That night at the hotel in Sintra, I was driving alone and trying to park the car I booked through QEEQ. The entrance to the parking lot was narrow and it was pretty dark. I just wanted to park quickly. Then I heard a scraping sound on the side of the car. In my head I went oh no did I just damage the car. I got out right away and used my phone light to check. I walked around the car a few times. Under the dim light I did not see any big clear scratch so I told myself maybe it was fine. The next morning I drove to Lisbon airport to return the car. I arrived a bit earlier than planned around six in the morning. The rental staff walked around the car. He suddenly pointed at two fresh scratches on the door and said they were new. I was confused and a bit shocked. Were they really that serious. In my mind I kept thinking about the video I took on March twenty fifth when I first picked up the car. I remembered that I did not see these scratches in that video. The staff wrote the new damage on the check in paper and then told me they would charge the maximum damage deductible which was 2100 euros. When I heard that number my heart sank. I felt nervous and also a bit angry but I knew I did hit the side the night before so I could not really argue much. I signed and watched them charge my card. At that moment I just thought my whole trip budget was broken. After I left I checked the photos and videos on my phone and compared the car from the first day. I was pretty sure the scratches were not there before. Then I remembered I had bought AXA Full Coverage through them. I started to hope this insurance could save me. After I went back home I tried to get the official damage report from the rental company. They were very slow and often did not answer my emails. I waited and waited and felt more and more worried. I kept looking at the 2100 euro charge on my bank record and asked myself what if I never get this money back. Later I finally received the detailed repair report. It said the repair cost was a bit over 1700 euros plus tax and the total was exactly 2100 euros. I collected all the papers. I had the rental contract the charge slip and the damage report. Then I sent all of them in the way their side asked for. In my head there was still a big question. Would they really pay. The amount was not small and I was dealing with this all by myself so it felt stressful. Their customer service told me they were following up with the insurer so I just kept checking my email from time to time. For a few days I kept asking myself the same thing. Will this claim be accepted. Will they suddenly say it does not meet some rule. When I finally got the message that the claim was approved and AXA Full Coverage would cover this damage I felt a huge relief. It was like a heavy stone in my chest was gone. For me 2100 euros is a lot of money. At first I thought I had to pay it all by myself but in the end the insurance took care of it. This whole story made me really feel the value of that coverage. I still remember the scraping sound at the parking entrance in Lisbon very clearly but at least this time the financial hit was not as scary because the insurance was there to back me up.
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