Enterprise Vehicle Charges for Non Fault Accident

Kenny_77

Good afternoon,

I hope someone can advise me on the following issue I have with Enterprise Rent A Car.

A little bit of background firstly. Back in December I was involved in a non fault accident where my car was parked and subsequently damaged. The driver of the other vehicle kindly knocked the door and claimed responsibility. The damage was extensive enough to warrant going through our insurance companies. Following this, I went through Howden's Insurance Brokers, who forwarded my details to Enterprise who gave me a hire vehicle to use during repairs. 

Now, the repairs were not carried out till February and Enterprise have set the last day of hire as 18th January 2024. However, there is no mention of this date in any agreement I have signed with them. As a result they have charged me in January nearly £400 in hire charges without any invoice being emailed before or after, any or indeed any communication of any sort. The payments were taken in essence without consent. 

I lodged a complaint with Howden's, however, they have recently come back to me with the following response - 

"We have noted that we instructed Enterprise to contact you based on the circumstances

of the claim being non fault and was done purely as an introduction for you to explore

further options for having a replacement vehicle. They were not instructed under any

policy benefit and therefore the contract with them is entirely separate from our contract

with you" 

I have contacted Enterprise many times, who have point blank refused any reimbursement and have been pretty shambolic in terms of communication with them at their ARMS Claims Team and the local branch. 

I have added a snippet of the Rental Agreement dates. 

If anyone could advise on the best way forward to claim, all if not some of the money Enterprise have taken, I would be extremely grateful.

 

cw8825

Check your agreement.

if you still have the details of the other vehicle, you could attempt to recover from the third party insurance?

this is strange where it looks like one that would be credit hire but has not gone ahead in that manner.

DullGreyGuy

Is that your home address you've got in the second image? May want to remove that if it is the case, as you are new you may need to ask a moderator to do so (use the report flag at the bottom of your post.  The first image isn't showing and not sure what it was supposed to be?


So... was your car drivable after the accident? Why did it take until February for repairs to be done? When did it go in for repair?

Enterprise will have given you the car on a credit hire basis with the view that they'd attempt to recover their outlay from the third party insurer.  As your brokers have said, all they did was sell pass your details to them and its not a policy benefit but it should have been explained how credit hire works. 

There can be various reasons why a credit hire gets pulled early, generally because the firm gets worried that they won't be able to get their money back for some reason. In such a case they must instruct you to give up the vehicle and you'll be expected to return it promptly. If you fail to follow their instruction then you become personally liable for the additional hire until such time as its returned. Terms will allow them to automatically bill you with the card you left for such eventualities. 

How did the hire come to an end? Did you call them to say the repairs were done or....?

Assuming you vehicle was undrivable and there is good reason for the wait until February for repairs to complete then you'd be able to recover the enterprise bill from the third party insurer as an uninsured loss.

Brie

DullGreyGuy said:

Is that your home address you've got in the second image? 

google map shows that as Enterprise.

Kenny_77

cw8825 said:

Check your agreement.

if you still have the details of the other vehicle, you could attempt to recover from the third party insurance?

this is strange where it looks like one that would be credit hire but has not gone ahead in that manner.

Thank you for your response. I do have details of the other vehicle this includes photos of the vehicle at the scene/number plate etc. In fact the other vehicle was being used as a Hire Car by the driver who was at the time visiting the UK from Switzerland.

In terms of making an attempt would you advise going through my insurance company or Howden's Brokers?

DullGreyGuy said:

Is that your home address you've got in the second image? May want to remove that if it is the case, as you are new you may need to ask a moderator to do so (use the report flag at the bottom of your post.  The first image isn't showing and not sure what it was supposed to be?


So... was your car drivable after the accident? Why did it take until February for repairs to be done? When did it go in for repair?

Enterprise will have given you the car on a credit hire basis with the view that they'd attempt to recover their outlay from the third party insurer.  As your brokers have said, all they did was sell pass your details to them and its not a policy benefit but it should have been explained how credit hire works. 

There can be various reasons why a credit hire gets pulled early, generally because the firm gets worried that they won't be able to get their money back for some reason. In such a case they must instruct you to give up the vehicle and you'll be expected to return it promptly. If you fail to follow their instruction then you become personally liable for the additional hire until such time as its returned. Terms will allow them to automatically bill you with the card you left for such eventualities. 

How did the hire come to an end? Did you call them to say the repairs were done or....?

Assuming you vehicle was undrivable and there is good reason for the wait until February for repairs to complete then you'd be able to recover the enterprise bill from the third party insurer as an uninsured loss.

