no dault car claim and car hire isn't being paid by the other insurer

Aretnap

Supernova1 said:

So I could still wind up paying 5K 

Only if you were awarded £5K from the third party. In theory you would use the money from the third party insurer to settle your bill with the credit hire company. In practice it would probably be paid by the third party insurer directly to the credit hit company without ever going through your bank account. Either way, you would not be out of pocket. 

Supernova1 said:

If anything happens again to my car , I’ll take it to the local garage and pay myself . 

That would be silly and melodramatic. 

DullGreyGuy

Supernova1 said:

So I could still wind up paying 5K , more than my  car cost to repair .

Only if you think a UK licensed insurance company is going to ignore a court order and that the hire car would try and pursue you personally rather than the insurance company that will have hundreds of millions in the bank 

Supernova1

strange enough the other person’s insurance company is based in Gibraltar . Still waiting for a court date 1 1/2 years after the accident . No contact with the solicitor either , now seeking legal advice , as I read that going to court I will have to prepare my case . Feeling guilty already 

Aretnap

Supernova1 said:

strange enough the other person’s insurance company is based in Gibraltar.

Not unusual, especially at the cheaper end of the market. They still have to comply with UK insurance and road traffic law 

Supernova1 said:

No contact with the solicitor either , now seeking legal advice , as I read that going to court I will have to prepare my case .  

You are overthinking this to the nth degree. There is no need for you to get legal advice - the credit hire firm's solicitor will give you advice on what to do in court. If they haven't contacted you it's because they didn't think there's anything that you need to know at the moment. Well that or they're not very good at their jobs, but if they do their jobs badly it's the credit hire company that loses money, not you, so it's not really your problem.

DullGreyGuy

Supernova1 said:

strange enough the other person’s insurance company is based in Gibraltar . 

Regulation in Gibraltar is not as onerous as it is in the UK and so they can pass on cost savings to their customers hence tend to appear at the bottom end of the market. Most famously Admiral writes on a consortium basis for Motor with their Gibraltar entity picking up most of the risk. For Home its 100% Gib. 

Whilst regs are less it's not the Wild West either and as a British Overseas Territory they are one of the few countries that can write Motor in the UK without having a UK branch.