting I would put up a fight first.

Whether it falls under duty of care or not I have no idea, I am not a lawyer.

But I'd strongly advice your friend to seek legal advice.

I flew out of Brisbane around the same time as your friend arrived. I would be awfully surprised if the hire company was not aware of the storm. Virgin Airlines certainly were - they sent me a text at 8:20 the previous evening warning of " Forecast storms that may impact flights tomorrow". (They don't usually do that - so I knew it was likely to be a major storm.)

As mentioned I would think at the very least it could be argued that the hire company staff contributed significantly to the event by not warning the driver.

Talk to a lawyer without doubt.

Bloody hell thats rough as steep bloody prices! Thats why i always pay the extra $$ for excess reduction down to $0

What would have happened if the hire company had informed the person. I think most would take the chance, I always take the option of least excess.

Common courtesy to warn of the storm and maybe advise an excess reduction but duty of care i dont think so. The car hire company isnt to know which direction you are going, for all they know the car was heading away from the storm.

VISA Platinum travel insurance covers the excess if your friend paid with one.

Regards Philip A