Car crash - bit of a complicated one

karenx

Over a year ago a bt van hit into the back of me. He wrote down all his details on a bit of bt paper inc his name number reg number etc.
Went to insurance and they contacted bt who admitted they were in the wrong and we procedeed with getting my car fixed. Solicitor looked at my car and agreed to repair it. Car got repaired then bills for repair and hire car were sent to other insurers. Then they said they were not at fault and wasnt even involved in an accident.
So it was going to court as there was outstanding invoices to be paid.
Then I get a call from my solicitor to say MY witness was then going against me in court. my witness was my friend who was in the car with me, thought this was a bit strange. So I called her and she knew nothing of this, called my solicitor back and explained. Then they called her and asked if she was on my side or the van drivers side and she said mine. So I had her as a witnes for the court date.
The week before the court date my solicitor called to say the case was off and everything was settled out of court and I didnt need to do anything else and that was it over with.
Forward on 6 months and have recieved a letter from the hire company stating that there is an outstanding invoice for the 9 days thats still to be paid and that "X" solicitors were acting on my behalf for the claim and that as I failed to attend court to defend my case the money is still outstanding and needs paid asap.
Where do I stand with this? Solicitor was the ones who agreed for the repair in the first place after talking to bt and them admitting they were at fault. Then they changed their mind after the car was repaired. So its not my fault I am left with this bill to pay that comes to just over £700 as if the solicitor hadnt agreed the go ahead with the repair then the hire car wouldnt of been given to me!

Where do I stand? What can I do?
Going to phone solicitor in the morning. Am I right that I shouldnt have to cover this cost? They were the ones who agreed to the repair in the first place so anything that happened after that shouldnt have anything to do with me?

loztiggy

Id contact the solicitor, if they refuse to act then reply to hire company and inform them you have no liability and refer them to the BT insurer.

DVardysShadow

loztiggy wrote: »

Id contact the solicitor, if they refuse to act then reply to hire company and inform them you have no liability and refer them to the BT insurer.

Wrong advice, which could land OP with a lot of bother.

OP is liable to hire company. BT are [probably] liable to OP. Hire company could rightly get CCJ on OP regardless of whether BT are liable to OP.

gordikin

When you say it was settled out of court were you explicitly told it was 100% in your favour? As far as I'm led to believe witness statements for people in your car are not worth the paper they are written on as far as insurance cos. are concerned.


Post a copy of your thread on the Insurance Board tooo....there's a wealth of good people there with knowledge of car insurance

loztiggy

That was the advice I was given following a non fault accident 2 years ago, when the hire car company came after me for money, I referred them back to the "other side" and it was sorted, however the hire car was arranged by the "other side" so perhaps thats why, I understand sometimes these third party claim handling services and certain insurers use third party hire companies who would ask you to sign something saying youa are liable, we dont know which is the case in this instance, hence why I stated the first port of call should be the solicitor.

Freddie_Snowbits

Did you have Fully Comp?

Who hired the car?, if you do not have this on your policy, my insurance company will not pay for this

karenx

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

Did you have Fully Comp?

Who hired the car?, if you do not have this on your policy, my insurance company will not pay for this

Yes fully comp, I was on a traders policy.
We went through a third party to get the car repaired. BT admitted they were at fault and to go ahead with the repair. Car went for repair and I was given a hire car through the third party. It was only when all invoices were sent to BT insureres they changed their mind and said the wernt even involved in an accident with me. Even though I had the drivers details written down by him! Why would I have all this if he wasnt involved in an accident?

So therefore I dont think I should pay for the car hire seeing as BT admitted they were at fault in first place and solicitor told us to take the car to the bodyshop for repair. We done everything we were told to do. And then as a result Im left to pay for car hire charges? That is not right at all. We had another car I could of used but as we were getting given a hire car we just took it. If I knew I would get landed with a £700 bill for the priveledge I wouldnt of bothered.

Really its BT and the solicitor thats to blame as they both agreed for car to be repaired in first place.

Freddie_Snowbits

Ok, was you car unmovable because of the crash, my insurer will only pay if you cannot use the car and there is a limit on the time you can hire the car for. Mine is two weeks in any year, though due to my lots incompetence, I did get four weeks when I took mine for a swim.

Normally, the hire car covers you for when your car is being repaired and in the garage and to be honest, that is why I pay for the insurance.

As it seems you arranged your own repair, they may not be helpful.

fluffnutter

Your solicitor sounds crap.

Hintza

£700 for 9 days car hire no wonder the insurer doesn't want to pay it. Sounds outrageous and this is the problem getting involved with accident management companies.

fluffnutter

Hintza wrote: »

£700 for 9 days car hire no wonder the insurer doesn't want to pay it. Sounds outrageous and this is the problem getting involved with accident management companies.

These are the types of things that are pushing premiums sky high. It's a right old scam, frankly. Apparently, say the job to fix your car takes two days, it will be deliberately scheduled to start on Friday, so that the car hire company can charge for four days' worth of courtesy car (i.e. the weekend as well).