Does anyone have experience of Helphire?

[fnkhan68]

My W124 is insured with Footman James and was involved in an non fault accident where the driver didnt stop at the give way lines and ploughed into the side of my car. Since Footman James has become part of AON insurance group they use a company called Helphire to provide the courtesy cars. Mine was delivered this morning after being a day late and it turns out to be an Alfa 159 2.4JTD!!!
I was told that i would be given a like for like vehicle however upon speaking to them they have advised me that my hire vehicle has been downgraded due to the age and that the Alfa is what im entitled to. I feel quite inclined to stop them from processing my claim and go through one of these no win no fee companies and they seem to be more efficient in dealing with claims from past experience of friends who have used them.
I googled helphire and there seems to be many horror stories with them. Does anyone have any personal experience with them?

 

[stevesey]

No direct personal experience, some in-direct which I didn't hear any problems about. I thought they normally dealt with the policyholder for hire car and related uninsured loss recovery, if the insurer is going direct to them the situation may be different (possibly more tied down - although as we are talking uninsured loss recovery as long as you can justify the need for a bigger car that should be OK).

On the financial front they were a massive growth success of the late 90's early 00s. However they are now finding thing thougher and are cutting back in some areas (they aren't renewing their sponsorship of Bath Rugby - good news for some ).

 

[fnkhan68]

Actually your right, they are dealing with the hire car and uninsured loss, part of their condition is that if they provide a hire car then they deal with the uninsured loss otherwise they are not interested!

 

[stevesey]

So if you can justify a larger car they should be able to justify the additional cost to the third party insurers - after all that's their job.

 

[Rory]

Helphire to provide the courtesy cars.

I feel quite inclined to stop them from processing my claim and go through one of these no win no fee companies

Helphire *is* "one of these no win no fee companies"!

You may well find that, because it's a non-fault accident, your insurance company has subbed out the claims handling to Helphire.

I find it bizzare that insurance companies do this, then at the same time complian about extortionate hire car bills from the likes of helphire which massively bump up the cost of the claim.

 

[w124coupe]

Zurich use these guys as well.

My wife's Golf was hit by a Royal Mail van and Helphire called us "referred by Zurich" to provide a like-for-like courtesy car.

As we had Zurich policy cover for a courtesy car, I made calls to both just to be sure of the process and discovered that the Helphire car would be at my expense IF they didn't manage recovery from the 3rd party - the standard policy car would be FOC either way.

We went with the Zurich "standard part of the policy" car just in case....

So, unless you are 100% sure the other party will be found liable and has valid insurance etc, I would double check where the bill will land.

 

[trando]

I was in an accident where it was 100% clear that I wasn't at fault and my insurer Esure offered me the services of helphire. They supplied me with a new Golf GTI to replace my damaged Audi S3 which was ok. Not quite like for like but good enough I thought. Golf was delivered v promptly and I had it for about 8 weeks. No problems....

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Friend of mine had problems with Helphire, relating to the recovery of costs from the third party.

He ended up with a 996 Targa from Helphire - the other party refused or dragged their heals on the costs of the hire car so tried to pursue my friend for the hire costs. Incidentally, it's scary the day rate that they were charging for the 996 - think it was about £400 / day - not surprised insurance companies don't like this type of thing.

On another note my brother in law got a W203 C220 CDI for a couple of weeks when his W202 was written off from a similar outfit - I can't remember who they were but he had to sign some form of liabilty on the basis that he could be pursued if they were unable to recover the costs from the third party.

Be careful if there is ANY doubt with respect to liability.

 

[stevesey]

He ended up with a 996 Targa from Helphire - the other party refused or dragged their heals on the costs of the hire car so tried to pursue my friend for the hire costs. Incidentally, it's scary the day rate that they were charging for the 996 - think it was about £400 / day - not surprised insurance companies don't like this type of thing.

Was that Helphire's choice of car?

Personally I can understand the third party insurers at least questioning that. I'm sure I read some advice a while back about informing third parties about hire costs so they can query anything asap and agree any specific requirements beofre a significant cost has been incurred.

 

[Seamster15]

Friend of mine had problems with Helphire, relating to the recovery of costs from the third party.

He ended up with a 996 Targa from Helphire - the other party refused or dragged their heals on the costs of the hire car so tried to pursue my friend for the hire costs. Incidentally, it's scary the day rate that they were charging for the 996 - think it was about £400 / day - not surprised insurance companies don't like this type of thing.

On another note my brother in law got a W203 C220 CDI for a couple of weeks when his W202 was written off from a similar outfit - I can't remember who they were but he had to sign some form of liabilty on the basis that he could be pursued if they were unable to recover the costs from the third party.

Be careful if there is ANY doubt with respect to liability.

Accident Exchange?

They gave me a New Boxster S when mine was T-Boned.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Was that Helphire's choice of car?

Personally I can understand the third party insurers at least questioning that. I'm sure I read some advice a while back about informing third parties about hire costs so they can query anything asap and agree any specific requirements beofre a significant cost has been incurred.

