Short answer
The renter pays when your evidence leaves no room: a pickup inspection they signed, a return inspection with photos, a contract with a damage and excess clause, and a repair quote.
Send that evidence and the amount in writing, capture only the documented amount from a deposit hold your contract authorises, then negotiate, send a formal demand and, if needed, use your country's small-claims route.
On this page
Most of these disputes are decided at the pickup counter, long before the customer says "that was already there". If you hold a signed "before", a timestamped "after", a contract that caps what the renter owes and a repair quote, the argument usually ends in a payment or a deduction from the deposit. If one of those pieces is missing, the realistic outcome is a negotiated lower amount, and a process change so it does not happen twice.
The situation: the renter brings the car back and will not pay
A typical summer evening: the renter returns a compact at 9 pm, the lot is dark, your staff spot a scuff on the rear bumper, and the renter insists it was there at pickup. Next morning the body shop quotes 480. Your contract sets an excess of 900 and the deposit is still held on their card. By lunchtime they email to say they will not pay anything.
The useful question is not who is right. It is what you can prove, and how much your own contract lets you claim.
What decides whether they pay?
| Evidence | What it proves | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup inspection signed by the renter | The damage was not there at the start | Your word against theirs |
| Return inspection with photos and time | The damage appeared during this rental | You cannot place it in their rental |
| Signed contract with a damage and excess clause | The most the renter agreed to pay | No agreed cap, no clear basis to charge |
| Deposit hold still active | You can recover without asking | You have to chase the money |
| Repair quote or invoice | The real cost | Any figure looks made up |
Three details change the result:
- The excess is the ceiling. If the contract limits the renter's liability to 900, a 1,400 repair covered by your insurance is not billed to them in full: you claim up to the excess and the rest goes through your policy, on its terms.
- A damage matrix shown before signing (kerbed wheel, scratch per panel, mirror glass) makes the amount predictable and hard to argue with. A price set after you have seen the damage always looks invented.
- Renters with third-party excess cover usually pay you and then claim from their insurer. Your invoice and photos are exactly what that insurer will ask them for.
What to do now
Collect the evidence the same day
Photos of the same panel at pickup and at return, from the same angle, with date and time. The signed contract, both inspections, mileage and fuel, and every message from the renter. Do not repair anything until you have photos and a quote.
Get a written repair quote
Itemised parts and labour from a body shop. For small damage priced by your damage matrix, still attach the quote or invoice behind the number.
Send the evidence and the amount in writing
One email: before and after photos, the contract clause, the quote, the amount and a deadline to reply (10 days is reasonable). Invite them to discuss it or send their own quote. A calm, documented first message is what a bank, an insurer or a court reads first.
If the hold is still active and the contract allows it, capture only what you can document
Capture the quoted amount, never the whole deposit "to be safe", and release the rest. Card networks attach conditions to damage charges; the card deposit guide covers them. A captured charge can still be disputed with the renter's bank, so build the file described in the chargebacks guide.
Negotiate before you litigate
Offering a slightly lower figure to close the matter often gets paid. 350 this week beats 480 a year from now. Put any settlement in writing.
Send a formal letter of demand
If there is no reply, send a final demand by a method that proves content and delivery: registered post, a courier with proof of delivery, or your country's certified letter. Some countries now require a documented attempt to settle before a civil claim is admissible; Spain has since April 2025, for example. Check your own rules.
Choose the claim route for the amount and the renter's country
Most countries have a simplified small-claims track, often without a lawyer, but thresholds, fees, deadlines and the competent court differ by country, so check with your local court or a lawyer. Renters are often tourists. When you are in the EU and they live in another EU country, two EU procedures exist: the European order for payment, with no amount limit, and the European Small Claims Procedure, for claims up to EUR 5,000. Outside the EU, a local lawyer or a collection agency in the renter's country is usually the practical option.
Can consumer arbitration or a complaints body collect it for you?
Usually not. Consumer dispute schemes exist so that customers can bring complaints against businesses. In Spain, for example, the consumer arbitration regulation (Royal Decree 713/2024, article 31) allows only consumers to file. If your business belongs to such a scheme, expect the renter to use it against you, and keep the same evidence file ready.
How to prevent it next time
- Inspect at pickup with the renter present: all four sides, wheels and roof, existing damage marked on the diagram. Use a vehicle inspection checklist.
- Repeat the same inspection at return, same angles, before the renter leaves. If you allow out-of-hours returns, say in the contract when and how the car is inspected.
- Get the renter's signature on both inspections, not only on the contract.
- Keep the deposit held until the return inspection is closed, not released when the keys come back.
- Put the damage price list and the excess in the contract, with the clause authorising damage charges to the card on the same page as the signature.
This is where Renviq fits, and it is worth being exact about what it does:
- Pickup and return inspections record mileage, fuel, and each damage marked on a car, bike or boat diagram, with a photo, severity and notes. The renter signs both, and each produces a PDF showing when it was completed.
- Pickup damage appears at return as existing damage, so anything new stands out. Every new damage with a repair cost goes automatically onto a post-return invoice as a damage charge line.
- The rental agreement is signed digitally by you and the renter. You can add your own clauses in settings, such as damage and excess terms, and the renter can download the signed agreement from their portal.
- With your own Stripe account connected, the deposit is held on the renter's saved card and renewed automatically every 7 days. From the booking you capture the damage amount and the rest is released at once.
- The booking's activity log shows who completed each inspection and who changed the deposit, and when.
What it does not do. There is no damage price list: you type the repair cost for each damage. There is no native mobile app, though the web app works on phones. There is no card-terminal integration, so a deposit taken on your own terminal or in cash is recorded by hand. And it does not send demand letters or file claims for you: you download the PDFs and attach them.
Sources4 sources
Facts checked on September 15, 2026
- Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 creating a European order for payment procedure
- Regulation (EU) 2015/2421 amending the European Small Claims Procedure (EUR 5,000 limit)
- Spain — Ley Orgánica 1/2025, article 5 (prior settlement attempt before civil claims)
- Spain — Royal Decree 713/2024, consumer arbitration, article 31