Hertz car rental mulling photo inspection system

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Car Rental News - 01/10/2009

 

Hertz hopes the new technology will eliminate car damage disputes

The car rental company, Hertz, is set to introduce a new fool-proof system to try and help eliminate disputes arising over car damage.

The new system involves the use of high-resolution photographic equipment, which takes detailed pictures of cars before they are hired out and when they are returned. The detailed photographs record every dent and scratch the car has before it is hired out, so that accurate comparisons can be made with after-hire pictures, in case any problems arise.

This means that the current procedure employed by the company, where a member of staff is joined by the clients to perform a visual inspection before and after the hire, will no longer be followed. Hertz is hoping that the recorded photographic inspection will help reduce losses arising from car damage, and also that it will help improve relations with customers.

Vice president of communications and corporate affairs for Hertz, Richard Broome, is hoping that the new system will save company a significant amount of the $170 milliion it loses annually in damage payments.

Hertz has said that it has been testing the proposed technology -- already in use by some car insurers in the US -- at an undisclosed location in that same country. The company says it has been testing the system over the last month.

Hertz has been investing in a range of other technologies as well. Earlier this year, the car rental company bought Eileo, the French maker of the technology that is used in Hertz's hourly hire car-sharing operations in London, Paris and New York.

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