Credit crunch

I am writing on behalf of my daughter who lives in Liverpool. On Thursday, 25th February 2010 she was involved in an horrific accident in Manchester. A Tuffnell HGV ploughed into the rear of her Peugeot convertible in a line of stationery traffic, squashing her under the HGV. Apart from whiplash and the obvious trauma of the accident it was a miracle she was able to escape the mangled wreck. The next day Sheila’s Wheels - her insurer - said she would be provided with a replacement car and when this was brought to her by Drive Assist she signed for it as requested. She was unable to drive for over a week and three weeks later when Drive Assist collected the car from her address the man who inspected the car, said there was a nail in the tyre (which could have been there when the car was delivered) and a slight scuff on the wheel trim. He asked her for £160 to cover the cost of the damage and after she refused to pay was subjected to numerous threatening phone calls and eventually agreed a payment of £60 in the hope that this was the end of the matter. Not so. Tuffnell's insurers are refusing to pay the inflated cost of the hire car (somewhere between £2,000 and £3,000) and 20 months on she is still being harassed in correspondence by Drive Assist to fill in questionnaires, etc. and has now been summoned to attend court for a hearing to resolve the matter. My daughter is very worried about this. Does she have to attend court and if the case goes in favour of Tufnell’s insurer, can my daughter be held liable for the amount of the car hire (which she never wanted in the first place)?

Asked on 1 October 2011 by GS, Felling, Tyne & Wear

Answered by Honest John
This is standard practice by the credit hire cowboys that I have been warning about for the past four years or so. I don't think they stand a chance of recovering the money from her. They put her into a car at an inflated price. Usually what happens is the credit hirer settles to a lower rate as offered by the insurers. GS later wrote to tell me, that his daughter subsequently received a letter cancelling the court case and informing her that the matter was now closed and that she will not be contacted again.
Tags: credit hire
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