Car accident vehicle hire debt

[salahuddin]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can give me any advice relating to a car accident which I had on 16/12/2011. I was driving on a slip road to join the motorway and while I was slowing down to join I was hit by a car from behind and he was also hit by another car, the person accepted liability on the spot, we exchanged details and as it was my first accident I wasn't sure all the procedure so I called a friend who recommended an accident management company, whose number I gave instead of mine. I received a letter from the third party insurers accepting that it was their drivers fault but however a few months later they retracted saying they presume this is a fraudulent case and will not be paying out all the fees that has been accumulating. The accident company which I was recommended was actually found and shut down due to fraud case and this is the reason the third party insurance are not willing to pay. I signed a no win no fee documents with the solicitors and they are now saying they will not be taking the case on any longer as it has become very complicated unless I decide to pay them £2000, I do not have that money so I said I do not wish to take it any further, but they responded that I will have to pay disbursement fees totalling to £1000 in response I wrote them an email saying I can not afford this and since then they have not replied and this has been one year now.

My main problem is not this £1000 fees it is actually £6084.54 which I received a letter from the car hire company, I had a vehicle from them for 3 months and this is the total that it comes to. They have stated in the letter "We are still looking to recover the costs of this vehicle from third party insurers. However they are not making payment and we now need to instruct a specialist credit hire solicitor to assist us in the recovery." "If we do not hear from you then we will have no alternative but to hold you liable for the above costs and will be pursuing you for the recovery."

I am not sure what I can do in regards to this, I have a feeling that all blames will come back to me and I will be charged for this, my solicitors did mention that they and the third party insurance can not track the person that hit into me and this made the case all complicated and also my solicitors have mentioned most likely I will lose the case if I do pursue it to court. It seems like I am trapped from all angles and will have to pay the fees but I do not have that kind of money and I am unemployed. Can someone tell me if I do have to pay these fees and how can I pay these off if it comes to this situation.

I am sorry for the long message.

Thank you very much.

Salahuddin

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

If this was a hire car why was no claim made off their insurers?
I cannot believe they allowed the car out without comprehensive coverage.

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Whose insurers are you mentioning... My insurance company at that year do not know about the accident as I went through a third party accident management group. The person who hit into me is now denying it was his fault and his insurance company are claiming it is a fraud accident, so they do not want to pay out.

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

You hired a vehicle.
The hire company will have arranged comprehensive insurance.
The hire company should have claimed from their insurers.

If the hire company did not arrange insurance, did you arrange insurance yourself?
In which case, even if the third party agreed liability, you should have informed your own insurers.
(Incidentally when renewing your insurance, or when taking out new insurance you should mention this incident)

Did you keep full details of the incident.
Do you know where it occurred, the weather conditions at the time.
Do you have a note of any witnesses?
Do you have details of all vehicles involved?

Do the insurers say why they think it is a fraudulent claim and are they threatening to take the matter further?
I assume it is not fraudulent on your side.

Who were the solicitors dealing with the matter.? Their attitude seems odd. Could you give more details?

Without a lot more info it is hard to see the way forward, but I can see you having to sue the third party if you can trace him.
If you can't you will have to sue his insurers, or possibly as a last resort approach MIB

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

The car accident which happened with was with my personal car, I then arranged a private accident management company to deal with everything as it was recommended to me. The company arranged a vehicle hire which is the cost of £6000 over the three months period which I had it for, a solicitor to defend me and to recover the cost of the repair of my car, my personal injury, solicitors fee, and hire of another car while mine was being repaired was supposed to be paid by the third persons insurance company. The case kept on dragging on and on and now it seems like it has come to a standstill with no resolution but people chasing me up for their fees e.g. my own solicitors asking for disbursement fees and the hire purchase company asking for the fees for the time I had their car until I returned.

The reason why they think this is a fraudulent case is because the company which I used was found to have done many cash for crash service and as I wrote down their number on the piece of paper handed to the third person they think I was not the person who was driving or it was all staged as the other person that hit into the third person has gone missing.

I will be contacting the hire company on Monday instructing them to take a case against third party's insurance company as they are not cooperating properly, my own solicitors have given up hope as they think I will loose the case due to the bad reputation of the accident management company and want me to pay them if I want to pursue it.

I am not able to contact the third person and I have all the details of the accident written down somewhere.

What is MIB? Sorry as I am not that familiar with all these stuff.

I can contact my insurance company who at the time I had a policy with but I think they will not help me as they will say why I did not contact them within the last 4 years plus when they hear all these fraud allegations they will not support me at all.

