In this article you can find all information on what to do in case your car breaks down during a rental.
How do I contact roadside assistance?
What happens if the renter calls roadside assistance?
What if the renter damaged my car by driving carelessly?
Will the renter get Roadside Assistance abroad?
How often can roadside assistance be arranged for my car?
How to contact roadside assistance
The renter can call our roadside assistance partner at any time during the booking, any time, any day. They can give advice, fix the car on the spot, or tow it to the nearest garage. If a renter calls you and tells you the car is acting unusual, ask them to call. Please note that roadside assistance is only able to assist if your car already has a liability insurance (WA) next to the Snappcar insurance.
Both you and the renter can contact the roadside assistance by calling us through the app and choose option 1. Find the button by going to your Bookings -> Click the active booking -> Scroll down until you see a ‘Call support’ button.
What happens if the renter calls roadside assistance?
A lot of cases are solved directly on the spot. It could be a battery failure, a tire, or something else that is easy to fix with the help of the towing company. In that case, the renter will keep on driving after a minor stop, and none of you will be left with any costs.
However, they could also need to tow the car to a garage. They always tow the vehicle to the nearest garage, which could be far from where you live. The garage will never repair anything without the owner's consent, but if you keep close contact with the renter, the best solution could be to let the garage fix the issue the same day if possible so that the renter can drive the car back home.
If the damage in question is too extensive, it might take longer to repair. In that case the booking will be closed manually by our support team. The renter will get reimbursed for their trip home (or to their destination) and get a refund for the time they couldn’t use the car. Your rental income will be adjusted to let the renter receive their refund for part of the booking.
What if the renter damaged my car by driving carelessly?
If the damage is considered mechanical damage (anything that is not just a scratch or a dent), it will not be covered by the insurance. This means that you will not be reimbursed for the costs of repairing that type of damage. However, there are cases where the issue could have arisen because of the renters' way of driving the car. The process for investigating this is to contact our support. In some cases, a garage might be able to make a statement that tells us the reason for the damage was the renters' fault. We can then help to retrieve payment from the renter. Unfortunately, this is not always possible since the reason for these issues most often is wear and tear.
SnappCar is never liable for these costs and can not promise any payment for repairing mechanical damages or the loss of income caused by the problem, even if a renter has driven carelessly.
We recommend that you set a limit on how far the renter is allowed to drive if your car is not in new condition. For example, cars older than ten years are not recommended to be allowed abroad since it might mean that you must retrieve the vehicle yourself.
Will the renter get Roadside Assistance abroad?
If the renter has chosen the option to take the car abroad, with approval from you, and paid the extra fee for driving abroad, they will receive roadside assistance if needed.
We ask the renter to wait for the assistance company to tell them what repairs are necessary to continue on their trip. In all cases possible we prefer if they are able to drive the car back to your address. However, if this is not possible you can decide together with the renter, the roadside assistance partner and our support team to solve it differently.
How often can roadside assistance be arranged for my car?
Unfortunately, we see (keyless) cars or vans that have breakdowns almost every month. This creates a bad experience for renters, it is inconvenient for you as an owner and it also entails a lot of costs for SnappCar. If we see this we will contact you to hear your side of the story. We can then decide to, for example, exclude the car from abroad coverage.
If there are multiple breakdown reports and, after consultation, we believe that the car is not in good condition to rent out, we will take measures and ask you to remove the car from the platform within one month.
Uncovered costs of roadside assistance
When it is suspected that a breakdown is due to the poor condition of the vehicle, we may charge for the provided roadside assistance retroactively. An example of this is a flat tire or other tire damage caused by insufficient tread depth. For more information about the requirements for a vehicle, please refer to Article 5.1 of our General Terms and Conditions.