I will say the main point first. If I did not buy AXA Full Coverage when I booked with QEEQ I would probably still be crying about that one thousand euro bill now. At the start I really thought I would need to pay around 1150 euros by myself and it felt pretty hopeless.
In the middle of April I rented a Ford Focus estate with Wheego in Malaga. I picked up the car around April 27 in the early afternoon and planned to return it in Malaga around May 6 in the afternoon. The car was manual and everything was fine at the beginning. I drove it and felt okay.
The problem came one day before I returned the car. I was driving in the city on a narrow street and turned a bit tight. The right side of the car hit a stone block. I heard the sound and my whole body went stiff. I got out of the car and saw clear scratches on the side of the car and some damage near the wheel. My first thought was that I was done and that I would lose a lot of money. I took many photos with my phone and in my head I kept thinking if AXA Full Coverage would pay for this or not.
On the return day I went to the Wheego counter in the afternoon and gave the keys back. The staff walked around the car to check it. I was very nervous. He saw the scratches and his face changed. He said he needed to record the damage and there would be a cost. I asked how much. He did not give me a clear number and only said it might be high.
Later the amount from the rental company was around 1150 euros. When I saw that number my head hurt. I started to count in my mind how many hours of work that would be for me. When I got back to where I was staying I contacted their customer service right away. I told them what happened and sent all the damage photos. They explained that I had bought AXA Full Coverage and told me not to panic. They would talk with the rental company and confirm the final cost and also need some documents.
I could feel they were talking with the rental company again and again because sometimes they updated me and said the rental company sent a file but the amount was not final yet. Those days were not easy for me. I had to wait for the final bill and I was also scared that something might go wrong. The only thing I could do was give them all the files I had and wait.
After some time the customer service told me that the rental company had confirmed the final damage cost. It was about 1150 euros and they also checked the currency and amount with me. I got nervous again because I thought maybe I still needed to pay first. Soon they told me that it could be claimed under AXA Full Coverage and asked me to confirm my details again. At that moment I felt a big stone fall from my heart.
For a young person like me more than one thousand euros is a really big cost. If I had to pay it by myself my whole budget for this trip would be broken and I would worry about it for a long time after I went home. With this cover it was very different. The claim went smoother than I expected. I could feel that they kept watching this case and they told me when there was progress. When I got the message that the claim was approved and paid I finally relaxed. I felt that the extra money I paid for AXA Full Coverage was totally worth it. It was not complicated either. I just needed to give the right files.
Now when I think about this story the worst part is not the scratch on the car. The worst part is when you do not know how much you must pay and what you should do. This cover made that fear much smaller and saved me from a very heavy bill.
I booked my car in Nagoya through QEEQ and at first I felt the extra insurance was just for peace of mind. I did not think I would really use it. The problem happened about two days before return around May 31 in the afternoon. I was driving a Toyota Aqua and I was backing up on a narrow street in Nagoya. The rear side hit something on the side. I heard a small sound and my heart dropped. My first thought was that I would need to pay a lot of money.
I got out and checked the car. There was a clear scratch on the back and some paint was gone. In Japan I knew this kind of thing would not be cheap. At the return counter the staff checked the car very carefully. They took photos and wrote notes. They told me the damage could be many tens of thousands of yen. I stood there while they checked and I kept doing the math in my head to Singapore dollars. My mood for the whole afternoon was very heavy.
After the return the rental company later confirmed the cost was around 80,000 yen. There was repair cost and also loss of use fee. I felt quite stressed because 80,000 yen is not a small amount for me as an overseas visitor. At that moment I really understood how important the AXA Full Coverage was. I kept all the papers from the rental company and then I contacted their customer service. I explained what happened and sent them the repair invoice and other documents.
In the next days I was still a bit worried. I kept thinking maybe they only pay part of it or maybe it will take very long. They also asked me again to confirm my bank account because I live in Singapore and the transfer was international. I was also afraid there might be some problem with the bank so I even gave another account. One morning I woke up and saw messages and email saying the claim amount of 80,000 yen was confirmed and sent. I opened my banking app and saw the money really arrived. In that moment I felt a big weight was gone.
When I think back now I feel that without this insurance my memory of Nagoya might become only bills and pressure. There was some anxiety in the process but the full 80,000 yen from the rental company was covered and paid back. For someone like me who had an accident for the first time in Japan this was a big relief.
Is it a little crazy that more than three hundred euros of car damage ended up coming back to my account without a cent missing? I booked my car with QEEQ and I added AXA Full Coverage. To be honest at first I only wanted some peace of mind. I even thought I might never use it.
I picked up the car in Malaga on May nineteenth in the afternoon. I arrived one day earlier than my original plan so I changed to around three pm on the nineteenth at the SIXT counter. It was a Volkswagen T cross automatic. For someone like me who flies around a lot for work it was easy to drive. I drove all the way to Madrid for business. Everything was fine until the day before I returned the car. On a narrow street in the city my sense of distance on the right side was not so good and the side of the car scraped a low stone block. My heart just dropped. I knew this would cost money.