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Ok so the car hire company are chasing you for their hire fees.
Did you actually hire the vehicle yourself, or was it arranged by the third party insurers?
Do you have any of the documentation?
The probability though is that the fees are your responsibility.

What damage was caused to your vehicle?
Have you a it repaired?
What was the cost?

What injury did you sustain?
Did you require treatment?
If so what treatment?
How much were you claiming for the injury and how did you quantify it?

Did you take the registration details of the other cars involved?

Not advising your insurers was a bad mistake. You should have told them even if not making a claim against them.
(Did you advise your current insurers about this accident. If you didn't and are involved in another incident you might find they will void your cover.)

Why can't you contact the driver of the vehicle which collided with you?
one driver is no longer around (gone missing?), but you did take his registration number?

What evidence do the third party insurers have that you were not driving at the time of the accident?
Has there been any police investigation into the accident?
Have the insurance company reported it to the police as possible fraud?

MIB = Motor Insurers Bureau

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Apologies for the late reply, the hire care was arranged by the accident management company I went through. I have lost all the paper worms as it has been nearly 5 years.

My car was written off and which someone else bought as scrap.

I and my passenger all suffered a whiplash with pain throughout the back. I do not know of the amount that the solicitors was trying to get for the claim. I think they wanted to claim the car the personal injury the hire rate and their fees from third party.

The third party who hit into me has changed numbers so I am unable to call him. I don't think his own insurance company can get a hold of him. I do have his number for his car.

The third party insurance do not have no evidence that this is fraud but alleging it is as the company which I used have be found to do fraud cases before. The third party company have not put any fraud charges against me nor has any police been involved.

Thanks

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Were you introduced to the solicitors by the dodgy claims management company?
Could you name them both, as we may know them already?
I think the solicitor's behaviour a trifle odd, and might need investigating.
I don't suppose you still have a copy of the Conditional Fee Agreement (no win no fee) that you signed.

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

The claims companies name is Go Direct accident management but it seems like they are not operating any longer and have been closed for a couple of years and the solicitors are Dunne and Gray... I will have to go and search for the terms and conditions. If I do find it I'll send it to you.

Thanks

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Ok Dunne and Gray have reviews that match their name, and you are not the first to receive a bill after signing a no win no fee agreement.
Ignore them for the moment.

Did you ever see the letters from the insurance company saying they weren't prepared to accept your claim, or was it just a report from your less than white solicitors?
Do you know the name of the other driver's insurance company, and the claim number?
Have you ever had an address for the driver who drove into you? Do you still have it? I assume you don't happen to have his current address?

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

No I have never received an letters from any insurance company except for the first one which was from the third party's letter of the accepting that the fault was of the drivers and for them to repair my car. The insurance company of the third party's if I recall and I do have that letter somewhere and has the reference number.

Unfortunately I did not have the address of the person that hit into me and the only thing that I did have was a mobile number but that number is no longer active.

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Dig that letter out, and post up suitably redacted.

In fact gather up all the written info (hard copy & emails) and transcripts of recorded phone calls.
If phone calls weren't recorded write down as much as you can remember of what has been said

We need to find out exactly what has happened, not just what your solicitor told you.

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

I have found some of the paperworks, the hire company which sent me the letter are not demanding the money of the me at the moment as I just spoke to them. They want to pass the case to another solicitors to claim from third party insurers as my current solicitors have closed the case. If they can't get any money from the third party solicitors then I will be responsible for the payment

[des8]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Firstly you are the one responsible for the car hire charges.
The car hire company can only claim against you
It is unlikely that the insurers will entertain a claim from the hire company even if it comes from a firm of solicitors as you are the one making a claim.
In fact you claim against the driver who hit you.
You claim for all your costs.
IF the insurers have declined your claim, you have to claim against the driver.
This is why you need to find out from the insurers IF they have declined your claim.

Insurers are very anti fraud and I find it odd that they refused the claim on those grounds without reporting it to the police.
If that was the reason you will have to sue the other driver.
When you win (by default if you cannot trace a current address for him) you can then sue the insurers.

The care hire firm want to have another firm of solicitors handle the case............. is this at their cost?

[salahuddin]

Re: Car accident vehicle hire debt

Yes they will be paying for the solicitors unless I am being deceitful and we lose the case then I am responsible for all the cost. How can I find the person who hit into me? I don't think the insurance company will give private and confidential information out like that.