Credit Hire Costs Attract Judge's Ire

[st13phil]

I know the cost of credit hire cars supplied by accident management companies gets an airing here every now and again, but £50k for 3-months hire of a Tesla Model 3 is one of the most egregious rip-offs I've heard so far:

Oxford judge slams 'staggering' credit hire car costs

District Judge Richard Lumb says people might be "shocked" at how the credit hire industry operates.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[markjay]

I know the cost of credit hire cars supplied by accident management companies gets an airing here every now and again, but £50k for 3-months hire of a Tesla Model 3 is one of the most egregious rip-offs I've heard so far:

Oxford judge slams 'staggering' credit hire car costs

District Judge Richard Lumb says people might be "shocked" at how the credit hire industry operates.

www.bbc.co.uk

Unfortunately, it is meaningless... the Credit Hire industry will ignore this ruling (because it does not affect them and they are not out of pocket anyway), and things will continue as they are.

As for their claim that it adds "less than £5 to the cost of the average premium"... with 40m vehicles on our roads, even if making allowances for multi-car policies, we are talking of around £150m a year... that's a staggering amount of money collected from the motoring public by the Accident Management and Credit Hire industry, seemingly while providing no real value in return.

 

[borntobemild]

When I was running a Land Rover Discovery in 2014 they lent me a BMW x3 for 2 and a half months and wanted £35K for the privilege. The car was parked legally on a public road when it was hit and they tried to recover the cost from me even though I couldn't have been at fault as I was enjoying a cup of tea inside a house. The claim took years to settle and the insurance company charged me many years premiums as if I was at fault . The whole car insurance system is legalised robbery.

 

[BIGDOG]

Unfortunately, it is meaningless... the Credit Hire industry will ignore this ruling (because it does not affect them and they are not out of pocket anyway), and things will continue as they are.

It's only a District Judge at County Court, they have very little influence really.

 

[markjay]

It's only a District Judge at County Court, they have very little influence really.

Especially given that the Credit Hire company wasn't even a party to the court case.... and so nothing could be imposed on them anyway

 

[Steveml63]

Seems that even judges want their day in court!

 

[st13phil]

Looks like this particular District Judge is on a roll...

Oxford judge dismisses £48k credit hire claim over £7k car

A judge again raises concerns about the credit hire industry after hearing another high-value claim.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[markjay]

Looks like this particular District Judge is on a roll...

Oxford judge dismisses £48k credit hire claim over £7k car

A judge again raises concerns about the credit hire industry after hearing another high-value claim.

www.bbc.co.uk

It is perplexing to see how this industry works.

The credit hire firm is owned by the insurer of the no-fault driver, and they were suing the insurer of the at-fault driver.

This is a case of one insurer ripping-off another insurer, albeit via a proxy company.

 

[Alps]

When a neighbour reversed into the side of the bumper of my w212 e63, I took it to the mercedes main dealer body shop, they handed me over a Porsche panemera diesel , hire costs came out to 26k for two weeks. The other parties insurance were happy to pay the cost of the repair but disputed the hire charge. the hire charge company appointed a solicitor on our behalf and said if we don't go to court we have to pay. it was a pretty stressful time, the judge said its clear cut and the other parties insurance had to pay up. I for one won't be using a hire car supplied by a bodyshop again, even if it is a main dealer! not worth the time, stress, hassle.

 

[markjay]

...I took it to the mercedes main dealer body shop, they handed me over a Porsche panemera diesel , hire costs came out to 26k for two weeks.

 

[Scott_F]

When I was running a Land Rover Discovery in 2014 they lent me a BMW x3 for 2 and a half months and wanted £35K for the privilege. The car was parked legally on a public road when it was hit and they tried to recover the cost from me even though I couldn't have been at fault as I was enjoying a cup of tea inside a house. The claim took years to settle and the insurance company charged me many years premiums as if I was at fault . The whole car insurance system is legalised robbery.

Too right - I gave up insuring my cars years ago.

 

[markjay]

When I was running a Land Rover Discovery in 2014 they lent me a BMW x3 for 2 and a half months and wanted £35K for the privilege. The car was parked legally on a public road when it was hit and they tried to recover the cost from me even though I couldn't have been at fault as I was enjoying a cup of tea inside a house. The claim took years to settle and the insurance company charged me many years premiums as if I was at fault . The whole car insurance system is legalised robbery.

Who is 'they'? Your insurer? The other party's insurer? Or an accident management firm?

And who provided the hire car while you car was being repaired?

If the other party is unknown, then, sadly, yes, you have to claim on your own policy. Was this the case?