On the return day I reached the Madrid drop off spot a little after seven in the morning a bit earlier than the planned eight o clock. The SIXT staff checked the car and pointed right at the scratch. He did his check with a small board and some notes. I started to feel nervous and I also needed to rush to a meeting. He told me the damage fee would be a bit over three hundred euros and that I had to pay it on the spot by card. In my head my first thought was this is why I bought the insurance and my second thought was wow three hundred euros really hurts. But they said I had to pay first so I paid.
On the way out I started to check how to claim with the insurance. To be honest when I read the emails in English at the beginning I could not really tell which part was about the account and which part was about the claim. I even thought the insurance company would pay the rental company directly and I did not need to pay first. So I felt pretty bad and a bit confused. Then I contacted customer service and told them my situation. They explained things more clearly. I learned that I should pay the damage to the rental company first and then use those papers to make a claim. The account stuff was not very important for me. I thought to myself I should not guess so much on my own and think I was being tricked.
After that I started to prepare all the documents. I sent the bill from the rental company the card charge record and the personal details they asked for. Since I am from the US they also needed my bank SWIFT code. I gave the wrong one the first time and only wrote the routing number we use in the US. Later they told me it was not correct so I went back to my bank to confirm it and sent the right one. The whole thing went back and forth a bit but still under control. I also felt it was a little annoying but it was mostly my own mistake.
A few days later I got an email saying the claim amount was 347.35 euros and it was fully approved. I almost did not believe it. I logged in to my online banking to check and saw the same amount already in my account. The exchange rate looked normal too. At that moment my mood went from this unlucky scratch to okay this was scary but fine. I felt a big relief and I was really glad I had paid extra for AXA Full Coverage. For a business traveler like me who is always on the move it is great that I do not have to fight with the rental company for a few hundred euros. It saved my time and my energy. This whole experience showed me that this kind of insurance is not only for mental comfort. It can really cover your loss in a real case.
"Your claim is approved." When I saw this line in my email I was still in Auckland and I suddenly remembered that unlucky tire from a few days before. I felt so relaxed at that moment. In my head I only had one thought. Good thing I bought AXA Full Coverage.
If I go back in time it was around the evening of May 25. I was driving the EZU Toyota Aqua back from Auckland city. The sky was a bit gray. The road side was wet and a little empty. The car suddenly shook. I pulled over and checked. The tire was really bad and flat. I kind of froze. I was in a foreign country and my English is not that good. I kept thinking that the rental company would charge me a lot.
I slowly changed to the spare tire by myself. My hands were dirty and the wind felt cold on my face. After I finished I felt tired and stressed. I searched for a tire shop on my phone and also opened my insurance details. When I saw that tire damage was covered under AXA Full Coverage I felt a lot calmer. I felt I was lucky I clicked that option when I booked.
Around noon on May 26 I went to a nearby tire shop. They changed a new tire for me. I paid with my card and they gave me a small receipt. When I walked out of the shop the sky became clear and the cars on the street looked bright in the sun. In my mind I was still not sure if this money would really come back. I was worried there might be some strange reason to refuse it.
After I went back I started to put all the proof together. I took photos of the receipt and checked my bank payment record. In the next days I kept talking with the customer service. They told me they still needed more documents. I felt a bit annoyed sometimes. It was like doing homework. But when I thought of that more than 170 NZD I kept going. For the repair invoice I even went back to the tire shop and asked them. They printed a proper invoice for me.
A few days later I got another email. It said the insurance was checking and asked me to confirm the amount. It was about one hundred and seventy plus NZD. I counted it and saw it almost covered all the tire cost. At that moment the bad feeling from the flat tire was kind of fixed in my heart.
When I finally saw the confirmation of payment I was still planning to return the car in Auckland around June 12. I thought that without AXA Full Coverage I might feel sad about that tire money for the whole trip. Now when I think of myself changing the tire by the road I still remember how messy it was but it also feels a bit funny. It became a real memory for me and it was the first time I clearly felt that extra insurance can really help in real life. QEEQ made that whole thing end in a good way for me.
I still want to complain a bit first because I really did not expect that a small scratch on a car in Florence would make me deal with so much English information and bank details and ID photos. Now the money has been paid back so when I look back I actually feel pretty relaxed.
I booked the car through QEEQ. I picked it up around the morning of May 29 in Florence. It was a Toyota Yaris from NOLEGGIARE with automatic gear. For an overseas visitor like me it was very easy to drive. When I first got the car I felt quite happy. The car was clean and I even used my phone to walk around the car and take photos. I told myself this was just in case. A few days later this just in case really helped.
The problem happened when I parked on a narrow street with old buildings on both sides and cars very close to each other. I thought I parked pretty straight. When I came back I saw a long scratch on the passenger side. The paint was off and I could see it clearly. I just froze there. In my head I only thought that I might need to pay a lot of money.
I took many photos of the damage and my mind was full of worries. I was afraid the rental staff would say it was my fault and charge me a crazy price. On the return day around the morning of June 3 I drove the car back to the Florence office. The staff checked the car and stayed a long time at that scratch. Their attitude was normal. They only told me this was damage and there would be a charge. My heart sank but then I remembered I bought AXA Full Coverage when I booked. So I did not argue too much with the counter staff. I just paid first.
