Field guide · Responding to a claim
Document pre-existing rental-car damage
Record a suspected existing mark before driving: one whole-side view, one panel view and one close view with neighboring seam or feature visible. Add a factual location note.
Avoid touching, polishing or marking the area before the photographs.
Use oblique light only as an additional view; reflections can hide or exaggerate shape.
Photograph any handover diagram separately and note if staff acknowledged the mark.
Do not call a mark repaired or structural unless qualified evidence supports that wording.