Yes, that is what they chose for him. However part way through the repair period my friend agreed the 996 could go back and they gave him a V8 Jag S Type.

Think someone in our company had an issue when they rear-ended a footballers car. Apparently our insurers faced a bill for three weeks in a Bentley Continental!

 

[timskemp]

I've used Accident Exchange twice, had a CLS for two weeks, exchanged for an E280 for the duration when my E class was being repaired, had a Zafira while the Verso was in. They handled everything, though as mentioned above the other party's insurer whined at the rental costs (on the Zafira, oddly) and duration (it was over Christmas so was a month) and my choice of repairer (Toyota approved bodyshop, over 100 miles away but only one with space).

The Mercs were being charged at £200/day. I was on hire for 95 days (do the math) - but insurer didn't quibble at all over that one.

Found them quick and helpful, and the cars are covered for punctures and stuff as well.

 

[Brett]

My car was hit in my parents driveway by a guy in a hired transit van in November 2004. Helphire provided me with a loan Merc for 10 days. They were very helpful, prompt and delivered and picked up precisely when they said they would

Unfortunately, they charged an arm and a leg for the Merc to the van hire company and we have been in dispute ever since. Five years later, I may end up having to go to court to try sort the whole mess out.

By the way, there was absolutely no question on liability - the dispute is the rate that Helphire have claimed for the rental of the Merc.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

The Mercs were being charged at £200/day. I was on hire for 95 days (do the math) - but insurer didn't quibble at all over that one.

That truly is shocking. My mates cost to his third party was around 20k too!

It's unbelievable really.

My wife had an accident with someone a few years ago and we disputed the hire costs. The third party had a BMW Z4, his hire car was also a Z4 in December! They were charging close to £250 per day, absolutely crazy. Don't know how these companies get away with it. I agree with the principle to an extent - why suffer through no fault of your own but I feel that some thought should be given to put these hire costs into perspective in balance with the rest of the claim value.

 

[Rory]

Five years later, I may end up having to go to court to try sort the whole mess out.

By the way, there was absolutely no question on liability - the dispute is the rate that Helphire have claimed for the rental of the Merc.

You're probably an expert on this now, but as I understand it, it's not so much the rates for a given car that are a problem, it's whether you really needed that car.

Courts have held that people should try to minimise the other parties costs. OK, if you have need for a particular kind of vehicle then fair enough, but they've tended to take a dim view of people hiring expensive cars on a like for like basis when a Ford Ka would do for a while.

The trouble is that some of these discussions elsewhere get very polarised with one camp of people pushing the "we're entitled" argument. It's hard to argue against that, but at the end of the day, we all suffer from increased premiums to pay these sometimes £20K+ hire car bills.

 

[stevesey]

Don't know how these companies get away with it.

Perhaps they aren't (as much) anymore as third party insurers are challenging the rates more. Might explain why after several good years helphire are now struggling.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

You're not pleased with an Alfa 159? I'd be over the moon myself - not a bob-basic motor by any means.

HelpHire provided me with a hire car about 8 years ago, when my MR2 was parked outside my in-laws house and the neighbour opposite reversed straight into it and drove away - hit and run!!

We were having a garden party at the time, heard the bang and strolled down the drive to see her driving away. When she returned I waited an hour to see if she'd come over and didn't, so I knocked on her door. Eventually her husband answered and said neither of them wanted to talk to me about it. Most strange!!??

Her insurers had no qualms and sorted me a car though HelpHire.

I digress. No idea what car it was - probably a Ka or Corsa - but not an equivalent 2-seater mid-engined sportscar. I was pleased with the service though. Maybe things have changed since then.

 

[azaman]

I have used Helphire in the past - just make sure you go for the £10 liability cover. That way you are not liable for any costs even if they can't recover from the 3rd party.

My coupe was hit last year and I used Accident Exchange, I found them very good, gave me a W204 while my W203 coupe was being repaired. The 3rd party tried to dispute who was responsible. Just this week looks like it has been resolved in my favour!!

 

[fnkhan68]

Just a quick update, I have checked with Helphire who have confirmed that i wont be liable for any costs either way as i am covered by Angel Assistance which is part of the policy. As for the Alfa it is a stunning looking car but i was misinformed in the first place hence my rant for not being given like for like car which i was initially told however after speaking to the manager i explained that my son's pushchair wont fit in the boot as it is deep but narrow. The daily rental costs of the Alfa is £62.44 however they are changing the car over today to a VW Passat estate which is a result!

 

[Smiley]

It seems to me that companies like helphire exist because the insurance companies seem to be incapable of striking a deal with a car hire company - they are making huge profits "re-selling" hire cars - and at our expense as it all filters back in to the insurance premiums.
As someone has posted here you need to tread very carefully with these companies - they are very keen to get the car to you asap and for you to keep it as long as poss as they earn more money that way - but then the bill racks up and up - and may exceed the cost of the repair - and then thats when the arguments start with the insurer.
Personally I would prefer to "make do" with an adequate second hand car if it meant that the premiums were not put up.