The address as pointed out is the Enterprise Depot, not my home address, thank you however for any concern regarding personal details. 

The car was damaged at the nearside front offside arch and wheel. It was driveable, however, due to the damage being very near to the tyre, I was hesitant to use it post accident, therefore contacted Howden's who put me in touch with Enterprise.  

The delays, were due to the repair company (insurance approved repairer) collecting the vehicle from my home address to take to their repair centre based in Banbury. 

Prior to collection there was a process of my self having to upload photos to their company portal so they could asses damage etc. Also, I had a number of issues uploading the photos which added to the delay. 

In addition, the accident actually occurred on Christmas Day, with the repairer being closed over the holiday season and staff being off due to it being that time of year, added a week, 10 days to the delay. 

The hire came to an end where by I informed Enterprise the vehicle has been fixed and is being returned. The vehicle was dropped off the day prior to it being received post repair. 

Given that the vehicle was given on a credit hire basis, which I wasn't aware of - could I use this as one of the reasons i.e being mis-sold as not being explained properly how said hire actually works? 

Again, in terms of making an attempt would you advise going through my insurance company Ageas or Howden's Brokers?

Thanks 

DullGreyGuy

If your insurers would help you in the recovery from the third party insurer will depend on if you purchased Legal Expenses cover with your Motor insurance. If you did they should appoint someone to assist with the recovery if not then you are on your own. In principle its not difficult to do, write a letter/email to the third party insurer quoting their reference and the details of their insured enclosing a copy (not the original) of the invoice and asking for reimbursement. What may cause the complexity in this case is an argument on if the vehicle was drivable or not and if the repairs were completed in a reasonable timeframe but that bridge can be crossed when it comes to it. 

In the interim you can challenge Enterprise that they didnt inform you when they decided to pull the plug on the hire and therefore you cannot be reasonably held liable when you were unaware of their decision. 

nothappeningtothisABInonefault71

My partner is having serious issues with enterprise, her insurance sent her to enterprise as a abi nonfault, they gave her a car, took £1 off her debit card, the car was involved in an incident, had to swerve to avoid hitting a deer, hit kerb, car was recovered by police, reported to enterprise, they then took £349 from that card for excess, recieved letter confirming vehicle repaired matter closed invoice for £0.00, on 12 feb 24.
Now we find ourselves in court proceedings brought forward by them, claiming vehicle written off, with 2 reports, each contradicting each other regarding dates times tyre depths extent of damage, etc, accompanied with a letter starting with "due to your conduct" thus was on 7/3/24, citing breach  of T&Cs. And chasing us for £8000. I've gone through the t&CS WITH A FINE TOOTHCOMBE, only to discover they're ambiguous misleading, and designed for this very purpose, I'm defending it, with a good outlook, however, even if I win, I have to share costs, and they keep wracking them up, the vehicle they stated in papers served, carried the wrong registration number, so no agreement for that vehicle exists, they claimed a typo, even though it's been referred to in several correspondence, too easy, eh! Should have been dismissed on that basis  now were dealing with correct vehicle, and the fees a re racking up regardless of letter stating matter closed, they get there money one way or another, her insurance refused to give her the free legal cover included in her policy, as they say it's a conflict of interests because they referred her. This is out and out fraud on a grand scale, there is no mention of ABI none faults in their T&Cs, anyone else suffering or suffered same, let me know, I'd be interested to read your story, but basicaly, they've robbed you too

DullGreyGuy

So you had a credit hire vehicle provided by Enterprise under the ABI GTA Credit Hire Scheme. 

Whilst in that vehicle you wrote the car off whilst trying to avoid a wild animal? They initially took the excess but are now chasing you for the total loss value of the vehicle? Presumably referencing a clause in the agreement in relation to reasonable driving skill?

There wouldn't be reference to the ABI GTA in the hire agreement directly because it's an agreement between subscribing insurers, credit hire companies and the ABI. It sets out the rules under which the parties must act such as maximium hire rates, no charge for delivery/collection etc and on the flip side the insurer won't dispute the day rate etc as long as they didnt offer hire first etc. 

So your terms would have to be compliant with the ABI GTA but wouldn't make direct reference to them. 

nothappeningtothisABInonefault71

Theres no credit agreement, theres two reports, that contradict each other numerous times, the scope of works is exaggerated greatly, the airbags weren't even deployed, one report says moderate impact, the other says heavy, they're claiming unauthorised driver, however they told her her insurance was primary and transfers, this isnt the case.