Do I have to pay the other driver's lost wages in rental car accident?
TLDR; I was driving in a rental and in a very minor, slow accident. I had insurance coverage from Enterprise for the rental vehicle but did not have coverage for the other party (I didn't know there were two types of coverage- lesson learned the hard way). I have received a $6k claim for the accident which seems excessive. Enterprise has paid the other owner’s insurance already. Do I have any legal options or ability to push back on some of these charges?
In the process of fleeing my home/getting divorced, I was in a fender bender. I’m in CA and in stop and go traffic. The brakes on the rental were not as good as the vehicle I’m used to driving, and even though I was slamming on the brakes I didn’t stop in time and rear ended the vehicle in front of me. I was going no more than 5 mph for the accident, all damages to both vehicles were very clearly cosmetic. The other car had a small dent in the bumper and some scratches.
I had coverage for the rental vehicle but I have just received the claim from Enterprise for $6,276.58. I requested an itemized breakdown and received the following:
$4,268.58 of property damage to the vehicle (which is about $1k for a replaced bumper and 30 hours of labor charges)
$639.84 for a rental care while car was being repaired
$1,268.16 for lost wages (the claimant initially requested $2600.00 for 4 days lost wages but Enterprise negotiated it down)
I assume I can’t dispute the property damage or rental much, but I mostly take issue with the lost wages. The representative at Enterprise specified that “The claimant went to a medical provider to be checked out. She did not present that bill for reimbursement, but she did present her lost wages.”
This accident was so minor, it’s quite frankly *impossible* that the front driver would experience a medical need to not work for 4 days. And I think this is apparent given that they didn’t present the medical bill for reimbursement.
Moreover, I have this person’s info now so I did some research. They are a dean at an affluent city college. I’m not going to give out identifying info, but the 4 day wage they presented is probably about right for their salary. They drove a Tesla. I assume their job has got plenty of PTO. And also it’s salary, meaning they don’t actually lose their wages.
Shouldn’t enterprise have disputed the reimbursement for lost wages? Is there anything I can do aside from suck it up and pay it?
(It’s not pertinent to my case but it really burns to know she makes more in 4 days than I take home in more than twice that time)