What if I did not have insurance and had to pay all the damage myself. This thought really hit me only after the claim was approved. When I booked the car on QEEQ I added AXA Full Coverage. To be honest I just wanted some peace of mind. I had a business trip and I did not want to waste time at the counter with extra sales. I rented the car in Melbourne near the end of April. I picked up a Toyota RAV4 from East Coast Car Rentals at about 1 pm on April 27 and I returned it the next day around 6 pm. The whole trip went very smooth and the car was quite new. It was an automatic so it was easy to drive. When I brought the car back the staff walked around the car and then stopped at the side of the door. He frowned and said there was a scratch there and that in their pick up photos this scratch did not exist. I was very confused. I did not remember hitting anything. I tried to explain to the counter staff. I said I felt the door side was not very clean when I picked up the car but I also did not take close photos of that part. They told me that the photos in their system showed that part was fine. They also said if they started their claim process they would first charge a big excess amount on my credit card. When I heard the amount my heart sank. It was not a small number for me. I kept asking the staff for details and at the same time I suddenly remembered that I had AXA Full Coverage. That gave me some courage. The staff said they would follow their rules and charge the full excess first. Later when the damage was fully checked they would compare the real cost and then refund the rest if there was any. A few days later I got a receipt from the rental company. It showed they had charged the excess and also finished the damage check. The real damage amount was about two thousand Australian dollars. When I saw that paper my first reaction was not anger. I just felt now it was time to use the insurance I bought. I contacted their customer service and sent all the files from the rental company. That was the charge slip the damage invoice and other things. For me it was just about collecting everything I had and trying to explain what happened. I also told them clearly that I did not take detailed photos when I picked up the car. I could only give what the rental company gave me. During the talks I was quite nervous. The rental company was very sure that the scratch was not there at pick up and they had their own photos. I was ready for a bad result. I thought even if the claim was not fully approved at least I tried. The support side asked me to send all the documents I had and said they would try to help. Later they told me the claim was filed based on my documents. I went back to my work and just waited for news. When I got the message that the claim was successful it was around the middle of May. I saw the same number again and this time I really felt relaxed. The damage of about two thousand Australian dollars was paid by AXA Full Coverage. The money that the rental company had taken from me was now coming back to me from the insurance. When I look back the biggest point for me is that on a business trip it is very easy to lose focus. You rush for time you read emails you answer calls and many things happen at once. You cannot do every small step perfectly like taking clear photos of every part of the car. At the counter when they told me they had to charge the excess if I did not have this insurance the whole story would be much more painful and it might affect my later schedule and mood. This damage was not a big accident. It was only on the side of the door but the cost was still high enough to hurt. Now I pay more attention to the protection when I book a car and not only the price. For me using AXA Full Coverage with them this time showed me its real value.
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