A rental company holding your belongings until you pay the deductible

Attorney Answer

The deductible and your belongings are two separate questions, and the belongings are the simpler one: they are yours, and you can ask for them back without first settling the damage bill. If the car is at a tow or storage yard, Florida law requires the yard to release a renter's unattached belongings within an hour of the renter's arrival. Whether you owe the $500 deductible depends on what “full coverage” meant: the rental company's damage waiver, or your own auto policy.

Your belongings. Ask for them in writing, and ask for the items themselves. A Florida appeals court has described conversion as an unauthorized act that deprives another of property permanently or for an indefinite time, and has held that it can be shown by a demand for the property and a refusal: Mayo v. Allen, 973 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). The owners in that case lost, in part because they asked for money instead of the property, so make your request about the items. Check the rental agreement for any term about holding a renter's property; a lawyer can tell you whether a term like that would hold up.

If the car has gone to a tow or storage yard, Fla. Stat. § 713.78(10) provides:

However, a towing-storage operator must release to the renter of a rental vehicle or vessel all personal property belonging to the renter which is not affixed to the rental vehicle or vessel within 1 hour after the renter’s arrival.

That rule binds a towing and storage business, not a rental company keeping its own car on its own lot. If the company still will not return them, Fla. Stat. § 78.01 lets you go to court:

Any person whose personal property is wrongfully detained by any other person or officer may have a writ of replevin to recover said personal property and any damages sustained by reason of the wrongful taking or detention as herein provided.

The deductible. “Full coverage” can mean two different things. If you bought the rental company's damage waiver at the counter, its own terms say whether you owe anything after a crash and whether it carries a deductible or exclusions; read that part of the agreement. If “full coverage” meant your own auto policy, the rental company may bill you for the damage, and your collision coverage generally pays it less your deductible. If the other driver caused the crash, you may be able to recover the damage, including your deductible, from that driver's property-damage liability coverage, which Florida requires every owner or operator to maintain. Fla. Stat. § 324.022(1):

Every owner or operator of a motor vehicle required to be registered in this state shall establish and maintain the ability to respond in damages for liability on account of accidents arising out of the use of the motor vehicle in the amount of $10,000 because of damage to, or destruction of, property of others in any one crash.

What you can do

1. Send the rental company a short written request for your belongings, listing the items, and keep a copy.

2. Find out where the car is now; if it is at a tow or storage yard, go there with your rental agreement and identification and ask for your unattached belongings.

3. Read the damage-waiver section of the rental agreement and the collision coverage in your own policy to see who owes what.

4. If the other driver caused the crash, give your insurer that driver's insurance information so the deductible can be pursued from that insurer.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Florida attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim to recover your belongings falls under the four-year periods in § 95.11(3), Fla. Stat., for detaining personal property and for recovering specific personal property. A property-damage claim against an at-fault driver for a crash on or after March 24, 2023, is a negligence claim with a two-year period under § 95.11(5)(a). Your policy and the rental agreement may also set their own deadlines for reporting the crash. Have a Florida attorney check the dates — no page can compute them for you.