What will happen if I don’t attend?

[Happy988]

I was in a car accident almost 2 years ago. My insurance put it down as no fault and then I was paid out the value of my car. As my car was written off my insurance put me in touch with legal company who offered a private hire vehicle till I was paid out

Third party are disputing the hire car costs. For months now I have been sending the solicitors evidence, forms, etc.

They want me to attend court and give evidence. I have anxiety and don’t do well with crowds, new people and speaking to a group. I’m a single parent and have no childcare to get there . Really panicking about this. The solicitors asked the court if the hearing could be made online but they have only just made the decision this morning that I need to attend in person. They said my medical evidence of anxiety isn’t enough to warrant it being made online.

The court they want me to attend is a 60 mile round trip from where I live. I have a no vehicle currently as it’s in for repair, I have no funds for taxis for a journey that long, no childcare available. I just don’t know what to do. what happens if I don’t attend? Will I be liable for the costs? I feel as though im going to have some kind of panic attack about this

You have to go. All the best.

Seriously. In the very very unlikely event the court is near to you, who in their right mind would leave the child with a random stranger from the internet.

Let’s hope your offer came from a kind (but odd) place, but surely you can see that it’s clear that such a offer indicates the person making the offer has absolutely no idea about safeguarding.

Most sensible parents would be extremely wary about leaving their child with anyone who wasn’t known and trusted. And should certainly be dubious if that person was offering to help out when you are in a crisis or swearing at anonymous strangers on a parenting site.

Agree it’s a VERY odd post. Who in their right mind would leave their toddler with a complete stranger … a one who has created this lovely vision of cute caring grandma who also happens to have worked in the field this scenario is about? Looks far too convenient imo.

And the 'don't be so fucking rude response' is also .

I'd have thought'oh yes, I can see why that might be a crazy plan on reflection'.

Personally I’d be very wary about leaving my children even with their grandparent if they had so little knowledge about keeping children safe and resorts so easily to swearing.

Sweet old granny, my arse! 😱

Hi everyone

Thanks for your comments. I’m back

Luckily found somebody I know to have my daughter at the last minute which I’m grateful for. Got there with lots of stress trying to navigate round the town centre. The court hearing location then changed again 40 minutes before the hearing. To one called justice centre. Which was still central but a different part of the town centre.

Got 20 minutes briefing and went in. The defendants barrister wanted the judge to strike the case out but the judge said it still had to go to trial

Both barristers asked the judge if they could leave the room and have a ten minute talk which she agreed. They came to an agreement to settle on 8K and leave it as that, so no need for a trial or for me to give evidence. So I was only there for about half an hour and didn’t have to say anything at all

According to the barrister who was with me, this offer of 8K was produced in January. But they just agreed today to accept the offer

God what an absolute waste of your time. I'm glad you went though. Thanks for the update

I was a witness at a small claims case and was able to claim expenses, so get your claim in for those

Well done. You complied with the requirement to assist and now you can draw a line under it.

Did they explain things any better in the 20 minute briefing they gave you?

Glad you were able to make it. But what a waste of your time, and the stress you were caused.
Well done OP, you should feel proud about over-coming your anxiety to get there.

Thank you

Yes, basically the third party was disputing liability but due to there being no witness statement and the only statement being from the boss of the company, who wasn’t there at the time of accident. They basically said it was a load of nonsense really and that side of things had been dropped. Also due to where the damage was on my car and evidence of that, it didn’t fit with what version of events he was giving. So that was all sorted

Then regarding the hire car it was the amount that the third party were disputing as they’d said it was too high. I’d already sent my bank statements in which they’d seen, showing I couldn’t afford to fund my own hire car and all evidence I had of correspondence with the hire company and trying to return it early. They just wanted me to give evidence of what I needed the hire car for etc

I think they were hoping the judge would strike it out, but as she didn’t so they then came to their settlement agreement

Great outcome! We'll come for getting there - changing the venue for the second time with less than an hour to go is insane!

I am sorry you were put through all of that. The whole set up of the insurance, claims management and solicitors seems like a money making racket designed to make money for the hire car companies and the lawyers, paid for by insurance premiums. One month rental on Enterprise website today is £800. If repairs / assessment takes longer than that.... that is down to the inefficiency of the garage / insurance company. It is insane that car rental costs should be £12k or £8k and the charade that you were put through to justify this insane claim is unjustifiable.. not to mention a complete waste of court time. When will someone expose this nonsense?

