Car Rental Fraud

TheHiddenTruth

I went to a car hire and arranged to hire a car from the Friday morning until the Sunday evening. The owner of the car hire congratulated me on choosing a car which would not only give him trouble free motoring but, which was also ideal for the type of trip he had in mind. When signing the standard form, i paid the deposit and an excess insurance cover. The owner assured me that it was better to do this as it would mean he was completely covered in the event of an accident. The remainder would be payable on the Friday morning. The ower of the car hire said that it was their usual custom to fill the car with petrol and asked me to fill it up before returning it on the Sunday.

On Friday 5th December i set off, picking up the car and paying the remainder of the charges. After driving for half an hour the car engine starts to make funny noises every time i changed gear. I slowed down but the noises get worse and suddenly the car veers off the road and down the embankment. It crashes into a motorway sign, part of a fence and knocks over some distance markers. I was alright and phone for assistance. The RAC took me and the car to a local garage. From here I hire another car and having arranged for the first car to be checked over and returned to the hire company , eventually continue to Birmingham.

The next week the garage send me a report which said there was a problem with the gears and with the steering mechanism of the car and that there was hardly any petrol left in the tank. I passed this to the car hire company and received from them a bill for £25,000 for motorway repairs. When I pointed out i had paid the excess insurance the owner told me there was an exclusion clause covering motorway charges in the standard form, which i signed without reading.

Can you please advise me if i have to pay this bill and what my rights are under the consumer rights.

regards

kelloggs36

Have you got a copy of the document you signed? If so, take it to CAB and get some independent advice on whether this is a legal document.

balsingh

kelloggs36 wrote:

Have you got a copy of the document you signed? If so, take it to CAB and get some independent advice on whether this is a legal document.

I'd call a solicitor asap. £25000 is a lot of money!

piggeh

car was unfit for purpose in my opinion. Contract law would state you should be receiving goods suitable for their purpose (I think). I reckon this puts you in a more favourable position, but best to take some legal advice.

niccy

they are havin a flu king laugh arn't they.

25k for what , has the council billed them already for motorway damage, i think not.

if i were you i'd develop serious whiplash with associated psychological trauma and stick the hire company with £1/2 million counter claim;)

dunx

The position as described suggests that you should be claiming from the car rental company, not the other way around. A pivotal part of this is that the accident was caused by the condition of the car and not by your negligence. The garage report will be key evidence in demonstrating this. If you didn't keep a copy, contact the garage to get another copy.

Then take legal / CAB advice as suggested by others.

Good luck - it sounds like a complete scam.

moonrakerz

Perhaps you would like to give this firm a bit of the publicity they deserve - who were they ?