Source
r/legaladvice•
Captainfidget

A rental company claims I was in an accident in Baltimore on May 7th. I live and drive in Boston. Please advise on ways to cover my ass if this goes really south for me.

I have been renting cars from Maven Gig in Boston for about 1.5 years, which I use to earn money as an Uber/Lyft driver. I have never had a single issue with the company until now.

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Last Thursday I attempted to pay my weekly rental fee using their app. It would not allow me to sign in, and I called them up. They informed that since I was in an accident and a damage claim existed on the vehicle, I would have to wait for the claim to be processed before being allowed to rent again. They informed me this process takes up to 20 days.

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I've was not in any accident. I have not been in any car accidents for at least 20 years.

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I asked for details in regards to the damage claim and the representative said the claim only had a claim number and my name and address. They gave me a case file and said I would be called back in a day or two with an update.

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Over the weekend, they repossessed the car for lack of payments (I owed them money and refused at this point to pay up since I felt the damage claim should be deleted first...huge mistake and I know that).

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So, I began making call after call to both customer service and their damage/claims department. I was able to find out the claim was for an accident in Baltimore. I insisted they remove the claim since I obviously was never in Baltimore that day. I probably called 10 times total over Tuesday and Wednesday, and had another case file generated. I also went in person to the local Maven Gig rental hub, and sent emails in response to their emails, etc.

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At this point, ten days from the day the claim was made, nothing asfaik has been done about this claim-made-in-error. I'm lost as to how or why this could possibly happen, and have stopped worrying about being able to rent a new car to drive for Uber/Lyft from them, having moved on to other options for having a vehicle. What I AM worried about is a police report or something fingering me for a vehicular crime in Baltimore, and dealing with that on top of the claim. Or monetary damages. Anything.

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Is there anything I can do to cover my ass, should Maven screw me even harder than they already have?

Posted May 17, 2019, 10:31 AM UTC

6913
FakeMikeMorgan•

If you have any evidence proving you were in Boston the date of the accident hold on to that.

Over the weekend, they repossessed the car for lack of payments (I owed them money and refused at this point to pay up since I felt the damage claim should be deleted first...huge mistake and I know that).

Pay what you owe so they don't send it to collections and screw over your credit.

71
CaptainfidgetOP•

I plan to pay off Maven this weekend.

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[deleted]•

[removed]

8
BlueDevil1976•

Do you have anything that can prove you werent in Baltimore at that time? Receipts for purchases etc?

32
CaptainfidgetOP•

I drove for Uber during the morning and afternoon. I can prove i was not in Baltimore on that day.

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BlueDevil1976•

Well, there ya go then

28
expected_crayon•

Save that info. Also check your google location data and save that as well. Should be more than enough to prove your location.

16
Raushbier•

You need more details, was a car rented in your name in Baltimore? Was it one of their rentals hit by someone who used your info? Not only do you need to prove you were not in Baltimore but you also need to know if you’re a victim of identity theft.

Get them to send a copy of the rental agreement from Baltimore and the damage claim as well. You then might consult with a lawyer, bringing the Baltimore as well as the Boston rental paperwork with you.

16
TravisAlerts•

Ask them to immediately email you a copy of the damage claim and the rental agreement this involves, insisting that this is a case of Identity Theft. Do not entertain any idea that a claim was made in error.

Tell them you need this to immediately file a Police Report over the Identity Theft, and if they do not assist you in dealing with the fraudulent claim, they're not just going to be making things hard for you, but for the Boston Police Department and DA's office... which I doubt they want to do. Then take the documents and go straight to the Police Department and file a report over Identity Theft.

8
ziggityzee1391•

Semi related, I used to work at a car rental company and a lot of the contracts have explicit provisions against using the cars for commercial purposes. I would take a look at that contract and confirm. Run it past your lawyer how that affects your situation.

1
porkynbasswithgeorge•

Maven Gig is a rental service explicitly for ride-sharing and other gig-based services (Instacart, GrubHub, etc.).

4
[deleted]•

[removed]

0
ZanctmaoMODQuality Contributor•

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