[E####B]

Hekiliko'olau is the only one who got this one right... Damage waiver waives the renter of responsibility for the rental car. The reason an accident report is done is to give loss control another party to pursue in the collision who is NOT waived of responsibility for their actions to the ERAC car. It is a gray area because the people are different (renter and his spouse), but in most states the entity is the same (the marriage). In principle, the renter should not be held responsible, but they are trying to pursue your wife. Two suggestions: Contact the Area Manager of the branch. Most are gate keepers that want to resolve any problems before they go higher up. Second, if your frequency of rental is more than this 4 days this year and you truly purchase DW, make it a point that you always purchase the protection. ERAC loves insurance purchasers and they want to keep you buying more of it in the future. Essentially, DW is a gamble. In this case (and again in principle), the customer won and ERAC should cut their losses. You are likely dealing with an overzealous loss control coordinator who is trying to make his/her collection numbers for the month.

A smart branch manager or area manager would recognize that this only costs his/her office $83 a month to pay off and would lobby for loss control to let the customer off of the hook. That's about the cost of a lunch to a few service advisors. Sheesh.

I'm curious of the outcome... let us know what transpires.