When I signed and paid I felt real pain in my wallet. I did a simple exchange in my head to RMB and it was not a small number. I only had one clear thought that the insurance must pay me back or I would feel super bad. After I left the office I started to sort out my documents. I kept all the damage photos the rental paper and the payment record. I was glad I took many photos of the car when I picked it up.
The real trouble came from the information for the claim. I use a China bank account and a China card. For the refund they needed my full name in English my bank address and my home address. I always live in a Chinese language world so suddenly writing all of this in English made me very nervous. I sat in front of the screen and looked at my bank card and the bank website and typed each letter slowly because I was afraid of spelling something wrong.
They also reminded me that the bank name must be fully correct and the branch address must be clear. Then I realized my first version of the bank name was not exact. I went back to check the right English name and fixed it. I also had to upload the front and back of my Chinese ID because I used a Chinese ID and there were rules from the bank. I searched my album for clear photos and while doing that I was thinking it was kind of crazy that one scratch caused all this work.
The damage photos were another problem. I had taken many photos but I was still worried they might not see the details clearly. So I sent them again by mail and zoomed in to check the scratch and the plate so everything was clear. Those days I was basically jumping between English forms and photo files. The time difference made me a bit tired but I still finished each thing they asked step by step.
The claim amount was 240 euros. Maybe this is not a huge number for them but for a student like me it is quite a lot. So I was nervous at every step. At one point I was told it was better to use a debit or saving card instead of a China credit card so the transfer would be smoother. I looked through my cards and chose a proper one. Then I carefully typed out the full branch address with the street and number.
My biggest feeling in this whole process is that even though the tasks were many and detailed as long as I worked with them and gave correct information the claim kept moving forward. I could feel that they were following my case. When something was not clear they asked me to correct it. After I updated my info things kept going and it did not feel like the case disappeared.
When I finally got the message that the claim was approved and the amount was the same 240 euros that I paid at the desk I really let out a long breath. At that moment all the time I spent checking English words fixing addresses and sorting photos suddenly felt worth it. For an overseas visitor in a country I do not really know it is easy to panic when something happens to a car. I was really glad that I had bought AXA Full Coverage from the start or I might just give up the claim and lose the money.
Now when I think of this Florence rental the scratch itself is not the main thing I remember. What I remember more is my mood change. I went from fear and worry about extra charges to the calm feeling when I knew I would get back 240 euros. Accidents with a car can happen. The important part is if there is someone and some coverage behind you when it really goes wrong. This time the claim went through and the money came back to me and that gives me a very real kind of confidence for the next time I rent a car abroad.
When I think about my trip in Naples Italy the first thing that jumps into my head is not the view but that small scratch on the car door. I booked the car on QEEQ. ACE gave me a Hyundai Tucson with automatic transmission and five seats. For me as a visitor from the US it was easy to drive. I picked up the car around one in the afternoon on June 2 in Naples. The pickup was simple. The staff at the rental counter checked the car and gave me the keys. The real problem came later. I remember parking next to a stone retaining wall with a kind of jagged edge. It looked fine. When I moved the car I misjudged the distance. The side of the car touched the stone. The sound was not loud but my heart sank. I got out and saw a surface scratch. Not very deep but quite long. I felt pretty stupid and kept blaming myself. On the return day around one in the afternoon on June 9 I drove back to the Naples return point. The worker walked around the car and of course stopped at that scratch. He told me this was damage and I needed to pay 230 euros. When I paid with my card I felt a bit upset. I knew it was my mistake but I was also worried that this money was just gone. Then I remembered I had added AXA Full Coverage when I booked. I suddenly felt there was still some hope. Back at my place I put all the papers on the table. The rental agreement their damage report the payment receipt and the photos of the scratch. While I was sorting them I kept thinking of that stone wall and replaying the scene in my head. I reached out to customer service and told them I wanted to claim this 230 euros with my AXA Full Coverage. I was nervous because it was my first time really using this kind of insurance. I sent the files they asked for. Later they told me I also needed to give my bank account and my ID information. I checked every detail and sent everything again. I was afraid to miss anything. When they told me that all the documents were complete and the claim could move forward I finally relaxed a bit. I still was not sure if the money would really come back. After some time they asked me to confirm the claim amount and the currency. When I saw that 213.20 euros would be paid to me I stared at the number for a while and even did the math on my phone. It was a bit less than 230 euros but most of the damage cost was covered and I felt pretty happy already. I replied with my confirmation and the payment started to move. Later they told me the claim was successful. At that moment I felt that all the photos all the forms and all the back and forth were worth it. For someone like me who still feels a bit like a student and does not have a big budget this experience made AXA Full Coverage feel real. It was not just some words on a page. After I made a mistake it pulled back most of the loss for me. The scratch on the door stayed with the rental company when I returned the car but what stayed with me was how they helped me handle the damage and get the money back.
