Accident

[kenbro]

Hi,
Yesterday a Range Rover revered into my wifey’s car while she was stopped waiting for a parking place at an hospital.
Wifey reported incident to her insurance company and since then she’s been receiving emails and phone calls from an intermediary company who want to provide a car for her use while hers is being repaired. They’re referring to this car as a Credit Hire Vehicle.
As she has comprehensive insurance I thought it would just be a matter of taking her car to an approved repairer and no intermediary company needed.
That’s how I remember things back in the day.
Is this the norm now?
Ken.

 

[ColinJ]

Had exactly the same after a motorcycle accident. Free to you but ultimately it has to be paid for by the insurance companies, so inevitably premiums will go up. It is the norm.

 

[enfieldspares]

Hi,
Yesterday a Range Rover revered into my wifey’s car while she was stopped waiting for a parking place at an hospital.
Wifey reported incident to her insurance company and since then she’s been receiving emails and phone calls from an intermediary company who want to provide a car for her use while hers is being repaired. They’re referring to this car as a Credit Hire Vehicle.
As she has comprehensive insurance I thought it would just be a matter of taking her car to an approved repairer and no intermediary company needed.
That’s how I remember things back in the day.
Is this the norm now?
Ken.

Contact the people who provided her policy and ask as sometimes you may find that these costs will then not be covered but are extra.

 

[HonestJohn]

did the other party take full responsibility and was this documented at the time?

Call your insurance, give them the full details of the other parties insurance and name, evidence they’ve taken full responsibility etc. your insurance company will then have your car booked in at a location they see fit for a quote and repairs; that location should give you a courtesy car.

If the cost of repair is 30% of cars valued it will likely be written off. Even a bumper and light housing replacement can cause this on a £15k car these days

 

[Donkey Basher]

For ‘repair cost’ include cost of the hire car plus cost for storage of your car while waiting to be repaired…

 

[kenbro]

Contact the people who provided her policy and ask as sometimes you may find that these costs will then not be covered but are extra.

Wifey didn’t tick the box for a like for like courtesy car but the do provide a small runabout at no cost. However they have told her she will have to pay the voluntary excess (300) plus compulsory 100£.
Thanks, Ken.

 

[kenbro]

did the other party take full responsibility and was this documented at the time?

Call your insurance, give them the full details of the other parties insurance and name, evidence they’ve taken full responsibility etc. your insurance company will then have your car booked in at a location they see fit for a quote and repairs; that location should give you a courtesy car.

If the cost of repair is 30% of cars valued it will likely be written off. Even a bumper and light housing replacement can cause this on a £15k car these days

‘Twas a lady driver (Nice Landy, 5 ltr x 174 mph Jobby) and she apologised, it’s also on Hospital’s cctv, so no problems there.
It doesn’t seem to be going as simple as you suggest (I agree) it should.
Thanks, Ken.

 

[Rake Aboot]

They just want to make thousands from hire car fees .

 

[TringSaint]

Had exactly the same after a motorcycle accident. Free to you but ultimately it has to be paid for by the insurance companies, so inevitably premiums will go up. It is the norm.

And if the hire car costs are extortionate then the insurer might not cover it all, so you have to.
Be careful

 

[WW.]

How did the intermediary get the contact details... GDPR ?

 

[jb1]

Has the Hospital agreed to actually share footage ? I would make sure and if you can get it sent to your insurance company ASAP before it goes missing.

 

[mudman]

Just Parasites

 

[enfieldspares]

Wifey didn’t tick the box for a like for like courtesy car but the do provide a small runabout at no cost. However they have told her she will have to pay the voluntary excess (300) plus compulsory 100£.
Thanks, Ken.

The two sums of 300 + 100 are fully recoverable from the third party if the accident is adjudged as their fault and your insurance company should pursue this if you have "legal protection" with them but, regardless, it is fully recoverable from the third party if the accident is adjudged their fault. Again demand of them if they will assist you in recovering this 300 + 100. Also important going forward your wife will have to declare the accident but then can state it as "no fault with full recovery" or similar wording.

 

[hairlesshunter]

Hi Ken hope the Mrs is ok as it can be very traumatic whether your in the car or not

 

[Cyres]

If Claret dabbler is still a SDF member might be worth DM him.
D

 

[steve19]

I'd avoid this at all costs,. similar thing happened to my neighbour.

Had a no fault accident, and a car hire company contacted him to offer a courtesy car. He took it as he thought it was through his insurance.

Like yourself he had courtesy car cover on his insurance (not like for like) 4 weeks later his car comes back and he's landed with a bill for £1600.

His insurance won't cover it, other person insurance won't cover it, after doing some digging he found out it's happening more and more.

