Hire car insurance won't pay out

GlorGlorBoo

Hi,

A friend hired a van which was stolen while on hire. The police were called etc, and now after a period of time the hire company have informed her that their insurance won't cover it and they will pursue her for the cost of the vehicle (around £20,000). She has already paid out the insurance excess for the hire company. She obviously can't afford to pay back £20k but also feels that the hire company should have had sufficient insurance to cover things like this. Apparently cases like this aren't covered for legal aid and she can't afford her own soliciter. So was wondering if anyone here has any advice.
Thanks

jk0

Go to court and argue her case if I was her. It sounds ridiculous that a hire firm have no theft insurance. I think the judge would agree with me.

rs65

Why won't the insurer pay out?

What does her rental agreement say about liability for theft?

pappa_golf

probably was,nt insured for hire , just any driver


was this a big company or a small one with just a couple of vans

Car_54

Is it possible that the keys were left in the ignition? That would explain the insurer's refusal to pay.

GlorGlorBoo

Thanks for the replies. The hire company was enterprise, and the keys were in a handbag that was stolen with the vehicle (the bag wasn't in the vehicle). I'm not sure what the liability is- I presume this is standard for enterprise.

My friend is struggling to understand what needs to happen and when as she can't afford a soliciter to help her through this. I think she has 7 days to respond to the hire company's legal team before they start proceedings.

londonTiger

probably had a plastic tie around the key with the reg on it. So hief knew it was keys to a hire car and could look up the details of the car online to find out what it is and then locate it.

londonTiger

i wonder if enterprise screwed up the insurance which meant the insurance could find a way out in their t&c. like not filling in the paperwork or even charging for insurance but not actually insuring the car and just keeping the insurance money.

A rogue trader did that, it was featured on bbc watchdog. They would rent vehicles out, charge for insurance but not actually insure it.

Herzlos

londonTiger wrote: »

probably had a plastic tie around the key with the reg on it. So hief knew it was keys to a hire car and could look up the details of the car online to find out what it is and then locate it.

More likely the van was within a few hundred yards of where the bag was stolen, they'll have looked for it or walked down the street pushing the open button.

Unless their insurance doesn't cover theft of keys, but since that's how most vehicles are stolen, it's a bit of a stretch.

You'll probably need to take it to court, where they hire company will need to prove she's liable, and she'll need to explain that it's not her responsibility; it was insured and she paid an excess on it. It sounds like Enterprise have messed up and are trying to claw their money back from her instead of eating their loss.

Silver-Surfer_2

londonTiger wrote: »

probably had a plastic tie around the key with the reg on it. So hief knew it was keys to a hire [STRIKE]car[/STRIKE] van and could look up the details of the [STRIKE]car[/STRIKE] van online to find out what it is and then locate it.

How would looking the van up online locate it?

If it was in the charge of the ops friend one would suggest it was somewhere she parked it.

Maybe to can tell us where such thieves look online for this info.

AdrianC

GlorGlorBoo wrote: »

the keys were in a handbag that was stolen with the vehicle (the bag wasn't in the vehicle).

There's a lot of detail missing in that, and that detail is going to be critical to her case...

Basically, the insurer will be saying that, since the keys were used to steal the van, they are not liable - and the rental Ts & Cs will back that up.

This is going to get messy. Does she have any home insurance that would cover the theft of her handbag? Does she have any legal expenses insurance?