I spent a few nights at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands last week and came home with an unexpected souvenir…a damaged front bumper. What do you do when your car gets damaged at a hotel?
Of course the immediate answer is to call your insurance company. But is the hotel on the hook for any damage?
The Hyatt Carmel has complimentary valet parking, but our family SUV is full of diapers and bottles, a stroller, assorted coffee cups…you get the picture. I don’t like people inside that vehicle. So I parked it myself.
Problem is parking is at a premium there…there are not enough spots for the number of guests (at least that was our experience). Furthermore, the spots seem better designed for FIATs and MINIs than larger cars.
Thus, with already tight spots it was actually not a surprise when we found a huge dent and chipped paint in our front bumper. And conveniently, no note on the dash…
What did the hotel say? Not our fault. They were not nasty about it. Rather, they simply pointed out that they cannot assume responsibility for the unethical…and actually illegal…actions of others.
And it’s true. I don’t think I could build a negligence case around having parking spots that are a bit too tight for modern SUVs.
So I’ll go through the insurance company and hope that $100 deductible does not have some secret fine print exempting hotel parking lots…
CONCLUSION
I’ve never experienced a hit and run in a hotel before, but if the property does not have surveillance or the offending driver is not honest, you’re pretty much on your own. Hotels do not take responsibility for damages to cars. Even so, I’m valeting the car next time…
Do you have any experience with hit and run car damage in hotel parking lots?
I’m not an attorney but based on my limited knowledge of the law (which I assume varies by state) the hotel would only be on the hook if you valet your car since they are the ones in control of it. Anything else you’re on the hook. Of course you could always ask the hotel for points or other compensation as a gesture of goodwill but legally they are not responsible. Also in some states the deductible doesn’t apply if it’s a hit and run so hopefully you reported it to the police before moving the car anyway.
Hmmm…. you didn’t file a police report for the incident?
Nope. If my insurance asks for it, I will.
Uhm… not only for insurance but also to annoy the hotel since they don’t care for customer’s trouble on their property….
Does the hotel have surveillance on/off the parking lot? If the damage was severe enough it should also be visible on the culprits vehicle.
Whether it’s worth pursuing it’s another matter.
No surveillance. Hotel was built in 1913 (IRRC) and lacks many key “modern” amenities.
@ Matthew — File the insurance claim (or don’t if it is not much out of pocket), and move along. Life is too short to waste time on such things. Plus, why on earth do you have a a $100 deductible? Your really should have higher deductibles, otherwise you are overpaying for insurance.
I’m on a very old family policy for that car, but agree…deductible is probably too low.
And yes, I agree with Gene. Your deductible should be at least $500. Mine is $1,000. You’re paying way too much for insurance with such a low deductible.
Here’s the worst example of something similar I’m aware of: https://awesomesauceadventure.com/2016/06/30/update-found-and-lost-and-what-now/
The owners were also out of luck (but it’s an entertaining read).
Situations like this, I’m glad that I always use my Citi Prestige when renting a car because it has primary rental car insurance.
I agree that the CITI Prestige card is great for rentals. In this case, it was my own car.
I’d think twice about filing an insurance claim for a bumper ding. The 3-year surcharge your company is probably going to whack you with for filing a claim will probably far outweigh whatever money you save out of pocket by having them pay for the repair.
It’s not exactly just a ding. The bumper is actually starting to fall off and now dislocated from the rest of the car…along with annoying paint scratches, dings and dents.
Ouch – well in that case you might have no choice. I’d still suggest a non-insurance workaround, though. If there’s a body shop you know and trust, you might ask how much they’ll charge if you pay out of pocket vs. going through insurance. Sometimes they’ll give you a really good price if you self pay. Sounds like you might have too much damage to make that feasible, but it’s worth a shot to save you from the accident surcharge.
As a risk management consultant I run into this question but I’m usually concerned with client liability around valet parking. A parking lot operator like a hotel is usually not considered a
“bailor” of your car since you didn’t turn over custody of the car to the hotel when you parked there which
would be a “bailment” like with valet parking. Instead, they just gave you “license” (permission) to use
one of their spaces on your own, with you keeping your own keys, and remaining responsible for the property you left there unless….you could prove that they or a hotel employee damaged your car which is unlikely in your case. The other way you could submit a claim is if they have a dangerous condition in the lot like a big hole or whatever that damages your car.
As an insurance company person I’d suggest paying to fix the damage out of pocket unless it’s super expensive and contact your agent to increase your deductible to $1k if your car loan/lease contract as a lower requirement. Some require no more than $500 but it varies a lot. The insurance carrier will send an insurance change document to the lien holder. With the premium savings you’ll recoup your damage losses before long.
Great insight.
I’d check the property online and see what the COO states because you never know. A Super8 Hotel by JFK Has a COO for 45 units and 25 Parking Spaces but the owner illegally converted the parking lot. He added an illegal Car Rental in the Parking lot and so there is only 9-11 spots and guest cars are always getting hit. They also have surveillance and have a sign stating that anyone parking in the lot illegally will be towed. So they monitor the parking lot for people illegally parking in there? But they don’t monitor when someone hits a car and takes off? Maybe if the owner didn’t illegally convert the parking lot there would be enough spaces and who designed, measured the parking lot spaces. At least six cars were hit last week, and NYC Dept of Buildings knows what the owner did with the parking lot and the illegal businesses.
My brand new car CRV 2018 was scratched at Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Downtown hotel. I paid $48 for parking one night from May 16 to May 17, and gave my car to a valet person. The Front Office Manager Kalee Mah denied the
Damage took place on their hotel, and their policy is “Car is accepted for parking only. We assume no liability for fire, theft or damage in any case.” Please see the picture below. The office of Mr. JONATHAN W. WITTER (Hilton Chief Customer Officer) also used this policy to answer my request.
I never saw this note when I booked and lived this hotel. I hope you will see this note before you book this hotel, or park your car in this hotel.
Think about this scenario that you give your car to a valet, and the person drive this car to another place. The hotel has no liability for your car lose.
These are the evidences that some valet staffs at Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Downtown hotel are careless and damaged the cars.
Hi – I have a similar problem. My car was severely damaged (~$2500) in the hotel parking lot in front of 4 brand new surveillance cameras. I notified the insurance company, police and hotel management immediately.
Now the hotel is saying the camera were not working properly. Dust covered, Out of focus. Etc.
My cynical nature is that they are covering something up. They are willing to write a letter stating they saw the damage when I notified them, but don’t have video.
Anybody have any thoughts on wheter the hotel may be liable as there was an expectation that they would be monitoring the activities in their parking lot with the clearly visible survallence cameras?
Thanks
What state are you in?