Car Insurance - Without Drive Assist!
Comments
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My son who was 18 at the time had minor RTA at a roundabout with my old runabout an S reg Corsa in May 2007, it was his fault and as we had a £500 excess for him we settled direct with the other parties insurance.
I thought no more of it until I had a letter from drive assist in December 2007, they were trying to claim uninsured losses for the other party namely the costs of 3 days hire car use. They were asking for payment of £158.97 for their clients hire car. This at first seemed a reasonable request until I examined the copy of the hire agreement they'd attached.
Miles out - 25 (must be a new car)
Miles in -25
Miles Driven - 0
Basically they wanted me to pay for a hire car that was never used! I sent a rather curt reply back that I was not paying for a hire car their client had not driven. I thought that was the end of it until recently in September 2008 I received another letter from them saying their client had used the car for 3 days and had clocked up 121 miles. They did not sent copies of documentation to support this claim.
This appears to be another ruse to extricate money from motorists. I've written back to them asking for proof of the vehicles use. If it comes to it my son can pay it back at £5 per month as he is a poor student!
The trouble is it's my son's name that'll be on the county court summons which I think we can successfully defend but it's the last thing I want to trouble him with whilst he's studying 200 miles away.
Any thoughts suggestions?0 -
I do believe that in law they can claim the cost of the replacement car even if it isn't actually used. For example, consider the case of an elderly driver who really only keeps their car for a weekly shopping trip and for emergencies. I think we would all agree that if their car was off-road for repairs, they have a right to claim a replacement car from a negligent third party, even if they don't actually use it. They have the right to have a car available to them should the need arise.
Personally I would pay it off and end the matter, if they can provide documentation to back their claim up. £158 seems reasonable for 3 days.0 -
I do believe that in law they can claim the cost of the replacement car even if it isn't actually used. For example, consider the case of an elderly driver who really only keeps their car for a weekly shopping trip and for emergencies. I think we would all agree that if their car was off-road for repairs, they have a right to claim a replacement car from a negligent third party, even if they don't actually use it. They have the right to have a car available to them should the need arise.
Personally I would pay it off and end the matter. £158 seems reasonable for 3 days.
I'd consider paying it's the deceit I don't care for. One letter with the hire agreement copy details no miles, the next one quotes 121 miles. I'll wait and see if I get an explanation as to why it's changed.0 -
Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know that I've got a full refund on my dispute with Drive Assist. If you have been deceived by them as I was, please persist with it and see it through to the end as I very nearly gave up. I've even got a full letter of apology from them, so it just goes to show that they can't always get away with conning innocent people.
Reeny0 -
Only today my Dad received a letter from Drive Assist statingt hat there was damage to the car he'd returned in pristine condition to them. They were due to collect the car on the saturday morning so my Dad and I took the car to Tesco and jet washed it and vaccumed on the Friday evening. When my Dad got back home about 30 minutes later, DA were there waiting for him to hand the car back a day early!
Like everyone else, he was told all was OK and signed the PDA. Todays letter said that the car was dirty inside and out and that it had scratches down to the metal. Absolute lies. His signature was on the sheet apearing that he had signed and agreed. This was not the case.
I DA instatly and was told I would be contacted by the disputes department.
I decided to check the internet to see if anyone had problems with DA. Well...... surprise suprise, they seem to try this trick on everyone. I called my credit card supplier straight away(as I'd given my details to DA) to check if they had taken a payment. They had not. I told my credit company about the website stating this problem had been on watch dog. They said i couldnt stop any payment but if one was taken i was to infrom them and they would reverse it.
I cant wait to hear what the disputes dept have to say. My dad spent time cleaning and vaccuming the car. They have tried to dupe the wrong Dad! This Daughter will not allow this to happen! Crooks0 -
Somebody ran into the back of our car just before Christmas and we had a car off this lot, if only i'd known eh?
Driver shows up and delivers the car and asks me to have a look round it, I only noticed 2 bits, a very small paint chip by the back door and a scuff on the wheel arch "thats already been reported he says" and there on the pda he points to where it says "scuff mark", happy with that we have the car and on collection a couple of weeks later they say that its new damage and the scuff was on the bumper, I disputed this with them and didnt sign to agree with the condition of the car. We'd even washed and hoovered the damn thing. Couple of weeks later they say they've investigated and I must have done the damage, when I ask if they spoke to the delivery driver they said they'd spoken to the transport manager at the depot and he vouched for him. So much for a thorough investigation!
I then received a letter saying they'd be taking the £175 in the next 14 days so I phoned them up and they said they'd put the payment on hold while the compliance team investigate and that they would get in touch.
Fast forward to today and I get a phone call saying my bank had refused payment to them (sodall in the account), when I asked why the compliance team hadnt got back in touch I was told they'd sent a letter which I never got. Theyre also trying to tell me that the damage would cost over 260 quid to put right, it was a scuff on the arch and If I'd done it I would have got it put right myself which would have come nowhere near £175 or this mystical £260 figure they've given me.
I've been in touch with a few different places but has anybody got any ideas on how to deal with them.0 -
just a little light reading about another CHO, Accident Exchange.. All the same though.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/02/motoring.consumeraffairs0 -
Got in touch with the Financial Advisory Service about these rogues, theyre looking into it now, I'll be referring them to these very similar cases on here.0
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It suprises me that you are all moaning about Drive Assist's services
At the first point of contact, when the vehicle is being booked, you are explained fully what Drive Assist do.
Drive Assist is a credit hire service, which means that they will endevour to recover the costs back from the third party or their insurer. Their aim is not to recover it from you!
As you can also understand with the vehicles being brand new, then drive assist dont want scratches etc on their vehicles, and that any damage caused to the vehicle should be paid for becuase these vehicles are brand new.
You are told at the time of booking to check all the information and terms and conditions and rental agreement to make sure you understand and agree with it all - yet you do not look at all of this information and then complain that you wern't aware of it.0 -
Actually when the car was delivered the delivery guy said the area of damage in question was already logged, pointed to a dot on his pda and pointed to where it said scuff, being a trusting person (mug) I believed him as I could only find one other area of damage on the car. They already charge way over the odds for hiring the cars but to to try to rip us off on damage that we havent done is taking the mick.
If I'd done the damage then I'd have no qualms about paying for it. What grieves me is having to fork out for something that I didnt do after an accident that wasnt our fault.0
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