Courtesy car scam?

Emma5252

So my husband had a horrific car crash where his car was written off (3rd party agreed fault) and while dazed at the side of the road Googled admiral report accident. He rang the first number that came up and got them to come sort his car etc. A week later admiral still hadn’t told him when his courtesy car was arriving …. Rang and they knew nothing of the incident. Turns out he d rung Stocalfe…….?? He rang them and explained , they said don’t worry you don’t have an account with us but we opened it when you rang , it s all sorted…. They sent a courtesy car and then took 3 months to decide if it was written off or not. At 3 months they took the courtesy car back. Husband wanted to renew his car lease which wouldn’t be available for 5 months. We struggled without a car until the lease car was ready. 

Stocalfe have now sent us a bill for £45000 saying we owe that and we should have bought another car in those months and why didn’t we? They ve tried to access our bank statements to see why. A solicitor has been assigned who s said his fees will be covered by either insurance company so don’t worry but it will be about £30000 as long as we “play ball” and assist him. 

Husband been sent into the depths of depression seeing £75000 being demanded in 18 months time……
how can this be??
surely a scam??
what should we do?? This feels criminal- all because Stocalfe obviously pay more to have their details higher in the Google list than Admiral…..?

DullGreyGuy

In fairness, if you had called Admiral then they would have tried to convince you to use Auxillis which is another accident management company that operate in the same way as Stocalfe

You need to go back and read the paperwork properly, the wording will be convoluted but almost certainly it will state that your liability is capped at the liability of the third party as long as you continue to support them. The total bill may be £75,000 but if they get a court order for £5,000 then the TP pays that and the other £70,000 is written off. 

All credit hire companies act in the same way, quick to get you in a car with minimal discussion and then when the third party insurer won't pay up ask for statements about why you needed credit hire/ proof you couldn't afford to privately hire a car etc. Your not the first, won't be the last, and as long as you continue engaging and provide what they ask they ultimately carry the cost. 

Emma5252

Thanks! Which paperwork should we read? We have none from Stocalfe……?

DullGreyGuy

Emma5252 said:

Thanks! Which paperwork should we read? We have none from Stocalfe……?

Normally you sign the ageement when you take receipt of the credit hire car, it may look like a standard handover document but the terms actually include all the details on how the credit functions.