Have a Google search for credit hire insurance scam and you'll find loads of people getting stung by it.

 

[HonestJohn]

Only speak with your insurance company. It’s their job to sort the repair and a courtesy car for you, that’s what you pay them for. Should take one phone call only.

Who is your insurer?

 

[Liveonce]

Wife had a no fault accident, similar situation approached by some company offering a hire car, fortunately did not feel right, contacted her insurance and it was nothing to do with them or the other parties insurance. Went on to get a free courtesy car from the approved repairers. If in doubt check with your insurance company.

 

[Mungo]

I had this.

Person drove into my parked truck, immediately admitted liability. exchanged insurance details, claims made. All good. Truck had cosmetic damage, but safe and roadworthy.

My insurer phoned, gave me details of their local preferred garage. I contacted them, they gave me a slot in 3 weeks time.

Next day some third party company phoned up offering a courtesy car. I wasn’t quick enough to work out what was going on (was also in the middle of moving house). They used language that implied that i shouldn’t try to drive my truck because any damage that occurred between now and when it got fixed would mean I would have to cover all the repair costs myself. So I stupidly accepted.

Courtesy car dropped off next day. Fortunately, before I even got in it, the other person’s insurer phoned. Asked if I’d accepted a courtesy car. I said yes. They were polite but very firm: if it turns out your truck was drivable, we will not pay for the courtesy car. Can you confirm the condition of your truck?

I said ‘cosmetic damage but drivable’. She said: in which case, the moment you open the door of that courtesy car, the meter will start ticking, and it’ll all be on you. It will run to thousands, and you’ll end up having to get a lawyer involved at the end of it.

So I phoned the third party provider and asked them to take the courtesy car back. No resistance at all: promptly came and got it. The guy picking it up was very candid: ‘you dodged a bullet, mate…’

When I finally dropped my truck at the repair garage, they cheerfully provided a courtesy car for the week they had my truck, no bother.

Which is also how I know a Nissan Juke makes a terrible stalking vehicle…

 

[Tim.243]

I had this.

Person drove into my parked truck, immediately admitted liability. exchanged insurance details, claims made. All good. Truck had cosmetic damage, but safe and roadworthy.

My insurer phoned, gave me details of their local preferred garage. I contacted them, they gave me a slot in 3 weeks time.

Next day some third party company phoned up offering a courtesy car. I wasn’t quick enough to work out what was going on (was also in the middle of moving house). They used language that implied that i shouldn’t try to drive my truck because any damage that occurred between now and when it got fixed would mean I would have to cover all the repair costs myself. So I stupidly accepted.

Courtesy car dropped off next day. Fortunately, before I even got in it, the other person’s insurer phoned. Asked if I’d accepted a courtesy car. I said yes. They were polite but very firm: if it turns out your truck was drivable, we will not pay for the courtesy car. Can you confirm the condition of your truck?

I said ‘cosmetic damage but drivable’. She said: in which case, the moment you open the door of that courtesy car, the meter will start ticking, and it’ll all be on you. It will run to thousands, and you’ll end up having to get a lawyer involved at the end of it.

So I phoned the third party provider and asked them to take the courtesy car back. No resistance at all: promptly came and got it. The guy picking it up was very candid: ‘you dodged a bullet, mate…’

When I finally dropped my truck at the repair garage, they cheerfully provided a courtesy car for the week they had my truck, no bother.

Which is also how I know a Nissan Juke makes a terrible stalking vehicle…

Having been in the body shop crash repair side for a long time also private insurance work the inside knowledge you gain has saved a few people including myself from these sharks. Last one was @Overlay aka Phil, who was hit in the back tailgate (no contest on fault) with the company wanting to have it left for inspection as they said it could well be written OFF!
Yer they can duck off with that old chesnut Phil, explained to him how to go about it, As I explained to him "it is your car not theirs"
Sorted out the claim had it fixed with no lend "snake" car lol
My previous Ranger was hit buy a car pulling out of a drive (not his drive or his car but his trader sons car) as he was lost!
Long story but it took me 3 months to get to the bottom of it with advice from the insurance ombisium and a lot of digging,
Both David Smith one with a private insurance (same company I was with) the other a Trade insurance so I called the head of the department and laid it on the line as the next phone call was to the Police starting a fraud claim.
20mins later an assessor on the phone came a few days later after receiving the repair quote, wrote it off I brought it back for %10 of the value with the agreement I would have a new mot after they payed me out. No claims bonus was not affected and a letter to confirm that.

What I did was ask for all the transcripts of the phone calls (which they had to send) and said to the head of that department those will be sent to the police, he folded like a deck of cards