Enterprise car rental won't pay (ignoring me) my £250 damage excess for hire car bump - NOT MY FAULT

Brian_Pamo

Hi all

This issue is on behalf of my Sister who doesn’t really know where to turn next and unfortunately is one of those people who would just shrug things off because she “Doesn’t want to cause any trouble”.  I only recently found out the true extent of this story last night and I was upset at the way she had been treated (and expected to lose £250?) for something that was not her fault.  She is one of those people who is frightened of courts etc. as opposed to me who sees courts and the justice system as fair and transparent.  I know some of you may agree/disagree with some things I have written here but If I may, I’m asking for actual advice and instructions what to do next because as you can gather I have decided to take this matter up on my sisters behalf.  I have also included a lot of policy/technical/personal details so I can save the document without going back and adding them back in later.  So, here (in the words of my Sister) is what happened.

Last year my car was recalled by the BMW main dealer (from where I purchased the car a couple of years earlier) after I received a letter about a dangerous fault with the fuel line etc.  Because the parts were on back order from Germany the dealership told me that they had arranged a hire car on my behalf (Mercedes A Class Reg: KW17 *** - Enterprise Rental agreement No: ******) via the company enterprise.  Please note that the dealer arranged this hire car with enterprise, not me. So, the hire car was arranged through the dealer and I went down to enterprise in Gatley on Tuesday 8th Jan 2019 and collected the hire car - which initially should have been for a few days whilst my car was fixed by the dealer.  I remember at the time of collecting the hire car that the enterprise desk agent told me they needed my credit card details for any damage excess.  I questioned this as this was all being dealt with by the dealer etc. but they told me not to worry as any excess would always be claimed back by either the dealers or any third party insurer.  So, I gave them my credit card details.  Maybe I was Naive? Maybe silly for believing?

So, at this point all is well and I drove away in the hire car.  Such was the nature of the fault with my own car the dealer was struggling to get hold of the parts and eventually I had the hire car for a lot longer than initially planned.

So, (approximately 6 weeks later) on Sunday 17th February 2019 I was driving (in the hire car) down High Street (which is a one way main shopping Street) doing about 20mph when a car pulled out from a parking bay on my left (passenger side) and collided with the side of the hire car I was driving.  The driver of the vehicle that hit me got out.  The other driver admitted liability and apologised (saying he mistakenly thought I had flashed him to pull out) and we exchanged insurance details.  I immediately telephoned the dealer about this collision and they told me to ring enterprise tomorrow (Monday 18th February 2019) and report it to them.  So, the following day (Monday 18th February 2019) on speaking to enterprise on the phone they asked me a series of questions on the extent of the damage and road worthiness of their car.  I confirmed that the car was safe to drive and the damage was a scratch/scuff down the rear quarter of the car.  The hire company then advised me to keep the hire car and make the damage known when it was time to return the car (which was unknown at the time because of the back order for parts on my car).  It should be noted at this point that on this day enterprise took the £250 from my card (even though they hadn’t even seen the car and even though they told me to keep it until my car was fixed by the dealer). I only discovered they had taken this money 2 weeks later when I got my card statement.

So, fast forward another 2 weeks and my car had finally been fixed by the dealer.  Of course, it was now time to return the hire car! The hire car company collected the hire car from the hospital where I work with no issues.

 So a couple of months later I had heard nothing about the refund of the £250 excess so I rang enterprise.  After being passed from pillar to post in a series of phone calls an agent (Mr H) told me “Yes.  We have had no response from the driver of the other vehicle so there’s not much we can do to verify him”.  The following conversation ensued:

Me: So.  That’s it.  What about my £250?

Agent (Mr H): Yes.  We are not sure we have got the correct details of the other driver so there’s not much we can do.

I didn’t know where to turn so I asked for the agents email address and ‘sort of’ begrudgingly left it at that.

