credit car hire URGENT

[MySereneGreyBear]

Hi, so I had an accident on 7th May. Phoned my insurance, other party has admitted fault and this is confirmed by my insurance company, 1st central. I have an email that confirms it.It's been an absolute nightmare, I was passed onto a credit hire car company (enterprise). I was due to go to an appointment today but after reading horror stories I rang and cancelled as I didn't realize I could potentially end up in court or be liable for the cost if the 3rd party refuses to pay the fees. I am entitled to a courtesy car on my policy so I don't understand why this has been pushed on me and I'm now going to have to faff around on the phone again Monday to see if the garage that's apparently fixing my car on the 3rd of June (nearly a month after the accident) and even then it might be a write off, can give me a courtesy car (if it is fixable).I was told I wouldn't need to pay the excess but now I'm worried they will expect it off me as I dont want to use the credit mamagent company. I wouldnt mind, the enterprise guy over the phone lied and said this car they were giving me was a courtesy car until I said well, actually it's not it's a credit agreement and I don't want that potentially back firing on me and then the cheeky shit said it would go against you if we're lieing about the accident!Has anyone got experience with anything like this or advice? And has anyone dealt with 1st central as this is taking the piss the length of time it's taking just to get my car into a garage. Oh and I'm expected to drop the car off at the garage despite being told I wasn't allowed to drive it 😡.. surely if they give me a courtesy car they should take mine away.

My uncle had this happen to him. He thought it was just a courtesy car as listed on his very reputable insurance policy. They offered a brand new car like for like for his own expensive one, which he accepted, and the forms were reams long and he has dyslexia but trusted his insurance company. The insurance company spun out the claim for months, were never available to speak to, ignored his emails, and then the 3rd party refused to pay. He was directly billed for tens of thousands. They have finally said, after months of arguing these fees, that they will drop it, and we've yet to see if they definitely will. I would like to see this sort of practice made illegal.

Yes it is!

I’d contact them now, they should be able to pull up all the details and see it’s going to be their liability.

Last year I had someone drive into the side of me, my insurance were a pain in the backside, so when I got a text from there’s 48 hours later I called back, and honestly it was incredible. The service was what I’d expected from mine, but that’s because their insurance obviously wanted to keep me sweet and minimise costs, so we all won.

Apart from the “claim management” company my insurance had surreptitiously handed me over to, they didn’t get to make a profit on this.

I have sent them an email to prompt them. So I'll phone them when they're open on tomorrow to see what they have to say. How quickly did they sort a car out and was it a quick repair? My door panel has come away from the window, dented across the right side on both doors with scratches and the mirror casing come off too. But so I far I just feel like mine are taking the piss, especially expecting me to do all the running around with a damaged car to a damage when I've got a 17 month old too that was also involved in the accident!

Definitely worth contacting them. I did this and repair was arranged swiftly with no hassle to me at all. If they've admitted liability they will want to sort it out with you quickly

I used to work in insurance and you were only entitled to a courtesy car if your car was being repaired by one of our recommended repairers following an accident so as you're unsure if your car is repairable you may not be entitled to one.

However, they'll have T&C with regards to timescales etc. I can't remember ours exactly, but it was something like a decision made within 5 working days of the accident etc. I'd just fight for a courtesy car if you're entitled to one or a quicker turn around re if it's being fixed.

You may also have opted for additional cover via your insurance cover which gives you a car in the event of a write off.

I would try it. The person who rear ended me was driving a company car which was badly damaged. They were very helpful. I actually think probably more so because it was under fleet vehicle insurance, as opposed to a personal policy. There was no impact on my insurance at renewal etc.

You can keep the claim for repairs going through your insurance and ask his insurance if they'd rather pay for you to have a hire car arranged by them.

If they say no, tell your insurance you don't want a credit hire car and ask them to arrange a courtesy car or a non credit hire vehicle also through Enterprise.

They have actuat said the quotes been accepted for repairs but that's based off photos I've sent them, not an inspection of the vehicle. I am aware though it's only while it's in for repair, which I'm fine with. Tbh, I think I'm going to contact the third parties insurers.

I'll check the if I'm entitled to it but I don't think I am if it's a write off in the end.

The annoying thing is my car insurance runs out 5th June and I need to clarify whether it's just this years bonus affected or all 4 years that see affected!

I used to deal with credit hire claims (recovery of costs from third party insurers).
Whilst in theory the customer (ie you) can be liable for the charges it never worked like that in reality, however the customer did have to assist us throughout the legal process which was potentially quite intrusive and involved financial questions, witness statements, sending bank statements and occasionally appearance at court.
I haven't worked in that specialism for years though so unfortunately don't have up to date knowledge of the current process.
If you can get a courtesy car over a hire car I would do that.

