Car hire claim - charged but not my fault

[GreenestValley]

Posting for traffic...

I hired a car in September for a weeks holiday. On the last day, as I was taking it back to the car rental place, someone went into the back of me at a roundabout. She was looking at her phone - totally her fault, she took full responsibility.

At the car hire place they said they'd process the claim but needed to keep my deposit (£1200) until money had been retrieved from her insurers. That was frustrating as it was as I was completely faultless. But it still has not been returned to me - 3 months later.

I'm trying to figure out if there is an ombudsman or someone I can complain to. Surely it shouldn't take this long for something so simple, where there was no dispute about responsibility? It was a reputable firm.

Does anyone have any experience or advice?

September was only 2 months ago, not 3?

That doesn’t seem unreasonable for insurance to go through, but have you tried chasing the car hire place to chase their insurers?

Yes, I've been in touch with them a couple of times. They say it's still being processed. It just seems mad to me that I personally am caused to be this out of pocket, months later, when there was never any argument about who was responsible.

What was the excess on your rental policy?

Unfortunately that's the way it works and that's why you pay the deposit. The car company doesn't want to be out of pocket either.

Has the insurance company processed the claim yet? Car company won't process until the insurance company has.

Someone went int the back of me in early Feb 2019- only paid out by their insurer this week

Be prepared for a long wait.

check the terms and conditions you signed up for and see if there is any way to hurry them along. They cant keep your money forever, maybe ask them what timescales you are looking at and if you think it is unreasonable speak to the CAB.

They are retaining the deposit in case the other driver's insurance doesn't pay out. There are plenty of reasons that could happen. She was late with the premium; or has invalidated the terms of her policy.