So, I was telling my line manager at work this and he informed me of a website called ‘ASKMID’ where you pay a fee to obtain a drivers details.  So, I went on ASKMID on 28th August 2019, paid the fee and obtained the drivers details myself (and logged the accident with ASKMID as shown below).  Now, with the drivers details I had just got from ASKMID I then Emailed Mr H at enterprise and sent over these details.  Mr H didn’t reply.  A couple of weeks later I rang enterprise again for an update and again, I was pushed from pillar to post and after what seemed like a million conversations I spoke to another agent.  The following conversation ensued:

Me:      I spoke to you the other week and you told me you couldn’t get hold of the drivers details etc.  Therefore, I have been on the MID database and here are the details:

MID Case No: ********

Other Vehicle: BMW 316, Registration No: **** ***

Driver: Mr ******, ******, ******.

Insurer:  Liverpool Victoria, County gate, Bournemouth, BH1 2NF

Policy No:  LV**********

Agent: Thanks for that.  We will do our best but can’t promise anything.  You might be better Emailing Mr H”

 

I subsequently did Email Mr H.  Since then I have heard nothing.  It appears that they have got away with my £250 which I feel is unfair given that the accident was not my fault and I did everything by the book.

So people.  I would be very grateful if any of you guys have experienced something similar to this.  Anybody in the industry know if enterprise can do this?

Here’s hoping for some assistance of what to do next.  Again, I apologise for including all the minute details starred out but this is simply so I can save the document twice and don’t need to go back and re-input lots.

I know some people may ask it is really worth all this hassle for £250  but given the very name and nature of this site I hope some of you will agree that it is worth pursuing.

Thanks in advance all.

 

 

AdrianC

It's your sister's word against the other driver's.
She says it was them. They're not replying.

Yes, she's got the insurance details for the registration the other car was displaying. But that doesn't mean that the insurance will blithely pay up. They'll contact the policyholder - but, if they deny it, then what...?

Yes, she can launch a small claim against the person you believe to be the other driver. And they will almost certainly lodge a defence denying all involvement.

KimJongUn88

An excess is an uninsured loss ie your sister agreed to pay the first £250 of any claim.  If she didn't want to pay the first £250 of any claim, she should have paid excess waiver.
In any event, even if Enterprise made a full recovery of the cost of the repairs to their vehicle, they are under no duty to seek recovery of the £250 excess.  This is your sister's loss and she has to recover it herself.

The_Rainmaker

Take the driver of the other car to court to  cover your loss.

spiro

The problem in this country is how the law operates, or does not, in relation to how insurance companies process claims. Some time ago I was chasing my insurance about a claim where I was clearly in the right (read ended),. They had sent the claim details off to the other parties insurance and were waiting for a response. I asked how long do they have to process the claim. I was told they have 90 days but that is JUST to acknowledge they have received the claim paperwork.

KimJongUn88

spiro said:

The problem in this country is how the law operates, or does not, in relation to how insurance companies process claims. Some time ago I was chasing my insurance about a claim where I was clearly in the right (read ended),. They had sent the claim details off to the other parties insurance and were waiting for a response. I asked how long do they have to process the claim. I was told they have 90 days but that is JUST to acknowledge they have received the claim paperwork.

Someone spouting unsubstantiated rubbish again. When an insurer receives a Claims Notification Form through the RTA portal, they have 21 days to acknowledge the claim, not three months.

DoaM

I had a similar scenario (someone reversed into me - it was caught on CCTV). This was in April ... the claim didn't settle until March the following year! This meant my wife incurred a premium adjustment and admin fee because we reported the incident (when renewing her insurance in September of that year and having me as a named driver) as non-fault ... however when her insurer reviewed the CUE database a few months later they found that my claim was still unresolved so they amended their risk basis (hence premium etc.). I had to chase my own insurer to chase the 3rd party insurer to settle the claim. In my case there was no disputing liability, they were merely disputing the value of the claim ... all this hassle was due to a dispute to the value of £300.

sheramber

If your sister had been in her own car  in the same circumstances she would have to pay the excess on her own policy  and recover costs from the the other party or their insurance unless she had claimed direct from the other party's insurance and the other party admitted the claim. 
Just because it is not your fault doesn't always mean you do not have to pay anything.

BrianPamondesk

Thanks all.