I get you op - this behaviour is an absolute scandal. I refused to use a claims management company and went direct to the other guys insurance as the ones repairing my car wanted to keep it for a whole 2 weeks - it was just superficial damage to the bodywork. The other insures me company agreed to give me £600 in lieu of a hire car ( I could manage without) and I sourced my own repairer and their insurance paid him direct. Much less hassle all round.

That's exactly what I can't be bothered with having to give intrusive information when it all could be sorted and alternative way. Ive emailed the 3rd party insurer with all the Info and hopefully they'll phone me back tomorrow if they don't I will contact them to see what they have to say.

So they gave you a 600 pound payment to hire your own car if you needed it? I'm hoping they'll offer me something because so far it's been diabolical with my own insurance! Seeing as hes already admitted liability I might as well go through his insurance and see what they offer

Yes it doesn't always come to that, but it potentially can do, and personally I hated causing stress to people. I'm not the kind of cut throat person to just be like "Well you signed the paperwork therefore you need to do all this". Which is why I couldnt stand working in that environment.

Yeah especially when they weren't at fault I can imagine. All I want is a small car to use while mines off the road and the car sorting or writing off whatever the outcome, I don't really care I just want it sorting and not at my expense!

See my new BMW 3 series was at boned by an elderly driver. Completely her fault and the insurance company agreed. I had an Audi RS5 delivered to my door, all paid for, which I had for 2 months which her company covered and I didn't pay a thing?

I don't understand..

Well done OP on being smarter than I was. When someone went into me, my insurer
merrily directed me to a credit hire company. They make it all
sound so straightforward, I had a nagging doubt but went along with it. The whole process was so stressful and intrusive ,
I had to share all of my
bank statements. It ended with me
giving evidence in county court. The judge found against the credit hire company. I have been terrified ever since that I’ll get a huge bill, despite reassurance that they will
write the loss off. It’s all a huge scam for which we all
pay for through our premiums. I found out my insurance company also own the credit hire company. The whole thing should be outlawed,
it’s a disgrace.

I think most are probably fine but there's still a portion that can go wrong and end up in court and I'm not willing to take that chance at the pace these snails are going at to actually remove my car and get it into a garage!

I can understand why your terrified though, I've been in debt before and it's horrible, so I don't want to set myself up for that potentially. I'm glad I've looked it up though, put it that way! They should be illegal, what's the point in insurance otherwise if you could end up paying more and be out of pocket even when it's not your faul!?

Each individual case is different.
Sometimes the third party provides the car, sometimes the customer insurance provides it and then there's arguing behind the scenes about how much it costs.
You're entitled to a like for like vehicle as long as it doesn't get excessive (someone who had a Fiat getting a Jaguar for example) and even though not your fault you have a duty of care to keep costs to a reasonable minimum.

My insurance company were all about the replacement vehicle and did not give a hoot about getting my car repaired. Every time I asked them about it they kept saying ‘let’s not worry about that at the moment, it’s important that we get you into a car first’ Theybwere trying to up the spec of the car and the whole thing just felt shifty.

The man who went into me was just an ordinary bloke. He admitted fault at the scene and we swapped numbers and he sent me a couple of texts through the process. It was an accident, I did not feel comfortable with driving round for months in some massive expensive car and his insurance company paying for it. It felt dodgy. Why was nobody interested in fixing my car?

When I cancelled the courtesy car, they were pissed off. Then they got a lawyer to ring me to ask why and to see if I had whiplash. I just wanted my car fixed! It was the weird pushy behaviour that made me feel like something was amiss and since then I’ve heard of people ending up in court because they have had these expensive vehicles for months on end so I feel like I was right to be distrustful.

Yes they gave me the money if I waived my right to a hire car. I could use the money however I wanted and as I didn’t need a car I used it for other things.

This is exactly how it seems to be going for me now.🙄 I was automatically put through to an injury claim solicitors even though I said I've had minor aches and pains, haven't needed any doctor or hospitals involved. They then have proceeded to get booking me physio without me agreeing or signing anything so had to fuck around while I was at center parcs phoning them basically to say shove your claim.
I then phoned enterprise to shove there car on Saturday just gone, I'm going to make a note of the date and time I've cancelled all appointments and claims tbh as I don't trust them. I'm still getting texts off carpenters solicitors despite them saying it was cancelled and I'd receive a confirmation on email.

My minds made up, I'm going to phone up Allianz tomorrow the 3rd party I can't be going with all this dodgy behaviour and greed!

Update phoned Allianz i have a car arranged for Saturday morning at enterprise (same one that wanted to make money off them and me) quite hilarious really. And now I'm just waiting for their garage to contact me..once I've confirmed the repair and pick up of my vehicle I'll be phoning mine to cancel the claim entirely. Cheeky sods, as easy as that.

That’s great, going through the other parties insurance means they know about all the costs. Wish I’d done that.