On Sunday I collected a car from Budget at Stansted Airport. Having refused the excess Insurance premium, which would have amounted to a 40% increase in the cost of the car hire, I was lectured by the check-in clerk that any scratch would cost me between £150 and £250 and if there was any worse damage they would keep the full £850 that had just been taken from my debit card. With this in mind I did a full inspection of the vehicle before accepting it and found 9 areas of damage not noted on the pre-rental inspection sheet (Budget had noted 3). The main area of damage was a sizeable dent in the rear bumper assembly, which would almost certainly have resulted in my being charged for the repair. Car hirers beware.