We had a car accident driving in Spain. Need advise on how to handle it from those who’s been in those shoes. Sorry for lengthy message with lots of details, but they are important.
Rented a car in Madrid from AVIS via AutoEurope. It was my brother who setup this rental. When we came to pick up the car we were told that his credit card rejected the payment though had prior comfirmation from AE that payment went through. Had to call AutoEurope and switch to another credit card. Unfortunately, my brother had only one c/card with him, so we paid with his wife’s c/card. My brother and my husband were listed as drivers (not my brother’s wife).
Refused additional CD insurance.
While driving in old town in Cordoba we were following a line of cars going down a narrow cobblestone street. Suddenly, something hit our car. Apparently, we entered a zone that didn’t allow unauthorized vehicles. Here is the setup so you can imagine it
( we discovered it after accident): there was a sign for Authorized Vehicles on the side of the building, not on the road, there was no red light or any kind of blinking light. There was an electronic device on the left side of the road that controlled the metal stump that goes up and down. Because we were following other cars and they were authorized to enter the stump went down, and my brother didn’t see it. When we were passing it went up and hit our car underneath. The car was damaged badly. We had to call Avis to tow it. Another point is that the whole area between the building was a 'road', there was no pedestrian and car part. Adn there was a square on the left side, so that brown/gray electronic device blended into environment.
We are very 'careful'travelers and my brother who was driving a car is a very good driver. If you are not aware of such thing it was impossible to see or predict this stump: no sign on the road, no blinking light.
Avis sent a car for repairs, and after countless calls shared an amount it’s charging us: over 5,000 Euros. Still couldn't get an itemized bill from them, they can’t fax overseas!!!
My question is: if the credit card on the agreement wasn’t my brother’s but his wife’s would credit card company cover it? It was Visa. How can we make sure that those repairs were necessary if it comes to a point that we have to pay for it? How Cordoba city installs a device that damages cars so badly(and can potentially hurt people) and doesn’t have appropriate signs?
Sorry for all those details, but I hope it may help somebody who has to drive in the old towns, and hopefully people can share their experiences.

ttt

I'm not sure I understand the problem. Have you submitted this to the crdit card company? I don;t think it matters who the card belonged to (and they were married) as long as the driver was listed on the contract with the company. The card company should be dealing with this.

(And in any correspondence I wouldn;t put in all that detail about the arm and the pass etc. You were driving the car and had an accident. If you rent a car it's up to you - not the car rental company - to know the local rules and not hit things. Bringin this all up will merely confuse matters.)

I'll make a long story short - last year we rented a car in France and got into an accident in Beaune. Guy hit us in a parking lot. Reported it to Avis (just down the block), who assisted us in completing the accident report, etc. Car was charged on an American Expressm which had accident coverage, we declined Avis's. Filed with AMEX back in the states, we paid I think $200, and that was that. Any other damage was covered by them

I've had minor accidents with rental cars in France - smashed tail light, dent in hood, broken sideview mirror, etc. - and Amex always took care of it with no charge. If you're covered on your credit card it should be no problem, no matter whose card it was (assuming the wife was listed on the contract).

I agree there's no point in bringing up the issues of signage and so forth. Those little barriers that pop up in restricted areas are common in Europe. Signs on the sides of buildings instead of on a pole facing you are also common throughout the Continent. It's your responsibility to know those things, not the rental car agency's to tell you.

If they can't fax you an itemized bill, ask them to mail it by post. Or send you the information in an email. Don't pay anything until you get and verify that information. But obviously, you need to call the credit card company right away.

I've seen the barriers you describe in the Casco Antiguo of Cuenca. I think this is a good word of advice that when driving through some of those old streets not to follow too closely! Those barriers do disappear into the street invisibly! But I would imagine they would do quite a bit of damage.

Contact the credit card company and find out what the next step would be. That would be the first place I would think of to start.

Kiramoli- I understand where you are coming from, but instead of harping on the fact that the streets are poorly marked (Spaniards will disagree), you need to focus on the solution. I assume that you did not buy insurance from Avis, which means that your final resource is the credit card company, and in this case, it is your sister-in-law. Though she was not listed as a driver, you might be able to play on the spouse thing (assuming your brother was driving the car). If not, then this is a case for the ombudsman at Conde Nast Traveler.

This is literally a worst case scenario, starting with payment, then the accident, then the run around. . . Good luck getting that price down!

This definitely sounds like a worst case scenario. Hope it works out for the best.

For the rest of us who may one day, although hopefully not, encounter a similar situation some day, we would appreciate a post mortem.

In any other country they would have the stops defualt to the raised position and only lower for authorized traffic..ok this is Spain.
Be warned,it is third world