Car Insurance Claim Time

emma_jane_5

Hello,
I was knocked by another driver and they took the blame. But my new door needs to be ordered from Japan.
I have been waiting for months now and want to know how long is acceptable to wait before complaining.
Thanks

lisyloo

Complain to who?
It's not your insurers fault if the genuine parts are not available.
Perhaps you should complain to the manufacturer?

Do you have a courtesy car?

emma_jane_5

No I don't. I have to make do.
I suppose it is because they need to import the new door but it is taking ages.

dacouch

Is it a UK spec car or a grey import?

Christopher7

You can ask your insurer to try and source a second hand door from a salvage agent.

Why dont you speak to a non fault accident company such as Helphire if it wasnt your fault. You should not have to make do. Helphire exist because insurers fail to look after their customers.

LethalleftpeG

Or phone the at-fault insurers to see if they would be happy to provide you with a replacement vehicle?

dogbot

I would strongly advise you avoid credit hire firms like helphire in this situation, though no, you don't have to make do if you were not at falt.

The other driver's insurer have accepted blame. Call them and ask them to arrange a replacement hire vehicle for you. Then you don't have to worry - the insurer picks up the bill directly, no arguments, no potential for you to be liable for the full and inflated hire costs of a credit hire company.

Then call the reparier and ask them to chase the part up - "months" is a very very unusual time to wait for a part, even from Japan. It it really has been with a repairer for months then something must have gone wrong. 1 month, on the other hand, can be typical where larger parts are concerned.

Christopher7

dogbot wrote: »

I would strongly advise you avoid credit hire firms like helphire in this situation, though no, you don't have to make do if you were not at falt.

The other driver's insurer have accepted blame. Call them and ask them to arrange a replacement hire vehicle for you. Then you don't have to worry - the insurer picks up the bill directly, no arguments, no potential for you to be liable for the full and inflated hire costs of a credit hire company.

Then call the reparier and ask them to chase the part up - "months" is a very very unusual time to wait for a part, even from Japan. It it really has been with a repairer for months then something must have gone wrong. 1 month, on the other hand, can be typical where larger parts are concerned.

as per my other posting, i would refer you to review the rates that companies like Helphire charge at

http://apps.abi.org.uk/tphire/

£34 to rent a Corsa for a day is hardly inflated. The insurer will probably refer you to one of these companies anyway, and then take the commission.

dacouch

Christopher7 you are conveniently not mentioning that when someone uses a credit hire company there is a SMALL chance they end up being billed for the cost of it if the credit hire company cannot recover the costs. I have heard of people being pursued for amounts of upwards of £5000.

As I have mentioned in the other thread, a similar class of vehicle could be rented for circa £12.50 if Joe Public went direct to a hire company such as Enterprise.

Dogbot and lefthalleftpeg gave good advice by recommending simply contacting the third party Insurer who if there is no dispute of liability will arrange a hire vehicle at their own cost with no chance of it being billed back (They would get an even cheaper rate from Enterprise).

P.S Helphire do not have a very good reputation, just below Drive Assist in my experience. Did you ever read the email about Helphire's practices that was sent round by a previous employee (That helphire sued everyone over)

Christopher7

Companies like these will provide the customer with an insurance policy that covers them from having to pay any costs if they are not recovered. Thats how it works!

dacouch

Christopher7 wrote: »

Companies like these will provide the customer with an insurance policy that covers them from having to pay any costs if they are not recovered. Thats how it works!

Thats not accurate, some providers not all provide the cover.

Have you read the posts from the people on the Drive Assist 50/50 thread that you are arguing with me on. If you had then you would see there are some people on there who are out of pocket thanks to Credit Hire. You would also see a post from DM Saver who luckily for her is an informed consumer and had the sense to question the Drive Assist customer service operator who informed her there is a chance she could be liable.

There are plenty of other threads on MSE and other forums about DA and other Credit Hire companies. If you would like I can post links to people who have been requested to pay £5000+ by a credit hire company when there were problems.

Credit Hire companies have their uses, but to state that accros the board the credit hire companies have an insurance policy that means the customer will never pay for the credit hire is not good advice. As you well know (Or should) as it looks like you work for Helphire or possibly DA that the whole principle of credit hire is that the customer is ultimately repsonsible for the credit hire which is why they sign a credit hire and is how the credit hire companies are allowed to recover the costs from the third party (As you stated there are some CR companies that will provide insurance or offer it as an extra cost to protect against it).

If possible it is often best to get the other drivers Insurer to provide a hire car at their cost