Misled by credit hire company after accident, told I may be taken to court for 35K!!

[kitkatnatnat]

I was in a bad car accident in December (definitely not at fault, I was hit while stationary and fault is not disputed). The scene was a mess, all emergency services there and I was told by police I need to let my insurers know then and there. I googled my insurer and called the claims number that came up straight away. In my shell shock I had no idea I had called a paid-for advert number for an accident management company.
They put me onto a credit hire company - I still thought this was my insurer and thought it odd they were so focused on arranging a courtesy car when I’m still standing in the middle of the crash scene but I had no idea what was going on so was led by them.
They gave me a car the next day and due to the unbelievably lengthy process of them getting my money for my written off car to me I ended up with the ‘courtesy car’ for 3 months.
Here’s the kicker…. They billed me for £35,000 for having the car that amount of time!! They sent me forms telling me to sign and it’s all ok they will get their money from the other drivers insurance. I questioned it so many times but was told this is what always happens don’t worry etc etc. but for them to claim the hire charges back I HAVE to sign.
They called last week to say the other insurers have not it paid yet, so they have instructed their solicitors on my behalf and this may now all go to court although they want to avoid that and will take an offer if the other insurers make one.
I’m now scared stiff that if the other insurers play hard ball due to the frankly ridiculous overinflated amount the credit hire company have charged then they will come after me for it as I have been pressured into signing for liability for those charges.
Also, they are pressuring me to make a personal injury claim with them as I still have injuries and am having physio through occupational health at work. I don’t want to do a PI claim yet and certainly not with these solicitors who work for the credit hire company as I don’t trust them. Yet they say I can’t make a PI claim if I don’t do it now as you can’t claim for the same accident twice? I thought a PI claim would be completely separate from their car hire claim?
If anyone has any advice please let me know. My main concerns are

1. Will I be pursued for the 35k and if so will I need to get my own solicitor to fight my case against the credit hire company?
2. Is it correct that if I don’t make a PI claim now along with the car hire charges then I will never be able to make one?

Thank you if you’ve made it this far!

if you were injured and treated at the scene an argument could be that you did not have capacity to sign anything.

There are some companies that do 0%. You need to look around. Re the hire car, the max daily GTA rate appears to £104.00 per day so looks like lots of ad ons to get your bill to £35k even allowing for the whole of December 2022 given we don’t know your accident date. What daily rate were you charged?

So are the other parties insurance not covering the cost of your hire car despite their driver being at fault
what is the name of the accident management company you went through it sounds similar to a company I used to work for just as a receptionist so nothing to do with the hire or claims

@Alfiemoon1 As far as I'm aware the third party insurers haven't outright refused to pay yet. I don't think they have responded at all which is why solicitors were put in touch with me as they're going to start pressing them to make an offer.

I've been informed that the solicitors are owned by the same people that own the accident company, all seems very convenient.

I don't see how the TP insurer can refuse to pay the charges when their client admitted to police he was completely at fault.
However it sounds like they are likely to demand my bank statements etc to prove that I did not have loads of money to just go and buy another car (which isn't a prob as I definitely didn't!). Its really stressful though thinking that I'm going to have to possibly go to court to prove that I needed a car.

Hi OP. I fell for this scam as well. My insurers Admiral referred me to Auxillis following a minor RTC in 2020 that wasn't my fault.
My costs are a lot lower than yours but I am now having to go to court this week and am absolutely bricking it. I wish I could go back in time as I would never ever have gone to Auxillis. I have had nearly 3 years of toing and froing and stressing over this. I am scared stiff that if the court doesn't go in mi favour I will end up being asked to pay for all the costs. I am so annoyed that Admiral advised me to go to Auxiilis. It all sounded too good to be true.

Oh, this could be me! Rear ended last year, admiral fully comp insurance, put me in touch with Auxilis. Now I'm having to take the 3rd party to court for the money. Sounds like I'm just a few months behind you in the process 🤨.

My own fault for not researching the implications of a credit hire agreement, but then again, I had just been rear ended, potential car write off, head wasn't in a place to think [shrug]

Have you thought about contacting a national newspaper help page. It seems someone above has had this happen, there may be others. Sometimes this route gets answers you wouldn't.

Here is one.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/series/yourproblems

@WrongBabyHat Thank you for that, I’ve just added my insurance details to my phone. Such good advice

I'll keep you posted @NordVeg . I'm so cross with myself for not reading up on it too. I foolishly thought that Admiral were acting in my best interests.

