Enterprise complaints: damage email, phone and deposit

Enterprise complaints: official channels in Spain

Under its rental terms for Spain (updated January 2025), the company that hires you the car is Autotransporte Turístico Español, S.A., Avenida del Ensanche de Vallecas, 37, 3rd floor, 28051 Madrid. That's the name you'll see as the owner on your rental agreement, even though the car is hired under the Enterprise brand.

How Enterprise charges for car hire damage

When you return the car, a member of staff inspects it. Its terms say how long you stay responsible for the car's condition:

• Returns during business hours: until the inspection is finished, or for one hour after the return, whichever is shorter.
• Out-of-hours returns (if Enterprise allows them): until a member of staff inspects the car, within two hours of the start of the next business day.

If there is damage you're responsible for, its terms allow Enterprise to charge you:

• The repair, as estimated by an independent expert or repairer, by another service provider (which may be an automated system), or by reference to its standard list for minor repairs.
• Loss of use: the daily rate on your rental agreement for each day it couldn't rent the car out, up to 30 days (or 15 days if the car is lost and not recovered, or written off).
• An administration fee: €50 if the repair estimate is under €500, €100 if it's between €500 and €1,500, and €150 if it's over €1,500.
• Loss of value, only if the repair doesn't fully restore the car's value: a reasonable sum set by an independent motor engineer or other service provider.

The excess, damage waivers and cover bought elsewhere

According to the pages of its offices in Spain:

• Damage Waiver (DW): if you buy it, or it's included in your rate, your liability for damage, loss or theft is reduced to the excess for each incident. DW isn't an insurance product, some damage is excluded, and how you use the car can affect it.
• The excess with DW is the amount on your rental agreement or, if none is shown, €1,500 for mini and economy cars; €1,700 for compact, SUV, intermediate and intermediate MPV; €1,900 for elite compact, compact convertible, intermediate SUV, standard, SUV and standard MPV; and €2,500 for premium, luxury, 4x4, large SUV, large car and large MPV. For cargo vans, €1,500 (compact) or €2,000 (all others).
• Excess Protection (EP): bought together with DW, it reduces the excess to zero.

If you bought excess cover elsewhere: a standalone excess insurance policy, or cover bought through the booking website, doesn't stop Enterprise charging you. Its office pages say that if you decline its waivers, you pay the charges and claim compensation from your insurer yourself. Keep the damage bill, the estimate, the photos and the invoice, and check your policy's time limits. Our guide to being charged the excess explains how this works.

How to dispute an Enterprise damage charge

1. Ask for the detail: the repair estimate or assessment, who made it (an expert, a repairer, an automated system or the standard list for minor repairs) and the photos of the damage.
2. Check each item: the administration fee against the repair estimate band, the days of loss of use (30 at most) and any loss of value charged without justification.
3. Check your waiver: if you had DW, the charge shouldn't exceed the excess on your agreement for each incident.
4. Gather your evidence from pick-up and return. Our guide to disputing hire car damage explains what to look for.
5. Email es.dru@ehi.com with your rental agreement number, what you dispute and the outcome you want. You can start from our complaint letter template.

The deposit at Enterprise Spain

The pages of its offices in Spain list these minimum security deposits, separate from the cost of the hire:

• €200 for mini, economy, compact, intermediate and standard cars and SUVs, and for compact, intermediate and standard cargo vans.
• €400 for all other cargo vans, and for large cars, large SUVs and large passenger vans (on a credit card).
• €500 for elite compact, premium, luxury and convertible cars (on a credit card).
• If you pay for the hire in cash, the minimum deposit is €500, taken on a debit or credit card.

Its terms say the deposit secures what you owe under the agreement, and that any money taken and not needed is refunded within 75 days of the car's return (or of the agreed end of the hire, if the car is lost or stolen). If it hasn't been released after that, ask Enterprise in writing and see our guides to card holds that aren't released and to getting a car hire deposit back.

Fuel, cleaning, fines and extra drivers

• Fuel: if you didn't buy a fuel option at pick-up and return the car with less fuel than it had, you pay the difference at the fuel price shown at the office, plus a €21 refuelling charge, according to its office pages. Fuel left over isn't refunded. Photograph the gauge and keep the petrol station receipt.
• Cleaning: its terms allow a cleaning fee if the car comes back with unusual wear and tear, for example from smoking in it or heavy soiling.
• Fines and tolls: you pay fines, tolls and penalties from the hire period, and its terms add an administration fee of €25 for processing each fine or offence. Check that it falls within your rental dates.
• Additional drivers: €15 a day, up to 10 days (€150); drivers under 25 pay €23 a day, up to 10 days, according to its office pages.

If Enterprise doesn't reply or rejects your complaint

• European conciliation (ECRCS): Enterprise is one of the companies taking part in Leaseurope's European Car Rental Conciliation Service. According to Leaseurope, it covers cross-border hires, where you booked in a different country from the one you hired in (for example, booking on its UK website and collecting the car in Spain), you don't have to live in Europe, and you booked directly rather than through a broker or travel agent. You can use it once Enterprise's complaints procedure is finished and it has sent you its final decision. Its rental terms for Spain don't mention the service.
• If you live in the EU, Iceland or Norway: the European Consumer Centre in your own country can help with a dispute with a trader in another of these countries. If you live in the UK, the UK International Consumer Centre can help.
• Consumer bodies in Spain: a municipal or regional consumer office can take your complaint. Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs explains the official channels (in Spanish), including your right to ask for the company's complaint forms and to get a stamped copy.
• Your card issuer: if your card was charged an amount that was not fixed when you gave it as a guarantee, and it is more than you could reasonably have expected, you may be able to ask your card issuer for a refund within eight weeks of the charge. This comes from articles 76 and 77 of the EU Payment Services Directive and, for UK cards, regulations 79 and 80 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017. Ask your bank how it applies to your card.

How does Enterprise compare with other car rental companies? See our comparison of ten car hire companies in Spain: deposits, deadlines to dispute damage, fuel and conciliation.

Common questions about Enterprise complaints

What is Enterprise's phone number for damage disputes in Spain?

+34 917 821 011, its Damage Recovery Department, which also answers at es.dru@ehi.com. Complain in writing as well, so you have a record.

How long does Enterprise take to return the deposit?

Its terms say any money taken and not needed is refunded within 75 days of the car's return. Your bank may take a little longer to show it.

What is the administration fee Enterprise charges for damage?

A fee for handling the damage, which its terms set at €50, €100 or €150 depending on whether the repair estimate is under €500, between €500 and €1,500, or over €1,500.

Why does my Enterprise agreement say Autotransporte Turístico Español?

Because that's the company named as the owner in its rental terms for Spain. Send your complaint to Enterprise through the channels in this guide, with your rental agreement number.

I booked on Enterprise's UK website and hired in Spain. Can I use the conciliation service?

According to Leaseurope, yes, if you booked directly with Enterprise rather than through a broker, once Enterprise has sent you its final decision on your complaint.