Help! Albany chasing me for hire car charge costs

amiehall

I'm involved in a non-fault claim with this company and this kind of thing scares me stupid. How much do you have to NEED the car to be able to justify it? For example I've got my car booked in on Monday and will definitely need a car or taxi for work early Friday morning, but for example I take language lessons that would be 2 miles to walk back at 9.30pm and I have a hairdressers appointment off my local bus routes on the Tuesday. Aside for this, I generally use my car for going wherever I fancy....

Albany have sent me an agreement with a daily rate of £58 (I only own a small 1.2 and specifically told them I would accept any vehicle) plus a £6 a day young driver premium plus a £60 admin fee. I'm concerned because, if I go onto any car hire company, I can get a whole week's rental for around £100 so these fees are clearly extortion.

If I decline the car hire offer, how do I go about getting reimbursement for arranging private car hire? I've never dealt with anything like this before and have never hired a car etc. I'm being asked to sign to understand that I must minimise expense etc but surely it's obvious to everyone that this expense through Albany is not minimal. I can't afford to potentially lose my excess and no-claims so don't feel I have the option to go back to my insurer. I'm a young driver and 4 years no claims is worth a lot of money to me!

dacouch

Just ring the other Insurers, if they accept they're at fault they will arrange a hire car at no risk to you and at their cost.

BertTheRaccoon

Do you still have a copy of the actual credit hire agreement?

I can see this all went off back in 2008.

I suspect there is a chance that the credit hire agreement may not have contained the cancellation clauses which are required on any consumer hire agreement that is signed away from the business premises of the hire company (which all credit hire agreements are)

There should be a clear section that advises you the agreement has a 14 day cooling off period.

If the agreement is bereft of such clauses, it ain't worth the paper it is written on and would be an unenforceable contract against you. If that is the case, this will be why Albany have not been able to get any of the charges back from the other party's insurer and why they are now trying to turn it back onto you.

Worth checking this out.

Ebonydeluxe

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

Do you still have a copy of the actual credit hire agreement?

I can see this all went off back in 2008.

I suspect there is a chance that the credit hire agreement may not have contained the cancellation clauses which are required on any consumer hire agreement that is signed away from the business premises of the hire company (which all credit hire agreements are)

There should be a clear section that advises you the agreement has a 14 day cooling off period.

If the agreement is bereft of such clauses, it ain't worth the paper it is written on and would be an unenforceable contract against you. If that is the case, this will be why Albany have not been able to get any of the charges back from the other party's insurer and why they are now trying to turn it back onto you.

Worth checking this out.

I have looked at this, but I need to know what was in place prior to Oct 2008, as the hire was before this specific legislation was in place. There is no cancellation/cooling off period detailed in the T&Cs

Christopher7

Hi Ebonydeluxe

I have a vast amount of experience and knowledge of credit hire and having read your original post, something is obviously not right.

If your partner was insured to drive your own vehicle at the time of the accident and had a need to use the hire vehicle whilst yours was off the road, then that is perfectly fine. Firstly you should not have lost the case on that basis and secondly, Albany should not be pursuing you for any costs as these should be covered by your 'Albany Credit Protection' policy.

You should clarify with Albany exactly why they are pursuing you and obtain this in writing. It wouldn't surprise me if you have an inexperienced claims handler pursuing you or if the whole thing is a huge misunderstanding.

I would contact them and ask to speak to Operations Support, (their complaints department). They should review your file and if you are being wrongly pursued they will arrange for the costs to be written off.


Helphire and Albany very rarely charge customers and will only do so if they have been intentionally mislead.



In reply to some of the posts regarding costs.

People who comment that the costs are extortionate, don't understand the business. Yes the costs are more expensive than rental cars provided by normal hire car providers, but then the normal car hire companies don't have to employ claims handlers and solicitors to get recover monies due. They also don't generally have to wait 200 days to get paid.

Again there is a steep rise in costs when the hire car is classed as prestige but its simple supply and demand logic. Not many normal car hire companies can offer prestige vehicles as there is little demand in the market. If they do offer them they are not readily available.

There is an interesting legal case(s) going on at the moment, between a Credit Hire company called Accident Exchange and a number of respected insurance companies. In a huge amount of cases the insurance companies utilised the services of a company called 'Autofocus' to provide expert witness statements and evidence in court to defend hire car rates being charged by Accident Exchange.

It has since come to light that the evidence presented in court by Autofocus was falsified and a High Court judge commented that it was perjury / fraud on an industrial scale. Thousands of cases could be reopened as a result and criminal proceedings are ongoing with a number of ex Autofocus employees

The moral of this story is that insurers have no right to take the moral high ground.

vaio

not often you see that, an argument about moral high ground involving insurance companies & credit hire firms

dacouch

Christopher7 wrote: »

Hi Ebonydeluxe

I have a vast amount of experience and knowledge of credit hire and having read your original post, something is obviously not right.

If your partner was insured to drive your own vehicle at the time of the accident and had a need to use the hire vehicle whilst yours was off the road, then that is perfectly fine. Firstly you should not have lost the case on that basis and secondly, Albany should not be pursuing you for any costs as these should be covered by your 'Albany Credit Protection' policy.

You should clarify with Albany exactly why they are pursuing you and obtain this in writing. It wouldn't surprise me if you have an inexperienced claims handler pursuing you or if the whole thing is a huge misunderstanding.

I would contact them and ask to speak to Operations Support, (their complaints department). They should review your file and if you are being wrongly pursued they will arrange for the costs to be written off.


Helphire and Albany very rarely charge customers and will only do so if they have been intentionally mislead.



In reply to some of the posts regarding costs.

People who comment that the costs are extortionate, don't understand the business. Yes the costs are more expensive than rental cars provided by normal hire car providers, but then the normal car hire companies don't have to employ claims handlers and solicitors to get recover monies due. They also don't generally have to wait 200 days to get paid.

Again there is a steep rise in costs when the hire car is classed as prestige but its simple supply and demand logic. Not many normal car hire companies can offer prestige vehicles as there is little demand in the market. If they do offer them they are not readily available.

There is an interesting legal case(s) going on at the moment, between a Credit Hire company called Accident Exchange and a number of respected insurance companies. In a huge amount of cases the insurance companies utilised the services of a company called 'Autofocus' to provide expert witness statements and evidence in court to defend hire car rates being charged by Accident Exchange.

It has since come to light that the evidence presented in court by Autofocus was falsified and a High Court judge commented that it was perjury / fraud on an industrial scale. Thousands of cases could be reopened as a result and criminal proceedings are ongoing with a number of ex Autofocus employees

The moral of this story is that insurers have no right to take the moral high ground.

Did you read the date of the credit hire?

Is that the same Helphire I received "that email" about around 2008/2009 ?

You know the email I'm talking about, I happened to know the director of the Newcastle solicitor that was referred to in the email...

Helphire are obviously whiter than white lol.

Ebonydeluxe

Dear all,

Thanks for your advise back in January.

Did not receive response from solicitor once I wrote back asking for SAR.

They have now sold the account to a debt collector without reponding to my letter. Not even to say that they were no longer proceeding with legal proceedings.

I have found an old letter from my solicitors explaining Albany were no longer pursuing hire car costs. It does not specify from whom they are not pursuing, just that they are no longer pursuing.

Can I tell these debt collectors to take a run a jump, explaining the account is in dispute and give no further details. Or do I need to deal with them?

Thanks in advance.

Ebonydeluxe

Ebonydeluxe

Bump.
Anyone?

chanz4

For 10k they are likely to take it to court, so best to co-operate why wont your insurance cover your 50%