Car hire on Ins Policy

[Digger31069]

Hi, I had a non-fault vehicle accident in Oct 03. Made a claim through my insurance company as i was fully comprehensive. A company telephoned me and asked if i would be requiring a courtesy car, i said yes and collected the vehicle from the repairers when i took my car in. Last week i received a letter from a debt collection agency asking for �*** for hire of a car. As far as i was aware this was covered under my insurance policy but apparently not. It now turns out that because my insurance companies solicitors ( who handled the claim) were not informed of a hire car i am liable for the costs. I assumed the hire company had been instructed by my Ins Co but this is not the case, the hire company had been given my details by the garage where my car was being fixed. The Ins Co do have a contract to supply courtesy cars through this garage but with a totally different company to the one that arranged my hire vehicle. Was i being naive in thinking that this would have all been handled by my Ins Co or is this the general feeling?  I'm not sure what to do with regard the debt now as i feel the garage has surely broken its contract with my Ins Co by offering my details to a different hire company than the one my Ins Co. approve for use.  Hope this makes sense !

Thanks

[Mrs_Pegasus]

Has it taken then all this time to ask you for payment?  Did you sign anything when you picked up the car and did they point out the costs to you?   I would put in writing all that happened and send it to your insurance company and ask for a written explanation.

It all sounds a little odd to me and I would certainly question why you were not made to pay the hire bill when you returned the car or even before you took it.

[Miss Zippy]

You thought you were getting a courtesy car, which is arranged and paid for by your insurance company, but what you were actually offered is what is called �credit hire�.  A credit hire company loans you a vehicle, charges a �premium� for the fact that they are offering you credit (e.g. the idea being that the innocent motorist should not actually have to pay the hire bill as it will be paid for by the liable motorist�s insurance company).  It sounds like the situation was misrepresented to you.  Dig out the paperwork you would have signed at the time and see what it says.  If it is clear that you signed a credit hire agreement, you have to show that the agreement was misrepresented to you (e.g verbally over the telephone).  If the accident was not your fault, then the credit hire company should have sought to recover their charges from the liable driver�s insurance company. For some reason they have failed to do this so you should enquire why. Based on what you say, there is a good chance you can avoid having to pay this bill and I�d suggest you visit your local CAB for more in depth advice.

[JB]

 The company who provided you with the car are duty bound to make clear what will be payable and by whom etc. If they have failed to do this, then you have the Consumer Credit Act on your side.

Definately speak to your insurers for their help - if they're reputable, they should be more than happy to assist.

[Digger31069]

Many thanks for the advice, i have a solicitor looking into this. thanks again.