Insurance claim query over car hire

longwalks1

Long story short, last June a delivery lorry reversed into my partner in our car as she sat in traffic, driver admitted liability, very little damage to our car but it went in for repair (new bumper and paint and general check over). We were contacted by insurance/legal cover and told about hire car, I said I'd like a similar car due to use (we live in a rural area, and ferry around 2 very elderly family members). Had the car delivered while my car was in for repair, then dropped hire car off a day after my car was ready for collection due to working 7am-7pm.
Now the lorry insurance are refusing to pay for the hire car, and saying I should of hired it myself through Avis/Budget/Rentacar, then claimed it back????

I've got to provide 3 months bank statements, payslips and credit card bills to the legal cover team - Is this normal?

What was a simple, low speed crash is now turning into a massive headache....

AdrianC

Credit hire cars through "accident management" firms can easily turn into a PITA. The day rate is ridiculously high compared to "normal" hire cars - so, by not hiring it yourself if you were able, you have failed in your duty to mitigate the costs. They are asking you to prove that you were unable to hire a car yourself. If you cannot do that, then they are within their rights to restrict the payout to a reasonable rate.

If you read the paperwork you signed, you agreed to pay for the hire yourself if the other party's insurer didn't.