Car hire not paid by other side - do I have to provide my bank statements

[Casehelp]

We had a car accident about three years ago. We were not at fault.

We were informed we could have a hire car (paid for by insurers of the other car) whilst our car was being fixed. We are a family of six and our car was an 8 seater. I explained that whilst we didn’t need an 8 seater, we did need a 6 seater on hire. This was agreed.

We went to car hire company and they gave us a nine seater. I recall at the time saying we didn’t need one that big but it was the only 6 plus seater one they had.

The car hire was longer than anticipated due to car part delays. We also had the car hire about 36 hours after our car was returned (logistics of us not knowing when car was ready and work commitments - we explained to both our insurer and car hire place and told it won’t be a problem).

Sometime later, the other side hadn’t paid the car hire bill and legal action was begun.

I must have spoken to about 3/4 different fee earners in this matter. They’ve lost documents and gone quiet for so many They told me initially that it was probably because someone on other side forgot to pay. Now it’s escalated to this. (It seems other side don’t agree with the car hire amounts.)

Now I’m being told that if I don’t supply my bank statements I’d be seen as not compliant and then held responsible for the costs of hire (thousands of pounds).

They’ve quoted a case about a footballer who had a car hire following an accident but who could have paid out of pocket.

I’m not a footballer. We have hideous finances with debt and I don’t really want my bank statement being made a matter if public record on a Court document. I’ve told the solicitors this.

Theyve told me if I don’t cooperate I will be found liable for the costs of hire.

I am quoted as claimant on the court paper, but I’ve never received any advice from them other than them telling me about the need for me to provide my bank statements. They’ve taken statements from me a lot (kept losing them) oh and also have me down as driver when I wasn’t - my husband was. The policy was in my name, at in his. He was named driver.

Im really stressed about providing my bank statements and them being available for anyone to see.

Do I have an alternative?

The whole thing is bothering me a lot added to a lot of current unrelated issues that are causing me great stress (caring part time, out of the blue, for both parents whilst holding down a full time job).

I asked this legal firm (who I assume have been retained by the car hire place) if I should take legal advice and their response was if I want to.

Would appreciate any advice please.

Your own insurers should be handling all of this properly. Maybe should go back to your claim handler and ask them to explain the hire process and conditions in writing. Surely they should be dealing with the hire company.

This happened to me too, insurers arguing over car hire costs. My compromise was to provide bank statements, but I blanked out the names against the items and just left the monetary figures. I was not being judged on what I'd spent money on.

It did upset me having to do it and it felt very personal.

Just like you, I'd used a facility offered to me in my insurance terms and conditions, one that I'd paid extra to have, and then get threatened with being taken to court for using it!

After submitting the bank statements it all went quiet again and then eventually got a letter to say it had been settled.

Nobody at court will give a monkey about your spending. Blank out the names or the amounts other than what is relevant.
youre overthinking this.

My concern isn’t about what the court thinks, my concern is that the document will be a matter of public record as part of a court case.

I mentioned that to the fee earner and she said that’s just the way it is.

My name is on the case, so anyone can see how much debt we are in (as in overdraft).

Also, she said they’d need to see the whole document as I could be blanking out important info.

Thank you. I will ask fee earner again.

I did wonder if my insurer could advise. I might give them a ring. I know when I renewed last year I asked about the case and they put me through to claim handlers who said they had no details to give me. I might try again.

It is worth a try. After all you pay them a fortune. You shouldn't have to then handle your own claim.

You do need legal advice if the hire company are going to sue you for the unpaid fees.

You need to go back to your insurance company as they are your big big dog in this fight.

You need to speak with the person who was in charge of your file and find out how the hire contract works. If your insurance company organised the hire its they who should be sued by the hire company. If it them why did the other insurance company not pay up and your Insurance company not pay their hire contract.

They have a contractual obligation to pay the hire firm if the other side do not. They should have been the actual hire party not you but i will guess that you signed something at pickup which also made you personally liable.

When you say fee earner you mean someone acting on behalf of the hire car company?

What are they trying to prove?
That you have not paid the hire company?
Or is it something else?

If you paid anything you can try go with the individual transaction which you can either get by drilling down on your online system or ask in branch for copies.

You should write to whoever is threathening to sue you and ask them for all the data they have on file for you and why they are looking to obtain additional personal data.

They need to prove that you could both have afforded to hire a car yourselves. This is to justify the huge hire car invoice, most of which was because it was a credit hire car.
In your shoes, I would provide the statements but redact anything that you don't want them to see, just the amounts.
Credit hire is an absolute game. The other insurers want to see how far your lot will push it.

Both=not

Your insurance should have settled it and then re-claimed from the other party. Surely you can redact your bank statement to just show the relevant transactions. I did this when I was asked to show some specific transactions to a financial institution.

When was the last time you trawled through court records to see if anyone you knew were in debt?

You have been provided with a credit hire vehicle. You really should have read the terms & conditions before you signed.

The footballer you refer to was Darren Bent who was provided with a vehicle on credit hire despite earning a substantial wage. The insurers stated that he was wealthy and therefore had no need to obtain hire on a credit basis. The daily rate for credit hire vehicles are substantially higher than Basic Hire Rates.

The third party insurers are trying to establish if you had a need to obtain a vehicle on credit hire or could you afford to hire one at a much lesser cost and then reclaim the money.

As far as I'm aware a credit hire company have never insisted that the hirer reimburse their claim if you become uncooperative. This would be extremely harmful to their business model if word got out The worst that will probably happen is that they will accept the insurers offer.

If its this and only this you need to go back to your insurance company and inform them there is still an unresolved problem to get them to resolve the outstanding claim from the accident.

Handing over your bank statements won't make them public documents. No-one will see them unless they are placed before the court and referred to in a public hearing. Even then, anyone not involved in the case who wants to see them will first have to apply to the courts for access, explaining why they want your bank statements and how allowing them to see your bank statements will advance open justice. Given that this would clearly compromise your privacy, I would expect permission to be refused.