Hire car time limit after Non Fault claim.

FlemingTK · 4 Mar 2014 at 02:08

Hi,

Just after a bit of advice here. A women pulled straight out in front of my car last week causing front end damage to my 3 series E90. The next morning I had a call from her insurance company informing me that their client has admitted liability and asking if I would prefer to claim directly through them. I agreed to this as they let me use a local garage/body shop with a good reputation for decent repairs and supplied me with an adequate hire car (VW Golf TDI) from enterprise the same morning.

Saturday morning the garage notified me that the repairs come to just over 5k and they are waiting for the insurance company to get back to them now. The Glass guide values my car at between 6 and 7k at a dealers so its looking like its going to be written off. Should find out in the morning.

Now I'm expecting them to offer something low like 4.5 to 5k so have already prepared a few examples of like for like cars for sale within a 40 mile radius.

What I would like advice on is how long should they be liable to provide me with transport for once the car is written off.

I would hope they give me at least 1 week to find a car after I agree to accept a payment and have received it.

Any advice on my rights here?

Cheers

MissChief · 4 Mar 2014 at 02:16

While they are supposed to put you back into a position that you were in before the accident I'm pretty sure once you have the money there's nothing stopping you from buying a replacement almost as soon as you have the money. I'd imagine within 2-3 days of receiving the cheque or possibly within a day or two of getting the money into your bank they'll be asking you to return the Hire Car.

FlemingTK · 4 Mar 2014 at 02:50

MissChief said:
While they are supposed to put you back into a position that you were in before the accident I'm pretty sure once you have the money there's nothing stopping you from buying a replacement almost as soon as you have the money. I'd imagine within 2-3 days of receiving the cheque or possibly within a day or two of getting the money into your bank they'll be asking you to return the Hire Car.

As long as they give me at least a few days to sort the new car after receiving the money in my account I'll be happy. I don't see why I should have to pay extra for transport out of my own pocket after a non fault accident, especially when I could have gone through an accident management company and had a like for like hire car instead of being reasonable and keeping their costs down by accepting a VW Golf from enterprise.

Cheers

scratch · 4 Mar 2014 at 06:38

FlemingTK said:
As long as they give me at least a few days to sort the new car after receiving the money in my account I'll be happy. I don't see why I should have to pay extra for transport out of my own pocket after a non fault accident, especially when I could have gone through an accident management company and had a like for like hire car instead of being reasonable and keeping their costs down by accepting a VW Golf from enterprise.

Cheers

As MissChief says, once they've paid out their job is done and they will ask for the car back. You might get a few days grace but be prepared for them to request the car back straight away to limit their costs.

Mujja · 4 Mar 2014 at 06:50

Was in a similar situation a few years back. I received the money midweek and asked if I could keep the car until the following Monday. That would give me time to look for a car over the weekend.

The car was delivered by the garage on a Tuesday so I called again and asked for a couple more days which they agreed to.

If they are paying out ~£5k I don't think a few more days car hire will be an issue.

MrMoonX · 4 Mar 2014 at 07:56

As soon as they agree a price they will want the hire car back

Rich_L · 4 Mar 2014 at 08:04

If it's the other side's insurer providing the hire car then definitely bargain away for extra time, I'd ask for a week from receipt of the cheque to account for cashing time, time to travel and see cars, as long as you're taking reasonable steps you shouldn't be expected to buy a replacement car in a delightful poo-brown colour just because it's nearby and available.

After all they'll be paying peanuts to Enterprise compared to if you went through credit hire like Helphire or something

Haggisman · 4 Mar 2014 at 09:39

When my Focus was written off, I was told out of the blue at about 4pm to return the car the next morning, since they'd posted a cheque for their first offer which I'd rejected.

I told them to politely **** off until they sent me a decent offer... :mad:

ndaar · 4 Mar 2014 at 09:54

Yeah as I understand it once your receive your settlement you return the car, unless by previous negotiation.

Good luck on the new car search.

FlemingTK · 4 Mar 2014 at 12:11

Cheers guys,

Well its been confirmed the car is a total loss (CAT D) and they have offered me £5400 which I turned down, so waiting for them to get back to me with another offer now.

I'll be adding a couple of grand on top towards a new car so found a nice E90 M Sport in Blue to go and see in the morning, so hopefully it'll be a decent one.

Rich_L said:
If it's the other side's insurer providing the hire car then definitely bargain away for extra time, I'd ask for a week from receipt of the cheque to account for cashing time, time to travel and see cars, as long as you're taking reasonable steps you shouldn't be expected to buy a replacement car in a delightful poo-brown colour just because it's nearby and available.

After all they'll be paying peanuts to Enterprise compared to if you went through credit hire like Helphire or something

Agree, that is what I expect, around a week after receiving the money to get myself sorted with a decent car before they take the hire car back.

Cheers

ttaskmaster · 4 Mar 2014 at 13:13

I went through my insurance, with the hire bike company handling the vehicle claim
I disputed the initial valuation, but the 3rd party sent an Interim Payment to the value of their initial valuation anyway. Eventually, they agreed on something a bit moe reasonable.

My hire was required back 7 days after the final cheque was received by my handler. It worked out a bit longer, as they had to get up off their backsides and come all the way from Birmingham.