Non-Fault Accident – £200/Day Credit Hire, £850 Excess – Too Late to Go Direct to Allianz?

Heklind

Hi all, I have just read this post and it made me bit worried because I think I might soon be in a similar situation so..

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4759978/enterprise-courtesy-car-advice-needed/p2

I was involved in a non-fault accident last week hit from behind while stationary. The third-party insurer (Allianz) only contacted me today with a letter admitting full liability and offering to handle everything directly.  But my own insurer (Sheilas’ Wheels) is already handling the claim.

They’ve arranged:

- A credit hire car through Enterprise (£200/day, had it for 7 days now)  

- Car collection and valuation through a third-party firm (they picked it up today) 

- An £850 excess, which I’ll have to pay  And they’ve said it will count as a claim on my record. I haven't received the valuation yet but i assume my car was worth 10-12k

It was initiated by me while still at the scene, thinking that this is a right way to handle it.

Allianz offered:  

- To handle everything with no excess

- A replacement car at £82.56/day (covered by them)

- Full market value payout or repair 

They also warned about the duty to “mitigate losses,” suggesting they might refuse to pay for higher credit hire costs. 

Credit hire agreement (enterprise) - Luckily I signed it before receiving the letter from Allianz but: “You understand that if you hire a car from Enterprise on credit, you are ultimately responsible for the hire charges…” is a scary looking bit. Technically now I'm aware of a cheaper option so not sure what I'm supposed to do.

(Image removed by Forum Team)

❓My Questions: 

1. What are my options now? Should I try to switch and deal with Allianz directly?

2. Is it too late if my insurer already collected the car?  

3. Should I involve a personal injury solicitor now to sort everything and claim for whiplash + time off or try to deal with them directly? It feel like they are looking for me to say something wrong so then they can use against me! 

4. Has anyone had Allianz dispute credit hire costs even after admitting fault?    Just want to avoid any nasty surprises. I can now see the difference in costs but I wasn't aware of it when signing contract with enterprise.

5. When talking to anyone from Allianz should I be careful what I say, I mean can they use anything I say against me? Im bit worried because they already sent me a text message following our brief phone conversation mentioning this: "Good afternoon  This is a text from Ryan xxx at Allianz following our recent telephone conversation with you regarding the incident on 20/06/2025.  We write to confirm that during this conversation you have declined our offer to assist with any damage that may have incurred and to provide you with a replacement vehicle should this be required.". I only told him that I already have car organised by my insurance company so don't need another one.

6. I see that basically one side (Allianz) is telling me that they will not cover costs that are too high (because they offered lower, but after the fact) and the other (enterprise) says they will want me to pay them if the other party refuse to do so. Is it going to end up in a court?

Thanks for any advice.   

Heklind 

pramsay13

Let your own insurer handle it. That's why you pay them. You only pay the excess if there's a problem claiming the money back. 

DullGreyGuy

Heklind said:

Hi all, I have just read this post and it made me bit worried because I think I might soon be in a similar situation so..

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4759978/enterprise-courtesy-car-advice-needed/p2

I was involved in a non-fault accident last week hit from behind while stationary. The third-party insurer (Allianz) only contacted me today with a letter admitting full liability and offering to handle everything directly.  But my own insurer (Sheilas’ Wheels) is already handling the claim.

They’ve arranged:

- A credit hire car through Enterprise (£200/day, had it for 7 days now)  

- Car collection and valuation through a third-party firm (they picked it up today) 

- An £850 excess, which I’ll have to pay  And they’ve said it will count as a claim on my record. I haven't received the valuation yet but i assume my car was worth 10-12k

It was initiated by me while still at the scene, thinking that this is a right way to handle it.

Allianz offered:  

- To handle everything with no excess

- A replacement car at £82.56/day (covered by them)

- Full market value payout or repair 

They also warned about the duty to “mitigate losses,” suggesting they might refuse to pay for higher credit hire costs. 

