Credit Hire Court Summons - Experiences?
Comments
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IF the third party has 100% admitted liability than the law is reasonably clear:
- You (the injured party) is entitled to be back on the road in the same car/condition as you were before the accident.
- You are allowed a loan car is you need a car to work, and cannot afford to find a replacement car your self whilst your car is been repaired/replaced (This is a bit of joke, as I suspect most people don't have money sitting in the bank ready to splurge on a replacement car just in case their own car is damaged).
- You can have access to a loan car till your car is repaired/replaced, as long as the loan car is of the same value/type of your own.
You are however required in law to mitigate your expenses so if you're trying to claim £1500 a week for car hire when the average rental for that car is £150 a week then the third party insurers are well within their legal rights to refuse to pay that and if taken to court that is how it would go.0 -
That said, was s/he given a cost in advance or is s/he expected to do how much research to find out what a reasonable one is?
For instance, when I've hired small cars privately, I've been given free upgrades to expensive cars. Would a layman notice the distinction between a free upgrade because your requested class of car is unavailable, and an explicit rental of an expensive car?
I'd argue it'd be perfectly reasonable to assume that the management company were giving them a reasonable deal as that's what they are there for.0 -
You are however required in law to mitigate your expenses so if you're trying to claim £1500 a week for car hire when the average rental for that car is £150 a week then the third party insurers are well within their legal rights to refuse to pay that and if taken to court that is how it would go.
I think you are being a little unfair on the OP. He followed advice given by his insurance company, who passed him on to the AMC. That wasn't his decision. When he was supplied with a TT, he made his position clear - even though a TT is really just a 2-seater A3 with a different body on it.
If there has been overcharging then this will be down to the OP's insurance company and he should definitely let his insurer's know that he has been asked to attend as a witness, as this might affect his insurers.0 -
The OP won't be attending as a witness, the OP will be attending as the Claimant. The hire/AMC company will have issued Court proceedings in the name of the Claimant and he will be attending to mitigate his loss.
As Tarambor has said above though, if you had savings or credit facilities, you could have availed yourself of a hire vehicle at spot hire rates rather than at credit hire rates and then claimed back the monies you have paid rather than racked up massive hire costs.0 -
Yes, I am the claimant and yes, I know that now! Like I explained originally, I did as advised by my insurers, having no previous personal experience of a situation like this.
I've yet to find anyone who has gone to court over this, though, despite it being a seemingly regular occurrence. That was really the purpose of my post - to find someone who'd been through the process. Pointing out my mistake isn't necessary as I've figured that out for myself, in hindsight, at a potential cost of three grand!
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Firstly I'd just like to point out that I'm not blaming you, merely pointing out to others that a court is unlikely to force a third party insurer to pay out that amount.
You need to be looking at what action you can take against the party that gave you the advice to use this company. However I would also make sure first that you haven't been given any documentation that outlines the costs which you have agreed to. It is harder to fight something like this if your mark is on an agreement.0 -
You should be fine, you didn't ask for a prestige car, just a small one, and you presumably didn't have any choice there anyway.
Then it was the approved hire company, so again you're fine.
The fact the cost has escalated since the other parties insurance have left it outstanding so long is not your problem anyway - that's their fault for not trying to minimize costs (by not paying the bill right away and then contesting).
To be honest, I've no idea why insurance companies don't just provide the hire cars themselves, it'd save them a fortune.
In many cases, the at-fault party's insurers would have been happy to offer a loan car.
But instead, the "ambulance chasers" got to the not-at-fault party first. These companies charge ridiculously inflated prices for the hire cars, and offer kick-backs to the not-at-fault party's insurers to recommend them.
Bear in mind that the hire company was recommended by the OP's insurance company, not the insurance company of the at-fault party.
If somebody does damage to your property, then you are entitled to claim for the costs incurred. But you are expected to make efforts to minimise any expenses. That means not using the most expensive car hire company out there.If it sticks, force it.