@ThePoshUns @NordVeg Christ two to three years?!! I had a feeling this wouldn't be quick but still.... it's almost broken me already I've had to see the GP for the anxiety it's caused and I'm quite a laid back person usually.
I found someone through a link on CAB website, he is a solicitor who deals with this sort of thing and he gave me some advice.... if it helps he said these companies don't usually start coming after members of the public like us as it would be bad for business. They just want to rinse as much as they can get from the third party insurers. I can't believe they get away with this, although it's technically legal it's morally wrong taking advantage of people when they are in shock and not thinking straight. I can't imagine any judge in their right mind would take their side over yours.
Good luck to you both, please come back with an update on how you get on.

@ThePoshUns sorry can I just ask as well, have you been advised that you will need to speak in court to prove you needed a hire car etc or do you just need to be present as the charges are in your name? Fingers crossed the other insurance just pays the fees. I've been told that if they settle (even if it's for less than billed) then that's the end of it. Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks, hope your Court appearance is ok. Do you have to attend in person?

Yes I have to go although a barrister has been arranged for me

I don't see how the TP insurer can refuse to pay the charges when their client admitted to police he was completely at fault.

You are obliged to keep your losses to a minimum after a car accident. For example, if you drive a very expensive car and you need to hire one after a crash, you should hire the cheapest one which meets your needs, not the same model just because that is what you usually drive. If they think you haven't done your best to keep your losses down, they can defend on the basis of quantum (amount) rather than liability.

I'm no expert on accident or personal injury law but hopefully someone will come along to answer that part of your question.

It sounds as though it would be a really terrible idea to let them have your personal injury work. Go to a company that you trust when you are ready, because that is another big and intimidating process to go through and you need people on your side.

Otherwise they are scammers who play highball to get their 'fees' settled. That's their choice. You need to resist the pressure I'm afraid and get as much external advice as possible. It will help you to sort the pressure tactics from any process under way, while you explore the capacity and other legal questions.

I feel for you, this kind of thing feels so frightening.

@kitkitkatnatnat Rip Off Britain looks to have an article on a similar situation to your this morning (15/05/23 bbc1).

Might be worth a watch!

I'll def give that a watch, thanks!

OP- I would speak to your insurance and see if they can deal with the personal injury side of things. I definitely wouldn't use the accident management company- they clearly set up their ad etc to con you in to thinking they were your insurance company so I'd not trust them to be truthful about anything else.

I'd also definitely try to get your own legal advice through your house insurance etc- it sounds like if the other party's insurance won't pay up you may need to claim against the accident management company.

Quite a few years ago we were on the other side of this. DH hit our neighhbour's car on our shared driveway. He was going very slowly but as it was quite an old car the damage to the bodywork meant it was a write off. Neighbour took it to a local garage who put them on to a credit hire car place and told them not to worry as everything would be covered by our insurance. At one point they joked with us that we'd done them a favour as they were getting a lovely top of the range car to drive instead of their knackered old one. The insurance paid up for the written off car very quickly but neighbour was still driving the hire car for months, whilst they were 'looking for the right car'. They send us a solicitor's letter (clearly written by someone connected to the hire company) trying to claim thousands from us personally for the car as our insurance company wouldn't pay. Our insurance dealt with this too and I believe the neighbour ended up having to pay quite a lot. They were not happy as the hire company had assured them that this was all standard, no need to hurry finding a car, insurance will pay for everything etc.

Yes , I came on to say this , the lady had to go to court but won in the end.

Thanks Will try and find on catch up

Marking my place

You aren't alone....

It is correct that you have to bring all the claims at the same time if proceedings are issued so if you go to other lawyers they will have to liaise with the credit hire people and include their claim. Do not sign anything to settle the claim without. Having your PI included. Who are the solicitors acting for the claims hire people as if they are decent APIL members there should be nothing wrong with using them. What are your injuries and how documented are they? If they are regular run of the mill injuries - eg whiplash with no loss of earnings then It’s standard work for most loss grade PI lawyers. If it was say, a torn brachial plexus, severe aggravation of pre existing degeneration in vertebra (with loss of earnings) or a broken coccyx etc then you need a decent PI lawyer. Has liability been admitted by the other side for the accident and will it just be quantum in dispute? It looks like nowadays credit hire costs are being increased to recover legal fees - not sure what the rate is for fixed legal fees these days but I’m wondering if that comes into it. If there is no dispute on liability eg rear shunt, there will be some deal done re credit hire - don’t worry.

Hi all
My case is slightly different in that
The company isn't registered to do claims mgmt
There seem to be 3 contracts in one.
One for claims mgt, ( not registered)one for storage ( no valid contact details therefore can't be cancelled therefore not enforceable?) and one for car hire ( I have cancelled within 14 days)

My current issue is that they won't return my car and respond to me

Anyone got any advice in my case please? (Sorry to hijack)

Cheeky bump

my hairdresser got involved in something like this..eventually she told them all go get stuffed, didnt pay a thing and got her car back all repaired and all costs for hire car cancelled....they try it on, be tough and tell them to shove it up their arse....hairdresser did and never heard again.