Credit hire agreement (enterprise) - Luckily I signed it before receiving the letter from Allianz but: “You understand that if you hire a car from Enterprise on credit, you are ultimately responsible for the hire charges…” is a scary looking bit. Technically now I'm aware of a cheaper option so not sure what I'm supposed to do.

❓My Questions: 

1. What are my options now? Should I try to switch and deal with Allianz directly?

2. Is it too late if my insurer already collected the car?  

3. Should I involve a personal injury solicitor now to sort everything and claim for whiplash + time off or try to deal with them directly? It feel like they are looking for me to say something wrong so then they can use against me! 

4. Has anyone had Allianz dispute credit hire costs even after admitting fault?    Just want to avoid any nasty surprises. I can now see the difference in costs but I wasn't aware of it when signing contract with enterprise.

5. When talking to anyone from Allianz should I be careful what I say, I mean can they use anything I say against me? Im bit worried because they already sent me a text message following our brief phone conversation mentioning this: "Good afternoon  This is a text from Ryan xxx at Allianz following our recent telephone conversation with you regarding the incident on 20/06/2025.  We write to confirm that during this conversation you have declined our offer to assist with any damage that may have incurred and to provide you with a replacement vehicle should this be required.". I only told him that I already have car organised by my insurance company so don't need another one.

6. I see that basically one side (Allianz) is telling me that they will not cover costs that are too high (because they offered lower, but after the fact) and the other (enterprise) says they will want me to pay them if the other party refuse to do so. Is it going to end up in a court?

Read what you have signed with Enterprise, it will be convoluted wording but will normally state that your liability is capped to the liability of the third party in other words if they go to court and the judge says £1,000 was a more sensible sum than the £6,000 bill then Enterprise get the £1,000 and your liability has been extinguished. 

Switching now is going to be problematic, Shelia's Wheels, aka eSure, will have already incurred costs and so will want to recover them from Allianz. If you switch then Allianz will incur those same costs and will not refund eSure which would make it a fault claim.

Heklind

"..but will normally state that your liability is capped to the liability of the third party.."

Thanks, I cannot find anything similar to this in the agreement, maybe in their general t&c? I'll look it up and or ask them over the phone when they're open. I'm worried that they could technically never pursue it through the court but just ask me to cover the expenses, I imagine they could even sue me instead of them?. I feel scammed because over the phone lady from esure clearly told me that I don't have to worry about car hire costs as long as I can assure that I'm not at fault. It doesn't seem so now. I've been involved in pretty nasty accident, lost my car, got whiplash and now all this stress - savage.

DullGreyGuy

Heklind said:

"..but will normally state that your liability is capped to the liability of the third party.."

Thanks, I cannot find anything similar to this in the agreement, maybe in their general t&c? I'll look it up and or ask them over the phone when they're open. I'm worried that they could technically never pursue it through the court but just ask me to cover the expenses, I imagine they could even sue me instead of them?. I feel scammed because over the phone lady from esure clearly told me that I don't have to worry about car hire costs as long as I can assure that I'm not at fault. It doesn't seem so now. I've been involved in pretty nasty accident, lost my car, got whiplash and now all this stress - savage.

Each credit hire company has different terms but with the vast majority of them the only time you are liable is if you damage the car, refuse to give it back when requested, attempt to defraud them or when you fail to continue to support their recovery efforts. 

Heklind

lady from insurance company made it clear that they will fight it at court if it comes to them disputing it, as long as i return car within 5 days from getting paid.

MyRealNameToo

Heklind said:

lady from insurance company made it clear that they will fight it at court if it comes to them disputing it, as long as i return car within 5 days from getting paid.

From which insurance company? Yours or theirs? 

Credit hire is exceptionally common and the vast majority do not end up in court or even being issued. 

Heklind

My insurance company. I was being a little paranoid at first after realising that whole hire cost will exceed 6000 pounds and their insurer warning me. car returned now and haven't heard from them so I'm calm now.