Enterprise Credit Hire Court Proceedings

mwt_2

Long story short, last year I was rear-end while stationary at traffic lights. My insurance company advised me the car was not road legal and I was offered a hire car next day (a Saturday) while they organised repairs. We were in the processing of selling/buying a home at the time which was stressful enough, the offer of a car was a welcome one as being off the road would have been a royal pain.



Anyway, I've recieved a letter that says the third party is refusing to pay so they'll need to issue court proceedings in my name. The original accident claim has long since been settled and paid out, this appears to be a seperate claim that Enterprise are making themselves. I was slightly suprised by this, I had assumed the hire costs were included in the claim made to recover the car repair costs and my excess.


I understand that ultimately I am responsible for the car hire charges, they aren't excessive in my opinion about £600-700 total based on the daily rate on the original document, it was about 2 weeks I had the car, I can't remember exactly when it went back. Worst case I'll be able to pay them, but I don't understand if that's all I have to pay that if the case is lost. Do I then have to pay all the other fees, interest, etc?


There's a fair bit online about people having similar experiences, but never what ultimately happened in the end. Do these things typically get settled?

weeowens

Not sure of how it will pan out but this is exactly why I would not entertain a credit hire if I had an accident.What car did they hire you as the price is a bit high.
If the other party admitted liability wouldn't they insurer sort you a car out. On my last calim this is what we did.

dacouch

It will involve establishing whether a credit hire was required, whether the cost was appropriate and whether the time period of the hire was correct

They will normally want sight of your bank and credit card statements to see if you could have afforded to finance a normal hire car out of your own finances

DUTR

weeowens wrote: »

Not sure of how it will pan out but this is exactly why I would not entertain a credit hire if I had an accident.What car did they hire you as the price is a bit high.
If the other party admitted liability wouldn't they insurer sort you a car out. On my last calim this is what we did.

When I have been in that situation, they offer like for like, that said the AM company were dealing with the case there was no follow proceedings.
I do recall a while back some insurance company was trying to dispute a credit hire car on a footballer, he won as the car was something like an Aston Martin.

mwt_2

It was a 2 door hatch back, the rate didn't seem high to me? The other party didn't accept liability for quite some time. I waited a few days initially to see if the third party insurer would help me out, but after making the initial claim they stopped answering my calls. At this point I opened the claim with my insurer as I couldn't be without a car for any longer. It was only some months later that they accepted liability, i.e. after my insurers legal cover put forward my claim to recover my excess.


Originally I was very much of the stance that I had done no wrong and the third party insurer should do all the work. However, 2 days not being able to drive to work and the prospect of not having a car for a staycation we had already pre-booked for a month later, I took the option that was offered to me.


I don't disagree though, credit hire is evil, but it also doesn't seem fair that I should have to pay out my excess + my own hire car fees and spend months trying to claim them back, all while trying to complete on the biggest purchase I'll likely make in my lifetime.


I have already responded to the letter with all the information they asked i.e. did I have access to other cars etc.


Just regarding the costs, if they lose the case, what will I be liable to pay?

mwt_2

Just posting a quick update on this, as when I was searching I never found a thread with a final update.



I filled in and returned the form they sent me back in Feb, I have not heard back since so I can only assume it was settled and as many had mentioned the threat of court action is what is needed to get the settlement.

Mercdriver

dacouch wrote: »

It will involve establishing whether a credit hire was required, whether the cost was appropriate and whether the time period of the hire was correct

They will normally want sight of your bank and credit card statements to see if you could have afforded to finance a normal hire car out of your own finances

If a car hit mine and left me without the use of a car, I couldn't give two monkeys about the fact that I can afford to hire a car myself. if the accident isn't my fault, I shouldn't be out of pocket. Affordability shouldn't come into it. If all the insurance companies stopped using the credit hire firms then they would have more control.

jk0

This thread interests me. I could certainly afford to pay for a hire car. If I did pay out of my own pocket, would my insurer be as keen to sue the other insurers for my expenses, though?

EdGasketTheSecond

jk0 wrote: »

This thread interests me. I could certainly afford to pay for a hire car. If I did pay out of my own pocket, would my insurer be as keen to sue the other insurers for my expenses, though?

Probably not!

debtdebt

jk0 wrote: »

This thread interests me. I could certainly afford to pay for a hire car. If I did pay out of my own pocket, would my insurer be as keen to sue the other insurers for my expenses, though?

Hire or credit hire is dealt with as an uninsured loss so your insurer wouldn't be involved at all.

When it's credit hire, the credit hire company instruct their own insurer to recoup their outlay. If you've incurred a hire fee, you will have to instruct your own solicitors to seek recovery of the same.

mwt_2

debtdebt wrote: »

Hire or credit hire is dealt with as an uninsured loss so your insurer wouldn't be involved at all.

When it's credit hire, the credit hire company instruct their own insurer to recoup their outlay. If you've incurred a hire fee, you will have to instruct your own solicitors to seek recovery of the same.

It's worth noting, if you have legal cover on your insurance policy you can use it to do this. I used it to recover my excess, and they asked if I had any other uninsured losses to recover. If there is a next time, I would possibly go this route.