Posted on August 19, 2009 by Fiona Hilliard

The days of bickering over who did or didn’t scratch your rental car may soon be at an end.  Hertz global holdings has just announced that it is considering introducing a new system for investigating damage to hire cars.  It’s a simple idea.  Photographs of all vehicles will be taken before and after they are hired.

We can safely say that other car hire suppliers won’t be far behind in following them.

Afterall, it seems like a fair deal for everyone involved.  Customers don’t have to fork out for damage they didn’t cause and rental suppliers don’t need to waste time and money on administration associated with investigating complaints.

Commenting on the new technology, Richard Broome, vice-president of communications and corporate affairs at Hertz said the company was hopeful that the new photo inspections system, already in operation at US insurance companies would help reduce the $170 million (£102 million) in damage payments that it pays out every year.