If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.0 -
OP, I'm a solicitor and used to deal with disputing credit hire claims on behalf of a major insurer. You can either take my experience on board or ignore it.
First of all, the OP's insurer merely introduced him to the AMC/hire company. They will deny it, but they would have got a back hander from the AMC for the introduction. That is the end of their involvement in this matter. There is no directing blame at them or claiming from them for the OP getting himself embroiled in this.
Of course the OP will have signed a credit hire agreement. This will detail the daily cost of hire so he will be well aware of the cost of hire when he signed the agreement. If there is no signed agreement, the OP won't have incurred a loss and therefore won't have been able to claim for the cost of the hire vehicle.
OP, what stage is the litigation at? Have they just issued? Have they disclosed documents? Have they served your witness statement? Have you got a trial date?
When you attend trial, the other side's barrister is going to cross examine you. They are going to ask you why you didn't mitigate your loss. Why you didn't avail yourself of any offers from the at fault insurer of a hire car. If you had cash in the bank or savings or a credit card, why you didn't just hire yourself a vehicle at a lower rate and claim that back. Did you need a hire car in the first place? Did you have a second car you could have used instead?
The matter can settle at any stage of proceedings up to and including the morning of the trial.
If you read the terms and conditions of the hire contract, you're duty bound to help them make a recovery of their outlay. You need to go along to Court and provide your witness evidence. If you fail to do this, they have the option of pursuing you personally for the hire charges.
People seem to forget that when they get offered a shiny new hire car on credit, THEY ARE PERSONALLY LIABLE FOR THE HIRE COSTS. They have incurred this loss and seek to recover it from the at fault insurer. If they are not personally liable for it, they can't recover it from the at fault insurer as there is no loss.0 -
When you attend trial, the other side's barrister is going to cross examine you. They are going to ask you why you didn't mitigate your loss. Why you didn't avail yourself of any offers from the at fault insurer of a hire car. If you had cash in the bank or savings or a credit card, why you didn't just hire yourself a vehicle at a lower rate and claim that back. Did you need a hire car in the first place? Did you have a second car you could have used instead?
The matter can settle at any stage of proceedings up to and including the morning of the trial.
Frankly it's ridiculous the innocent part in a non-fault accidents (like the OP and my self) have to even think about things like this.
I highly doubt the OP wanted a HGV to crash into them, and likewise I certainly didn't want to be spun 180 degrees whilst on my way to collect my daughter from nursery. The whole insurance industry seems to put trying to make a few £££ before sorting out their customers.
Unlike the OP I was aware of the various conditions etc that go alone with getting a hire car, and for my self there really was no other choice, as I need to be mobile and don't have £££££ sitting in the bank just waiting to buy a new car.
I hope the OP can get the situation sorted, but the reality is as long as your open/honest about your situation I would be amazed if any judge would penalise the innocent party.0 -
Frankly it's ridiculous the innocent part in a non-fault accidents (like the OP and my self) have to even think about things like this.
I highly doubt the OP wanted a HGV to crash into them, and likewise I certainly didn't want to be spun 180 degrees whilst on my way to collect my daughter from nursery. The whole insurance industry seems to put trying to make a few £££ before sorting out their customers.
Unlike the OP I was aware of the various conditions etc that go alone with getting a hire car, and for my self there really was no other choice, as I need to be mobile and don't have £££££ sitting in the bank just waiting to buy a new car.
I hope the OP can get the situation sorted, but the reality is as long as your open/honest about your situation I would be amazed if any judge would penalise the innocent party.
I look at it another way. I see a bunch of chancers who are fleecing the insurance companies by renting out ridiculously over-priced cars to people who have just had an accident and don't really know what is going on.
Every time they get away with it, the cost of claims goes up, and that means that everybody's premiums go up.
Some insurance companies are now fighting back, and refusing to pay over-inflated car hire charges that they never agreed to in the first place. It's about time they did.If it sticks, force it.
If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.0
This discussion has been closed.
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