I agree. It’s very sharp practice the way that the insurers don’t explain properly and many people think that they are still dealing with the insurer rather than the Credit Hire Company. I wonder if Which? would be interested in investigating?

Glad you got through it and it’s all sorted @Happy988

FWW for those of you complaining about sharp practices - this has nothing to do with the insurance company. If your policy doesn’t cover you for car hire - please check if it does- then in a contested claim the insurer will refer you to their solicitors to recover your uninsured losses (eg lost wages, injury compensation etc) If you decide to hire a car while yours is off the road the car hire is entirely independent of your car insurance. However, it’s one of your expenses from the accident, that’s why it’s included as part of the claim. Ultimately, the contract ( agreement)
for car hire is between you and the car hire company. You have to pay the hire charges under the terms of the contract. The hire company gives you the car on credit, while the claim is dealt with. Once that’s happened , you have to repay them. Of course, what happens in reality is that the other party’s insurers pay them and they write off the balance (as in @Happy988 ‘s case)
It comes back to the same old things; ‘ no one gives you anything for free’ and ‘ don’t sign anything without knowing what you’re signing’.
It makes me so cross that people still get the run around from insurers/consumer finance! I so wish that there was a compulsory course for day 17-year-olds on basic life admin and beating bureaucracy bullies! In the meantime, there’s Martin Lewis and Mumsnet..

@Allthegoodusernamesweretaken you misunderstand me. I was saying that the insurers are at fault because they pass claims on to these companies without making it clear that they, the insurers, are not involved going forward. It’s confusing to a consumer who doesn’t understand the distinction and don’t think the insurers are doing enough to explain.

Glad it’s all sorted

I agree with you. I had an accident last year and I was immediately offered a hire car even though there was nothing actually wrong with my car. It was just cosmetic damage but I would have ended up with a hire care for two months if I'd said yes.

I felt really pressured to get this hire car and I was confused that nobody seemed intimidated in getting my own car fixed.

insurers are at fault because they pass claims on to these companies without making it clear that they, the insurers, are not involved going forward. It’s confusing to a consumer who doesn’t understand the distinction and don’t think the insurers are doing enough to explain

This is absolutely what happened to me. I genuinely thought I was being transferred to my insurance companies claims dept. Actually it was a claims management company that presumably pays the insurance company kick backs. I don't remember what wording they used but I have courtesy car on my insurance and thought THAT was what I was getting.
When I got the paperwork I absolutely shouldn't have signed it but I called the number on it and was told "it's fine the 3rd party will pay as your car was parked at the time.of the accident - ony.bloody driveway!!! and there is a witness"
Obviously I wish I hadn't signed. The whole entire thing was a big scam. They wouldn't give my car back for 4 months. And I couldn't really collect it because I didn't even know where it was being held. They had delivered their car to me on the back of one of those transporter truck things and then loaded mine onto that and bloody drove it away.
They never even fixed it in the end. I managed to get it fixed within a week of having it back.
And the bill is £18,000. Wankers.

Strictly speaking, the insurers don’t pass on the claims. There’s no financial benefit or incentive for them to do that. Arguments about car hire claims are and have been for many years a major delaying factor in getting cases settled or to a final hearing: particularly in cases at the lower end of the tariff - those without any injury for example. But, while drivers want replacement vehicles but don’t want to pay more on their insurance to cover the cost, this is what we’ve got.

What insurers do have are reciprocal arrangements with car hire companies to get preferential (cheaper) rates for their insured drivers, on a line of credit. If you go into Expedia, Hertz or any other car hire firm you’ll be given a range of hire rates. Those rates will vary by reference to the period of hire and your status as a hiree. So, an individual wanting a car for a day will be charged a higher daily rate then a weekly rate, and a higher rate than someone who is insured with eg Aviva that puts £££ of business introductions their way. Also, you get a line of credit so you don’t have to pay for the car until the case ends. Most people couldn’t or wouldn’t pay out for more than a week or two at most. This way you’re able to carry on driving with minimal disruption.
Bottom line:
You are an adult. It’s your choice. If you chose to sign a document without questioning (or caring about) it’s implications because you just want the damn car already) that’s on you.

the hire company will pursue you for the cost of hire. Just find a way, and turn up. It won’t be as bad as you think, and a hell of a lot less stressful than if you don’t turn up.

The insurers don’t explain this properly though. Do you work for one?

There’s always one. Just read the recent posts on the thread, the hearing has already happened!

I’m truly sorry you had such a nightmare but I don’t understand why you signed documents that you had misgivings about without checking what they were or even that they came from or were authorised by your insurers.