Can I Hire A Car & Claim It Back - Non Fault Accident

mystic_bertie

last weekend an idiot in a hire van run me off the road and my car looks like a write off. My fully comp insurance company 'Ocatagon' have not yet bothered to contact me about the claim and moving things forward. I have independant witness who says the accident was not my fault.

I start a new job in 2 weeks, its 23 miles away and i need a car and the rate this mob are moving at i am worried i might not have a settlement by then.

so can i hire a small car at £115 per week and claim it back from my insurance company which in turn should get it back from the 3rd party's insurance. Or is it best to try and avoid this or do i need to get them to agree to it first??


your thoughts please ;);)

Quentin

You can't claim it back off your own insurer (as they presumably don't offer any cover for this, or you would already have taken advantage of it).

You will be able to add it on to all your other uninsured losses (eg your excess) which you will be claiming off the third party.

An alternative to consider is cancelling your claim and contacting the third party direct to see if they will sort your repairs/write off etc out.

If they are willing to, then ask them to provide a replacement car now.

(Your witness cannot say who is at fault or liable, just what they saw!)

mystic_bertie

Quentin wrote: »

You can't claim it back off your own insurer (as they presumably don't offer any cover for this, or you would already have taken advantage of it).

You will be able to add it on to all your other uninsured losses (eg your excess) which you will be claiming off the third party.

An alternative to consider is cancelling your claim and contacting the third party direct to see if they will sort your repairs/write off etc out.

If they are willing to, then ask them to provide a replacement car now.

(Your witness cannot say who is at fault or liable, just what they saw!)

the 3rd party are not admitting liability, probably a high excess on the van hire insurance. The witnesses story backs me up as not at fault. I dont have car hire on my policy as i could not afford it.

maybe it would be easier buying a car at a few hundred quid as i could likely recoup my costs quicker than claiming the car rental costs off the insurance. Then sell it once there is a settlement.

Quentin

If liability is in dispute, then unless it ends up 100% the third party's liability then you won't recover all your ininsured losses (which would include the proposed hire car).

So maybe concentrate your efforts on getting a settlement out of your insurer.

Any settlement will be paid after deducting your excess and any premium outstanding if you pay by instalments, so bear this in mind when looking at new cars.

And when you find one, check with your insurer that they will cover it before buying, as if they won't offer cover you will have to start a brand new policy.

dacouch

Try ringing the hire company up that hit you, offer to fax the witness statetment or give them the contact details of the witness. Ask them if they are prepared to offer you a hire vehicle at their cost or do they want you to arrange your own hire which you will add to your claim.

Many hire companies have their own captive insurers so in effect self insure so they want to keep costs down when they know they're at fault

mystic_bertie

Quentin wrote: »

If liability is in dispute, then unless it ends up 100% the third party's liability then you won't recover all your ininsured losses (which would include the proposed hire car).

So maybe concentrate your efforts on getting a settlement out of your insurer.

Any settlement will be paid after deducting your excess and any premium outstanding if you pay by instalments, so bear this in mind when looking at new cars.

And when you find one, check with your insurer that they will cover it before buying, as if they won't offer cover you will have to start a brand new policy.

ok cheers for the advice, i paid my insurance in one lump. Im annoyed £630 for this service. i wont run up any unisured losses, might take some time to recover them. thanks

dacouch wrote: »

Try ringing the hire company up that hit you, offer to fax the witness statetment or give them the contact details of the witness. Ask them if they are prepared to offer you a hire vehicle at their cost or do they want you to arrange your own hire which you will add to your claim.

Many hire companies have their own captive insurers so in effect self insure so they want to keep costs down when they know they're at fault

i have the hire companys insurance details so they do have insurance. They only hire out vans and lutons etc not cars.

BobQ

mystic_bertie wrote: »

ok cheers for the advice, i paid my insurance in one lump. Im annoyed £630 for this service. i wont run up any unisured losses, might take some time to recover them. thanks



i have the hire companys insurance details so they do have insurance. They only hire out vans and lutons etc not cars.

You already have run up uninsured losses (the excess). You probably have others too (have you had additional transport costs arising from not having the car for example?). The only way to get them back is if you are shown not to be at fault. If this happens you will only get uninsured losses repaid if you claim them. Of course it takes time.But if you cannot be bothered.....

You may be able to get help arranging to reclaim them with your motoring association?