Hi guys,

Google has brought me here as it appears a few of you have had similar issues to the one I'm having.

Car crashed into back of mine while I was stopped at lights,

guy accepted responsibility and his insurer contacted me to arrange repairs

(Well, actually their repairer contacted me, I never once heard from the insurer as I recall)

They also arranged a replacement vehicle for me which I assumed to be a courtesy car but in fact, as I now know, turned out to be a credit hire.

I'm now getting solicitors letters because the insurer is now refusing to pay out for the car and I, like a few others here, have been asked to provide bank statements and credit card bills to aid recovery of the money.

I'm confused how this is anything to do with me bearing in mind I had no involement in any of the arrangements and as far as I'm aware, sued the services approved by their insurer.

P.S. I've spoken to my insurance who gave me a big "Not my problem"

yep

Please can you tell us who the insurer is, who the garage is. Could you post up the letter/email which put the arrangements in place.

How much value are we talking about here?

Do you have the name and the address of the driver of the vehicle which hits you?

The garage that contacted you may not have had anything to do with the third party Insurers. You need to find out who told this garage to contact you. If you can find a direct link back to the third party Insurers, then you might be able to argue that the garage were acting as an agent of the Insurers and therefore the Insurers should accept the hire care arrangement. Obviously subject to hire car being similar temporary replacement and being essential to meet your needs.

Please can you tell us who the insurer is, who the garage is. Could you post up the letter/email which put the arrangements in place.

 

How much value are we talking about here?

 

Do you have the name and the address of the driver of the vehicle which hits you?

The whole thing happened over a year ago but as I recall, I got a phone call from the insurer a few hours later, I don't think I ever got any letters from them. The next contact was from the repairer.

I got the first letter from the solicitor a few months back with no details apart from the insurer was refusing to pay for the vehicle hire.

The most recent one goes into more detail and the bill is close to £1000

The things is now I've read through the paperwork I'm noticing little things, like the hire company (Enterprise) are claiming 11 days hire, which isn't correct as I was on a course on the other side of the country and picked the car up on a Saturday and dropped it back on either the following Friday or Saturday.

More digging is required I think, although I'm annoyed that I'm having to do it..... And more anoyed that none of these places are open on a weekend so I've got to fume until tomorrow.

Send an SAR to the insurer and also to the repairer. Do it immediately.

If you go to call them then first or read our customer services guide and don't call them unless you have followed the advice we have given.

What's happened here is that the third party insurer's repairing garage has poached a credit hire claim (for a little referral fee I would imagine).

You chose not to use your own insurers so I'm not surprised they won't intervene. They have had no say in this situation.

Furthermore, specifically with regards to the credit hire, the third party insurers have not arranged this. Had you gone through them, they would have instructed a hire company to provide you with a hire vehicle at a vastly reduced rate.

Here's what I posted on another thread regarding credit hire a few days ago - the same applies to your situation:

"Ok firstly credit hire is different to a courtesy car. It is a hire car and when you sign the agreement you effectively sign to say that you are ultimately liable for the hire charges, and furthermore that you authorise the hire company and any solicitors they instruct to pursue recovery of those charges from the at fault party.

In the most simple terms, the legal position with recovering credit hire charges surrounds 3 issues - did you need a hire vehicle, did you hire the vehicle for a reasonable time, and did you hire for a reasonable rate.

The first two are usually non-issues and the rate is what is very often challenged because the cost of credit hire is often so much more excessive than direct hire (e.g. had you just hired a car from enterprise or thrifty etc). As with any claim in tort there is a general duty that the claimant must keep their losses to a minimum (i.e. mitigate their losses).

The legal position with the rate is that if you do not have the money to hire a vehicle directly from a mainstream provider, you are entitled to recover the full credit hire rate. If you did have the money to hire directly, you are only entitled to recover the lowest rate from the range of mainstream providers. Depending on the types of vehicles that we're talking about the difference between the credit hire rate and the direct hire rate could be from the tens to the hundreds of pounds per day plus VAT.

So the reason your bank details are required is to evidence the above in any litigation that may ensue.

Obviously this is sensitive personal data and the solicitors on both sides will have obligations under the GDPR to process it appropriately.

As I said in the other post, if you don't provide your bank details the impecuniosity argument will automatically fail at court, and furthermore if the solicitors/hire co decide that you're being uncooperative then you may be in breach of the terms of the hire agreement and leave yourself open to them chasing you for any shortfall."

Further to Supervillain's post, if it was not the third parties garage it would have been your broker who arranged the repairs and the credit hire and it was presented to you (Loosely enough) that you thought they were calling from the other Insurer

I got the first letter from the solicitor a few months back with no details apart from the insurer was refusing to pay for the vehicle hire.

 

The most recent one goes into more detail and the bill is close to £1000

In terms of credit hire cases generally, an invoice for less than £1,000 is small fry. In my view, unless the Defendant's Insurers believe they can challenge the full amount of the credit hire (e.g. you didn't need a hire vehicle at all), the chances of this seeing the inside of a Court room are very slim.

However I would still recommend you fully cooperate with the hire company's solicitors.

The main issue I have with this at present is that they're claiming I had the car for 11 days, and I actually had it for 7.... Apparently car hire firms have a code of conduct and Enterprise have certainly broken the code a couple of times here.

The main issue I have with this at present is that they're claiming I had the car for 11 days, and I actually had it for 7.... Apparently car hire firms have a code of conduct and Enterprise have certainly broken the code a couple of times here.

Raise this with the Hire Company's Solicitors.

First of all, thanks to all that have replied offering advice, much appreciated.

I spoke to the solicitor today about the length of the hire and he said he'd contact Enterprise regarding that.

I then asked what would be the outcome if the courts decided I did have the means to afford the hire car myself and he basically said if that was the case they wouldn't pursue that avenue through court, and that as I had a credit card with a zero balance on it, I shouldn't bother sending the rest of my finance details as that would probably be the case.

He also pretty much repeated what SuperVillain has said in that once in the hands of solicitors it usually comes to an agreement and hardly goes to court.

Fingers crossed this is the last I hear of it.

Good stuff, hopefully they'll sort it out themselves with the Defendant's Insurers/Solicitors.

If anything else crops up just post back on here, but ultimately, as long as you cooperate with Enterprise's solicitors you should have no issues.