Hang in there till I get to my happy ending. It all started with me booking a rental car through booking.com. I was off to visit family in New Zealand and knew I would be doing plenty of driving from Auckland to Hamilton then to the Coromandel. If you haven’t been to the Coromandel, you must!
In this post:
The Incident
After having driven 300+ kilometers with not a single scratch or even dust mark on the hired car I was 10 minutes out from the depot and a stone flew up from a passing car and put a crack in my windscreen! I bet your asking, ‘Show us your crack!’.
Here’s the crack!
Smaller than a NZ 20 cent (pictured) which is roughly the same size as an AUS 10 cent. The ‘crack’er with this chip was the position of it on the windscreen. It was in front of the driver which meant the windscreen had to be replaced rather than repaired.
When I got to the depot I did the honest thing and told them that a stone chipped my windscreen and they sent a specialist to have a look. Wish I had paid the specialist $50 to say the chip could be repaired for $250. But instead he said it had to be replaced and for a 2019 Toyota Corolla that was going to cost me $827.50.
$827.50!!! You have to be kidding!
For a tiny chip!!! I was spewing. But I also had a flight to catch, so I swiped my Westpac Altitude Black card and headed to the airport.
Go Rentals (where I hired the car) did remind me that I didn’t book car insurance with them and I had selected another provider Booking.com. So after I checked in at the airport and had some downtime I contacted Booking.com to process a claim.
I was unable to process a claim online because my insurance policy was ‘unpaid’? Wait what? I paid for the insurance along with the car rental online through booking.com. But here is the stinger… When I amended my pick up time from 9pm to 11pm, (flight was delayed) booking.com had cancelled my car insurance with them and refunded my money. None of this was communicated to me because it was being sent via email to my work address. A text would have been appreciated.
So after swiping my card at Go Rentals for $827.50 and hearing from Booking.com that I ‘didn’t’ have a policy with them, I had come to the conclusion that I would be eating rice for the rest of the year and wrapping up second hand gifts for Christmas.
Westpac Altitude Black Travel Insurance saves the day
Turn that frown upside down. Then my friend and co-founder of this blog, Drew, told me about my complimentary credit card insurance. DUH! I had booked all of my travel on my Westpac Altitude Black card hence I was eligible to make a claim for windscreen damage. The excess would be $250 if my claim was approved, but that is better than paying the full $827.50.
So what did I have to lose, I had already lost $827. I put in my claim. (Make sure you include as much proof as possible, receipts, photos, timestamps of you booking your travel on the card).
A week later I got an email saying my claim had been approved. I would receive $578 in my nominated account, I could have kissed the computer! My Westpac Altitude Black card had saved the day (I suppose I should thank Drew too).
Next time I’m not going to go through the hassle of getting additional Travel Insurance, I can rely on my knight in shining armour (Westpac Altitude Black card) to cover me while I’m travelling. Hopefully won’t come across another flying stone anytime soon
Thank you
Points Brotherhood #3 biggest fan (Behind Drew & Milton)
Pearl
About Pearl
Moved to Australia for some fun in the sun. Also loves travelling home to New Zealand to see family and friends. When work permits I try to see the sights of Australia.
Great story Pearl! Drew also gave me that handy hint when my son broke his 2 month old phone & we were able to claim as we paid with the Westpac Altitude Black Card. Happy Days!