I am pretty glad now that I added AXA Full Coverage when I booked the car with QEEQ, because this whole thing would be a lot more painful without it. When I finally got the message that the insurance claim was approved, I felt a big weight leave my chest first, then I started to think back to what really happened. By the time I saw the email from the insurance side, I was already back in the UK and working again for a few weeks. The email said they would pay for the damage from my rental in Norway. I stared at the amount and all the English emails and my mind went straight back to that cold winter in Oslo. I had flown in from the UK for meetings. The trip was tight. I picked up the car around midday, I remember it was about January 29th, 2026, at the Oslo location. The rental company was Hertz and they gave me a Volvo V40 with automatic transmission and five seats. The car looked fairly new. For a business trip this car felt just right and not too much. I even thought it would just be a few days of driving and then I would return it with no problem. The real trouble came on the day I was supposed to return the car, around February 1st. It was early morning and I walked out of the hotel and saw a thin layer of ice on the ground. The temperature was very low and the car windows were covered with frost. I always thought my driving was safe enough, but at one junction the wheels slipped on the ice and the car started to slide a bit. The speed was not high, but the car still hit the side barrier. When the car stopped, I was sitting in the driver seat with sweat on my hands. I got out and saw clear scratches and dents on the side of the car and the front bumper was a bit bent. My first thought was that this was going to cost a lot of money. The sky was still grey and the street was quiet with just a few cars passing by. I drove the car slowly back to the Hertz return area with my mind counting how much they might charge me. At the return point, the staff checked the car very carefully. They walked around the car with a flashlight, took photos and wrote notes. I stood nearby and felt like I was waiting for an exam result. They only told me there would be a damage fee and that the final amount would be decided later by their main office. I could only nod. At that moment I was really thankful that I had paid extra for AXA Full Coverage. I kept telling myself that at least some of this could be claimed back. When I got back to the UK, the hard part really started. First I saw a big charge on my bank statement with the name Hertz and the number was not small at all. Then I checked my email and found more messages from the rental company with damage invoices and details. They listed car damage and road assistance and some other items and the numbers made my head hurt. I slowly put all these documents together. As a business traveler, I do have a budget, but a sudden cost like this still hits hard. I began to contact their support and asked about the insurance claim. The whole process was not simple. It was more about small details and careful work. I rented the car in Norway but live in the UK and my bank account is in the UK, so I had to give IBAN and SWIFT and also confirm the currency. At first the IBAN I gave was said to be invalid, so I had to check my bank paper again and match every part. They needed photos, proof of the charge, the damage invoice and all the accident information. I sent what I had step by step. When something was missing they told me and I tried to fill the gap. For someone who works full time, this back and forth is tiring. On weekdays I had meetings, so I had to use my lunch break or evenings to fill forms and send files. During those days I answered emails while also trying to figure out which exact amounts were charged to me and if road assistance and damage were both in that number. Even though I had AXA Full Coverage, I did not feel relaxed until I knew for sure that they would pay. The good thing is that they kept moving the claim forward. Once I finally uploaded all the needed documents, not long after that I was told that the insurance company had agreed to pay. This sentence meant a lot to me. I felt that all the time I spent on uploading files, checking bank details and explaining the situation was worth it. In the end, most of the damage and related costs from that accident in Norway were covered by AXA Full Coverage, so the pressure on me became much lighter. Looking back, if I had not bought this extra insurance, I would have had to carry all that cost alone and I would feel terrible about it. Also, dealing with a foreign rental company, different banks and exchange rates is very hard without help. Even though there were some moments where I had to correct information and add more documents, at least there was a clear claim result and things went in a better direction for me.
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