None-fault Accident - Courtesy Car Payment Stopped by 3rd Party Insurer

mangum

Hi,

I'm after some help please. My car's been involved in non-fault incident while stationary. I've decided to settle my claim through third party Liverpool Victoria, which was my mistake it seems.
My car has been written off by LV and the payout check has been sent to me soon after. I've raised a dispute over over the offer, as it was insufficient to purchase the car of similar specification.
I haven't cashed the check however I kept the courtesy car arranged through Car Enterprise, wrongly assuming I'm entitled to the car until LV come back with revised offer. Now LV have stopped the payment on April 29th, Car Enterprise phoned me on April 30th to ask about the situation with the car. I advised them that my case is being re-visited by LV and referred them back to LV to validate the status (and foolishly assumed I should hold on to the hired vehicle). Car Enterprise have phoned me again 7 days later, and the situation has repeated. Next I received a voice mail from Car Enterprise advising that I'm now liable for additional cost as the LV have not extended the car hire and stopped it on 29th April.
The outstanding cost they expect me to pay is £1200 (at £92 a day rate). i have returned the hire car straight after (same day).
My argument is that Enterprise Car hire people have never made any effort to investigate the situation with LV (I've checked with LV and no contact 's been made by Car Enterprise ), and have never categorically said to me that they'd like to arrange a pick-up as the car needs to be returned, or I'll be liable to cover the additional cost.
I'd appreciate your advice on how this situation can be resolved without me having to pay that extortionate additional cost.

many thanks in advance,
Martin

InsideInsurance

Ultimately you need to complain to Enterprise that they failed to keep you informed nor advise you that you'd be liable for the cost of keeping the vehicle.

What happened in your dispute on the total loss settlement? Generally speaking insurers wont consider hire costs covering the dispute period otherwise everyone would simply dispute settlement to give themselves more time in hire and more time to find a new car.

How much was the dispute in the total loss? (ie difference between the offer and your expectation) How proportional is the £1,200 fees to this amount?

mangum

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt response on my problem.
The dispute was over aa amount of £200-300. So £1200 is derfinitely out of proportion here I'm guessing.

Martin.

BertTheRaccoon

The advice of InsideInsurance is spot on.

This also shows why third party insurers and the companies that they contract to deal with innocent third parties cannot be trusted to deal fairly with people.

Tell them to shove it for any costs you are being purused for and ask for recordings of all phone calls you have had with Enterprise and LV

Tell LV you are banking the total loss cheque on an interim payment basis and furnish them with evidence of other vehicles for sale in your region with same mileage, spec & condition to support your own valuation.

InsideInsurance

mangum wrote: »

The dispute was over aa amount of £200-300. So £1200 is derfinitely out of proportion here I'm guessing.

It would definitely be difficult to argue it was reasonable to pay an additional £1,200 of hire charges and not get a replacement vehicle whilst arguing settlement -v- adding the £200 on the disputed valuation yourself to get out of hire and thus meet your legal obligations in mitigating your losses.

Your best route is going to be arguing with Enterprise. It will also be sensible to read exactly what you signed from them so you can see the T&Cs you agreed to abide by (eg is the rate stipulated etc)

Being realistic it will be about getting the bill reduced rather than wiped out

tasticz

mangum wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt response on my problem.
The dispute was over aa amount of £200-300. So £1200 is derfinitely out of proportion here I'm guessing.

Martin.

They increase the margin of the cost by like 400-500% then say well we spoke to our head office they have said just charge the minimum cost and take a hit of the rest.

Then price comes down to £500 they make a profit and you think you might as well pay off as its too much hassle already.

This is the reason why you shouldn't go directly to the third party they will always screw you over when possible.

vaio

InsideInsurance wrote: »

It would definitely be difficult to argue it was reasonable to pay an additional £1,200 of hire charges and not get a replacement vehicle whilst arguing settlement -v- adding the £200 on the disputed valuation yourself to get out of hire and thus meet your legal obligations in mitigating your losses.......

Fair point but was the OP aware of the costs of the hire car?

InsideInsurance

vaio wrote: »

Fair point but was the OP aware of the costs of the hire car?

Hence the question of looking at what they have signed but in general 12 days hire is not going to be pennies.

There really should be a day rate specified otherwise you get into a world of arguments if you provide a service first and state the price second (or basis for billing) - not just in insurance/ claims but general

Quentin

mangum wrote: »

......I'd appreciate your advice on how this situation can be resolved without me having to pay that extortionate additional cost.....

You need to check the wording on any correspondence you received from LV over the provision of the hire car. (eg Were there any references to how long it was ti be supplied for etc).

Also check exactly what you agreed to when signing the rental agreement when you got the car.

Then if there are any discrepancies on what has actually happened take them up with whichever party you see has acted outside of the agreement.

If there are no obvious discrepancies you can use, then if you have "legal cover" with your own insurance you could contact them and see if they will take this on as an unisured loss, and attempt to recover it from LV, (as ultimately it looks like Enterprise will be pursuing you to pay them)

chanz4

myn says 7 days after a total loss claim

mangum

All,

Many thanks for your responses, much appreciated. I visited my local branch where the hire was arranged, and spoke to the manager to see what options there are. I have followed the advice from InsideInsurance and raised my concerns with him. I have also asked how much they're willing to reduce the cost if the worst comes to worst and I have to pay.
We have finally verbally agreed, that I would pay £280 if the LV won't extend the hire period. They'll let me know the outcome of their investigations when known. I think what also seemed to have helped is that I'm their regular customer through my work and use their car rental services at least few times each month. And they said they wouldn't like me to think of them badly etc. Well I do anyway - a nasty bunch of incompetent individuals - who make innocent people pay for their own mistakes and poor service they provide - so be aware if you ever get involved with Car Enterprise brunch based in Hatfield Herts.
I'll let you all know of the final outcome.
And thanks ever so much to all of you who got involved in this thread.

Much appreciated,
Martin.