Have you still got a copy of the contract you signed? If so read the t&c's carefully, I would have thought somewhere within them would be a definition of wear and tear that could possibly exclude you from any liability.

I would also ask to see copies of the previous inspection sheets, just to ensure it's not been highlighted before upon previous hand overs.

Nothing about wear & tear in the contract but when handing over the car the driver said they don't class kerbed wheels as damage as they get it all the time. That was the only exclusion she mentioned and that too only verbally.

Yes, I will try not to pay without seeing copies of a few previous contracts if they say they can't find any history of this damage. Hope they don't try to be difficult about it - only fair in my opinion. Afterall they don't trust me either.

I wonder if I can use my own insurance for this repair in the worst case as I have got windscreen cover with no excess.

Sorry to hear your pain mate. Tbh when I had a courtesy car due to a write off my insurance covered the car that I had on hire so I would presume that you're windscreen cover should cover it. But would ring your insurance company to make sure.
£250 sounds unrealistic for chip. Hope works out mate

Makes you wonder how many people have to pay up for the same chip or scratch

Hi. New to posting but not new to this forum.
This item has prompted me to reply for the following reasons. I lost my RRS in august for 3 months to be rebuilt following a non fault motorway accident. Provided with like for like replacement. Due the nature of the beast, I ended up with five replacements. Long story, tell you some other time. Two of these vehicles came from two different Enterprise offices. When returned (dropped at garage with no rep present), I was later contacted and told (two different times, two different people) that there was damage to the windscreen.!!!???!!!. I was apparently liable for cost of repair.
My reply was that there was no damage at time of drop off which is when cars were then off hire and therefore I am not liable. I also stated (not mentioning one call to the other which was going to be my secret weapon) that this, to my mind was a con and if they wanted to take it further, I would quite happily see them in court. I never heard anymore. Funny that.
I hope this helps. Do not succumb without further proof.

I genuinely thought there was a chip on the windscreen in my case, just caused by someone else driving it, not me. Reading your story I now doubt if that's the case. Sounds like common practice, probably encouraged by people paying up without asking too many questions. Seems analogous to phishing or to garages telling people they need new brake pads when there's still several thousand miles left in them. Clever tactic: you haven't crashed their vehicle, you haven't even scratched it. It is a bit difficult to be 100% sure the windscreen hasn't been hit by a stone while you had the car and not something you would try to find when collecting the car or handing it back (especially when their rep isn't present).

Enterprise guy was supposed to phone me on Friday morning to "collect the payment" ( ) or to see how I wanted to proceed. He didn't. Instead I missed a call from a different person later in the day due to being in a meeting and got voicemail telling me "we have collected the car from the garage and refunded your £50 deposit". No mention of the disputed chipped windscreen and they had actually collected the car the previous morning I am still not sure if the matter is closed because the voicemail sounded like "standard procedure" whereas Enterprise branch, head office and Damage Recovery Unit that I spoke to the previous day sounded too firm (but not rude) to just let it go. Either the deposit was refunded by someone who overlooked the ongoing dispute or they found record of the damage in previous rental agreements (but didn't acknowledge it to me) or it is just a method they sometimes try to bring in additional revenue.

Perhaps we should bring this to LRCS's attention so they can reconsider their choice of car rental company?

Perhaps LRCS have seen this thread and had a quiet word


In any case good result  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

This time last year I was supplied with a Nissan swashfly as a like for like replacement when my Sport lunched itself. I collected the car from Bath depot after Bristol couldn't supply a LR product as promised. The car was covered is scars even though the rep said it was unmarked so I got out in the cold to fill in diagram correctly.
Returning it there they started on about damage on car which I pointed out was already on the car and also that there was less fuel than when collected. I didn't need the £50 so told them to keep it rather than argue. Three days later, the £50 refund was repaid to my debit card. Seems that if you protest enough they don't bother! 2x TDV6. SE and HSE. Both returned to sender with issues👀
TDV8 Sport HSE...... Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!!
Now rolling in MY10 Fullfat TDV8 Vogue. Slammed it to go round corners🙈
Cruising daily #56 mph in a Volvo V8. 😱
Lots of other toys in the cupboard...😜

Enterprise are the worst for screwing customers over, if Im working in the UK I allways have hire cars but crossed enterprise a few years ago, picked up a pretty much brand new astra (150 miles on the clock) and 2 days later the clucth went had maybe driven about 50 miles, they were good in delivering me a new car upgraded to a c-class for the hassle etc then 2 month later send me a bill for 750 for the new clutch, safe to say I didint pay and got the company I worked for to cancel there contract with them.

How this turned out

5-6 weeks and no contact. Like I said before I got my £50 deposit back a day or two later without much of an explanation. Now I am assuming they didn't refund the deposit by mistake as I originally thought but did it because they realised I wasn't going to pay easily.

Could still get an invoice a few months later

^^ Shouldn't have said that

Today (nearly 3 months after I returned the car) I got an invoice from Enterprise Damage Recovery Unit telling me they will charge the full £250 excess to my card and will only contact me if they fail to collect the payment.

I contacted them and despite all my arguments about bad weather at the time of collection, being sure nothing hit the windscreen while I had the car etc. the response stayed as "you have signed a legally binding agreement therefore you are liable for this payment". My "talking to a solicitor" card didn't work either.

I then questioned why the windscreen was replaced over 2 months after I returned the car. Also asked why did it need replacing (at a cost of £715) as opposed to repairing (which would have been much less than the excess) when the chip(s) were obviously too small to be noticed by me or the dealership and the branch had told me back then it was repairable. I also said I thought they had agreed with me originally that the damage didn't occur while in my possession which must be why they refunded the deposit.

The lady then said she would need to speak to the Enterprise branch to get me these answers. Shortly after this, she left me a voicemail as I was on another call. When I called back she told me because the branch didn't follow the correct procedure (i.e. refunded my deposit when they shouldn't have), Enterprise will waive the charge and apologised for confusion. Got an email too confirming they will not be pursuing

Good result in the end but I would be wary of using them again

I wonder how many hirers in the past 3 months have been asked to pay the excess on this windscreen

This is a worrying scenario - I have heard many like this when hiring abroad and looks like it is catching on over here  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!