Handling Accidents and Breakdowns: A Procedure for Your Car Rental Agency

When a renter calls to say your car has been in an accident or has broken down, run a fixed, calm procedure: first make sure everyone is safe, then collect the facts and photos, decide whether the police or roadside assistance are needed, keep the trip moving with a repair or a replacement vehicle, and finally settle the deposit, insurance and excess against documented evidence. A written rental car accident and breakdown procedure is the difference between a stressful scramble and a routine your whole team can run the same way, every time.

Incidents are rare, but they are inevitable over a full season. The agencies that come out of them with a happy renter, a repaired car and a clean insurance claim are not lucky — they simply follow a procedure instead of improvising. Here is one you can adopt and keep by the phone.

Step 1 — The first call: keep the renter safe and in control

Your first job is not the car. It is the person. When the renter calls in, your opening questions are always the same, in the same order:

1. 1Is anyone hurt? If yes, call emergency services first (112 across Europe) before anything else.
2. 2Is everyone out of traffic and safe? Hazard lights on, warning triangle out, high-visibility vest worn if they step out on a road.
3. 3Where exactly are you? Get a location you can pin on a map, not just a town name.
4. 4Is the car driveable, or is it blocking the road?

Speak slowly and reassure them that you have a procedure and you will walk them through it. A renter who feels looked after at the roadside becomes the renter who leaves you a glowing review, even after a bad day. Keep a one-page script by every phone so whoever picks up says the same calm things.

Step 2 — What to collect at the scene

The quality of your insurance claim is decided in the ten minutes after an incident, not in the week afterwards. Ask the renter to gather the same evidence every time, and to send it to you by WhatsApp or email while they are still at the scene.

Information to collect

• The other driver's name, phone, address, insurer and policy number.
• Both vehicles' registration plates, make, model and colour.
• Names and phone numbers of any witnesses.
• Date, exact time and precise location.
• If relevant: the attending police report number and the officers' unit.

Photos to take

• Wide shots showing both vehicles' positions and the road layout before anything is moved.
• Close-ups of all damage on every vehicle involved.
• The other car's plate and the other driver's documents.
• Road signs, traffic lights, skid marks, and any debris.
• Any injuries, if the people agree to be photographed.

For a breakdown with no third party, photos still matter: the dashboard warning lights, the odometer, the tyre or fluid or part that failed. They tell you — and your mechanic — what happened and whether it points to misuse or ordinary wear.

Step 3 — The European Accident Statement

The European Accident Statement (the "constat amiable" in France, "CID" or "modulo CAI" elsewhere) is the standard paper form drivers fill in together after a collision. It is accepted across the EU, it is identical in every language so a French driver and a Spanish driver can each read their own copy, and insurers expect it. Keep a fresh, blank copy in every glovebox and show renters where it is at pick-up.

Coach your renters on three rules: fill it in jointly at the scene while memories are fresh; both drivers sign it; and never sign a version they disagree with — if the facts are disputed, they note the disagreement in the remarks box rather than refusing to sign. Once signed, no one can change the sketch or the ticked boxes, so the renter should read it carefully before putting pen to paper.

Step 4 — When to involve the police, and when to call roadside assistance

Two different phone numbers, two different triggers. Make the distinction crisp for your team and your renters so nobody freezes trying to decide.

The habit worth building: in many countries a police report is required for the insurance claim when there are injuries, a dispute, a hit-and-run, theft, or damage to public property. When in doubt, it is cheaper to call than to lose a claim. For a simple breakdown, your roadside assistance contract — know its number by heart and give it to every renter at pick-up — is the right first call.

Step 5 — Keeping the trip going

A renter stranded with no plan is a refund request and a bad review waiting to happen. The moment safety and paperwork are handled, pivot to the trip. Decide quickly between two paths:

• Fast repair — if the fault is minor (a tyre, a battery, a fuse) and your roadside provider or a nearby garage can fix it within the hour, that is often the least disruptive option.
• Replacement vehicle — if the car is undriveable or unsafe, get a comparable car to the renter as fast as you can, from your own fleet, a partner agency, or a reciprocal arrangement with a nearby independent.

Agree in advance, as a team, how far you will go to recover a trip and who authorises it, so the person answering the phone at 9pm on a Saturday is not inventing policy under pressure.

Step 6 — Deposit, insurance and excess

This is where trust is won or lost. The security deposit is not a fee and it is not yours to keep — it is a hold that lets you recover a legitimate, documented cost up to the insurance excess. Treat it that way and explain it that way.

• Charge only the documented excess (the deductible) the renter is actually liable for under your insurance terms — never the full repair if the policy caps the renter's share.
• Back every euro with evidence: the repair invoice, the photos, the accident statement.
• Release the rest of the deposit promptly once the cost is known, and tell the renter when it will land.
• If a third party is at fault, pursue their insurer — do not make your renter carry a cost that is not theirs.

The single biggest source of disputes is a renter who is surprised. You avoid that by showing the deposit amount and exactly what your insurance covers — and does not — at the moment of booking, not at the counter and certainly not after a crash. Clarity up front is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Step 7 — Document everything for a clean claim

Open a single file for every incident and keep it in one place: the accident statement, all photos, the renter's written account, your correspondence, the repair invoice, the police report number, and a note of every call with timestamps. A tidy file is what gets a claim paid quickly and protects you if the facts are later contested. It is also the raw material for the final step.

Step 8 — Review every incident to prevent the next one

Once the dust settles, spend fifteen minutes on a short review. What happened, what did we do well, where did we hesitate, and what would stop it next time? A recurring breakdown on one car is a maintenance signal. A pattern of the same confusion at the roadside is a gap in your pick-up briefing. Over a season, these small reviews quietly turn a stressful part of the job into a managed, predictable one — and that steadiness shows up in your reviews and your repeat bookings.

Where DRIVO fits in

A clear procedure only works if renters understand the deal before they ever get the keys. That is the part DRIVO is built to make easy. When you list your fleet on DRIVO, travellers see the rental price and DRIVO's own service fee up front, along with your security deposit and what your insurance covers — all before they pay. Insurance is arranged directly with you under your own terms; DRIVO does not sell insurance or a protection add-on, so the renter is clear that the coverage, the deposit and the excess are yours to explain. And when something does go wrong, multilingual WhatsApp and in-app concierge support help you and your renter communicate in English, French, Spanish, Italian or Arabic.

Listing is free to start with a 14-day free trial, then €49/month, and a flat 10% commission charged only on completed bookings — you keep 90%, with automatic Stripe payouts and verified profiles and reviews that reward exactly the kind of calm, professional handling this procedure gives you, right across Europe and North Africa.