Very worried about insurance claim hire car charges - please help

bartsimpson

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

Did you sign a hire agreement when they delivered the 4x4 or was it posted to you weeks later?

I signed a piece of paper on delivery saying 'Delivery Acceptance Advice', but it did not have the cost of the hire car on it.

spacey2012

can you post a copy of the contract you signed ?

BertTheRaccoon

Have you a signed rental agreement in your bundle of papers?

Have you got a solicitor who is taking the proceedings against the hire co/ accident management co for the repairs on your car which were sloppy with their appointed garage?

You appear to have 2 separate issues going on here

1- A claim against the accident management co/ hire co for the poor repairs done by their agents the repairer.

2- Your concerns as to your liability for the rental charges you incurred over the total period you hired a replacement car.

The period of charges that can be claimed from the insurer of the third party will most likely be determined from the outcome of your claim against the hire/accident management co and the repairer.

i.e. if a court makes a finding they screwed up repairs and it was necessary to use an alternative repairer, the period of hire arising from needing to use a different garge would, I submit, most likely not be recoverable from the third party insurers, but nor would it be reasonable to recover from you.

vaio

Bert

Wouldn't both points be capable of being rolled back onto the OP's insurers as they are the ones who used the credit hire hire to handle the claim? I

Sonny_Bill

bartsimpson wrote: »

I've reviewed the paperwork I signed for the car hire when it arrived (a delivery acceptance document) and it doesn't give the cost anywhere, only the details of the car (make/model etc).

I live in the countryside and local roads were flooded/icy on occasion so yes I did have a genuine need for it to get my kids to school/nursery once or twice.

BUT, why is this even a factor? I was told I would receive a car of equal status/type to my damaged vehicle. Am I supposed to say to them "hang on, send me a fiat 500 instead"? Of course I accepted the car they offered me - why would I (at the time) have had any reason not to?

A daily rate should be on the rental agreement paperwork somewhere, you should also have been made aware prior to hiring how much the daily rate that ultimately you would be responsible for, was

It is a factor for the simple reasons that you have to show that you have ‘mitigated your losses’. This is a bit of a silly term to lay people, so I’ll try to explain. People have to show a ‘need’ for hiring vehicles such as prestige (Audi’s, Mercedes etc) or large 4x4 like you have because of their extremely high daily credit hire rate. I mean if somebody has a 12 plated Audi A8 and only uses it to go to the shops and back, then there is no real need for them to hire a replacement Audi A8 at £300 a day, when a Vauxhall Insignia at say £60 a day will do exactly the same job.

But don’t worry about that because In your case, a 4X4 is required due to where you live, so don’t worry about that, you’ve satisfied the ‘need’ aspect of hiring a 4X4 vehicle. And if you’ve never been made aware of the daily rate/it isn’t on any paperwork you’ve signed, then you’re in a good position and I wouldn’t worry too much

BertTheRaccoon

vaio wrote: »

Bert

Wouldn't both points be capable of being rolled back onto the OP's insurers as they are the ones who used the credit hire hire to handle the claim? I

The insurers merely referred him on (because they will have got a nice juicy commission payment of £400+ for a prestiage hire), so the hire co wouldn't be considered agents of the insurers. No formal indemnity has been given by the OP's insurer.

The contract is between the OP and the hire co, who have provided a hire car and managed the repairs by instructing a repairer of their chosing, presumably under a credit repair scenario or by asking the third party insurers to authorise the repairs to the repairer directly.

Credit hire co's like getting third party insurers to authorise the repairs direct as insurers are usually lazy specimens and the longer it takes them to send an engineer out to inspect and authorise the repairs, the more hire charges have amassed.

Sonny_Bill

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

Credit hire co's like getting third party insurers to authorise the repairs direct as insurers are usually lazy specimens and the longer it takes them to send an engineer out to inspect and authorise the repairs, the more hire charges have amassed.

Absolutely. It's the difference between recovering a few hundred in credit hire charges and multiple thousands