Told I could claim but can't... Please help!!

Rachy93

Last November, I was involved in a car accident which wasn't my fault. I reported it to my insurance company, who put me on to a company called Accident Exchange. As the other driver accepted responsibility for the accident, accident exchange informed me that I would never be liable for any costs. They provided me with a hire vehicle and arranged for my own vehicle to be collected for repair.

A couple of weeks later, I was due to be going on a holiday abroad with a friend. I was informed that the hire vehicle would need to be picked up prior to this as they would be unable to bill the other party's insurance company for time that I was out of the country. Fair enough. I was told that on my return a hire vehicle would again be returned to me if my own car was not yet ready to be returned to me.

Immediately prior to me getting back, I contacted accident exchange again. They told me that due to a lack of drivers the company would not be able to return my vehicle to me however should I get a taxi to the repair shop they would be able to claim this back from the other party's insurance company also. With this promise, I got a taxi (costing £100 - the cheapest of 3 quotes!) to the repair shop. Now for me that is a hell if a lot of money that I just didn't have; thankfully a good friend kindly lent me this until the money was reimbursed.

Today, after a long long time of waiting I received the following email:

"Good afternoon, Please be advised, third party insurer has advised they will not be raising any payment in respect of you losses. They believe there was no need for a taxi journey. Vehicle was collected by the repairer and should have been dropped off by them too. Third party insurer have no offer to make. Regards"

My heart has just absolutely sank and I am in tears. This is just money I do not have and only spent because I was told I would be reimbursed. Otherwise, I'd have spent 5 hours getting 3 buses which would have been a nightmare but undoubtedly significantly cheaper.

I have sent an email back asking how I should proceed given that I was told I would be reimbursed. But is there anything at all I can really do here, or will I just need to cut my losses and deal with it?

Thank you for any advice

missile

Taxi at £100 seems excessive.
How far did you travel?
Could you have used public transport?

Rachy93

Hi missile, it was a 50 mile journey from the location between where they had picked up the hire vehicle (my friends address as I was staying at hers for 1 night before going on holiday) and the repair shop.

I could have got public transport yes but I've just checked and it would have needed 2 buses and taken double the time. So because I was told I would be able to claim for a taxi that's what I ended up using

Mercdriver

Unfortunately, you are expected to minimise your losses and a court would possibly consider this to not be the case. The handling company cannot and should not approve this without reverting back to the insurer. They are also not responsible for you being away from your home address. You could ask the handling company for a contribution out of goodwill.

unholyangel

I would suggest its not the third party that has liability for this. I believe they are suggesting the garage are liable - because they should have dropped the car off and thus the taxi is not a loss caused by the accident/is too remote.

It sounds like the garage have overstepped. Unless they were reimbursing the OP directly (and thus claiming the loss themselves from the insurer), how could they possibly state with any position of authority what the OP would be covered for?

Rachy93

Apologies if I've previously been unclear.

It was accident exchange (the handling company) that told me to get a taxi to the repair shop and said that I would be able to claim the expenses back

Aylesbury_Duck

Have you got their 'instruction' in writing? Was it an instruction or was it a suggestion? Take a look at the paperwork you should have been sent when you appointed them to handle your claim. Does it say anything about your duty to minimise your costs?

As an aside, if finding £100 at short notice is difficult to address a car-related problem, you need to consider putting aside a contingency. There are many things that can and will crop up that cost around that amount. A couple of punctures, a cracked windscreen, some other unplanned work needed - all of these will take you off the road for a while if you can't lay your hands on £100, which though not an inconsiderable sum, is relatively trivial in the context of car ownership.

unholyangel

Rachy93 wrote: »

Apologies if I've previously been unclear.

It was accident exchange (the handling company) that told me to get a taxi to the repair shop and said that I would be able to claim the expenses back

Same principle applies.

The loss has effectively been caused by their circumstances (staff shortage) rather than your specific circumstances or the accident itself.

I'd be asking whoever advised you to take the taxi, to pay for it.

AdrianC

Can I ask where in the country you are? It seems very surprising that the nearest repairer is 50 miles away...

facade

AdrianC wrote: »

Can I ask where in the country you are? It seems very surprising that the nearest repairer is 50 miles away...

It wasn't. The OP was staying 50 miles from home. (post #3)


I'm afraid it seems perfectly reasonable to me that they won't pay for a 50 mile taxi ride, they might possibly pay a taxi from your home address to the repairer, but like most others, I think it should be the repair shop that pays.

AdrianC

facade wrote: »

It wasn't. The OP was staying 50 miles from home. (post #3)

I'm afraid it seems perfectly reasonable to me that they won't pay for a 50 mile taxi ride, they might possibly pay a taxi from your home address to the repairer, but like most others, I think it should be the repair shop that pays.

Ah, I'd missed that particular wrinkle.

That one's definitely self-inflicted, then.