Claims / Accident Form | Avis Rent a Car

Frequently Asked Questions

First, contact the police (911). Always complete an Avis Accident/Incident Report when the car has been involved in an accident or damaged. Contact Avis Roadside Assist at 800-354-2847. Then contact your personal auto insurance company and establish a claim for damage. If you are renting with a major credit card, you may want to contact their customer service department to determine if coverage is afforded through their collision program. You do not need to wait to receive our claim documents to report your claim to your personal insurance company and/or Credit Card Company.

Loss Damage Waiver is an optional service which, if accepted, eliminates your financial liability for loss or damage to the Avis vehicle, its parts and accessories, provided the vehicle is used in accordance with the terms and conditions of the rental agreement.

Please check with your personal auto insurance company to confirm whether your policy will cover any or all damage to the Avis car. In addition, you may have coverage available to you through your credit card company. You should contact your insurance company and/or credit card company to confirm what coverage is available (if any) for rental cars before renting any vehicle.

Only you can make that decision. For information on what your personal insurance covers, you should check with your insurance agent. To check on the benefits from your charge card, you should check with the charge card's customer service department. Then you can make an informed decision on whether to accept our optional LDW protection.

You are responsible for any and all loss of or damage to the car resulting from any cause including but not limited to collision, rollover, theft, tire damage and vandalism, seizure/medical condition, flood, fire, hail or other acts of Nature. If you have accepted the Avis LDW coverage and there is no breach of contract violation, you will not be responsible for the damages.

You will find an Accident/Incident Report form in the glove compartment of the rental vehicle or you may obtain one from any rental counter; otherwise you can access the report here. Please maintain a copy of your completed Accident/Incident Report for future reference.

When a vehicle is involved in an accident you can typically expect to hear from Avis in a 30-60 day time-frame from the date of the incident. The time-frame heavily depends on the type and amount of damage the vehicle endured as a result of the incident. In order for Avis to provide you with the best service possible we must first have the damaged vehicle repaired, or complete the Salvage transaction prior to providing you with accurate costs associated to our vehicle damage.

You are responsible for payment of any parking, toll and moving traffic violations along with a reasonable administrative fee, so please drive safely and observe all ordinances. Payments for these violations may be processed by a designated agent for this purpose.

Loss of Use - as a renter, you are contractually liable for the loss of the specific vehicle rented not our entire fleet per the terms and conditions of the rental contract. When our car is unavailable to be rented, we are entitled to be compensated for such loss. Administrative Fee - Avis is not an insurance company. We are self-insured and the expense of processing our claims is passed on only to the responsible parties involved. We have a legal entitlement to be brought back to pre-accident condition which includes the indirect damage of expenses related to administering a claim.

If we have the other party's contact information, we will pursue them and/or their insurance company for our damages. However, our pursuit of the other party does not absolve you from your contractual obligation to pay for the damage.

In accordance with the terms of your company's corporate contract with Avis, you must fill out an accident report in its entirety and notify your employer that the rental vehicle was damaged. Ask your employer if you need to put in a claim with your personal insurance, corporate credit card insurance or if there is coverage offered through your employers insurance. If applicable, Avis will contact your employer to verify that you are eligible for the corporate damage waiver coverage. If Avis does not receive a response from your employer you will be billed and held responsible for the vehicle damage.