Parents Got into a Car Incident a While Back, and Now Rental Car Company Wants Them to Go to Court

1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 13:43
Last edited 30/11/2018 - 16:16

So basically, earlier this year my mother got into a car accident that was not her fault. The other party admitted fault and had their insurance company (we are both on the same insurance company) redirect my mother to a repair-shop. The repair-shop took our car in and advised us that we would not be paying any repair fees as it was covered by the other party's insurance.

Later on, a car-rental company contacted my parents (presumably as the repair-shop gave them our details) and asked them if they wanted a rental car while our current one was being repaired. They stressed that we would not be paying any fees for rental hire as we were not at fault and my father signed a contract about it.

The car rental company appears to specialize in accident-related rentals and on their website (paraphrasing as I don't want to identify the website) the condition is that the person not at fault will not need to pay any rental fees so long as they provide legal assistance in the event that the rental company is unable to obtain the rental fees from the third party at fault.

Recently, the rental company was not able to acquire the fees and as such, has started a legal case against the third party. On my parent's behalf, the rental company has hired a law firm to litigate the third party and is covering all legal fees in either event of a win or loss. The case is stated under my parents' names and it appears as though we are the ones who are litigating rather than the rental company. As far as I understand, we will not be paying any fees (rental or legal).

Our primary concerns are:

  • The rental company appears to be shifty at best and I'm not to sure about the legality of the repair shop passing our details to a supposedly associated rental company.

  • Furthermore, it appears that the costs will be paid by the third party or their insurance company following the legal case, (Probably the third party themselves as it seems the insurance company would have paid by now), and we are concerned regarding the safety of the household as the third party lives nearby we don't want an angry individual coming to our house.

It appears that the only option is to go through with this case, however are there any alternatives?

Automotive

Comments

  • pegaxs on 30/11/2018 - 14:02
    +1

    “Recently” and “a while back”… uh huh… go on…

    And to add insult to injury, the in fault driver is now being persecuted!

  • spackbace on 30/11/2018 - 14:09

    Right2drive?

    Shouldn't even go to court if insurance deemed the accident to be not your parents fault. Open/shut case.

    It'll be a very quick day in court.

    And no I wouldn't be worrying about retribution over it

    Realistically the hire car should've been billed straight to their insurance company and been as easy process.

    • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 14:18

      I'm really confused because:

      we are both on the same insurance company

      And the insurance company has admitted liability on part of the other driver. And this should mean the other driver has insurance. Why is the insurance company not paying out automatically? Why is there a court case at all??

      • 1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 16:13

        To be clear: The insurance company did pay for the repairs of the car. However, we also were offered a free rental service while our car was being repaired. The rental service emphasized that we would not be paying any rental costs as we were not at fault, as per the condition above.

        So it seems that the insurance company isn't paying for the rental car fees and the rental company wants their money, hence the case against the at fault driver.

        • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 16:19

          The insurance company did pay for the repairs of the car. However, we also were offered a free rental service

          I get that. There are some insurance policies which include costs of car rental.

          But what I'm getting at is this: You should've gotten that through your insurance, and not the third-party car rental place, because while yes, you had the use of a free rental car for a while, now you're stuck fighting a lawsuit. Even legal costs aside, those things suck just because you have to go in for appointments, swear affidavits, possibly even turn up to court and testify.

  • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 14:14
    +1

    Oh god. No - these rental car companies are barely a step above ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyers (only because they're rental car companies to begin with…). If you were going to rent a car - GO THROUGH YOUR OWN INSURANCE. Not yelling at you, more for the benefit of anyone else reading.

    Anyway:

    the person not at fault will not need to pay any rental fees so long as they provide legal assistance in the event that the rental company is unable to obtain the rental fees from the third party at fault.

    That's fine. Again, I wouldn't have rented a car from in the first place, but if you did in these circumstances, this is fairly standard.

    The case is stated under my parents' names and it appears as though we are the ones who are persecuting rather than the rental company.

    A few nitpicks first: Your parents are (presumably) not Nazis and the other side aren't Jews, so you're not persecuting them. Your parents are also (presumably) not the DPP and the other side hasn't committed a crime so you're also not prosecuting them (which is what you were intending to type). Your parents are litigating.

    Okay, nitpicking aside - no this is terrible. This makes your parents primarily liable for any legal costs, or worse if they lose, costs orders from Court. Wouldn't touch this with a 10ft pole. But you really need to read the rental contract more closely and see exactly what your parents signed up for.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/11/2018 - 14:23
      +12

      Your parents are litigating.

      And he's illiterating that they're mitigating the need for litigating to prevent the the intimidating, so he is articulating but we're reciprocating by being irritating.

      Mike drop

      • spackbace on 30/11/2018 - 14:23
        +3

        Poor Mike

      • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 14:25
        +1

        Rapped this to the rhythm of "Without Me". Brilliant.

    • 1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 16:11

      Ok just some clarifications:

      • The rental company has stated in very clear terms (and confirmed with the law firm they hired to represent us) that we will not be paying any legal costs regardless of a win or a loss

      • The contract my parents signed when hiring the rental car stated that we would not be paying any rental fees so long as we help with the litigation/go through with the case. At least, that is my interpretation. It seems that we will be responsible for the rental costs if we decide not to go through with the case.

      Sorry for any legal term ambiguities, I am very inexperienced with law jargon.

      • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 16:15

        I don't mean to imply that a law firm would be anything but 100% truthful, but:

        The rental company has stated in very clear terms (and confirmed with the law firm they hired to represent us) that we will not be paying any legal costs regardless of a win or a loss

        You can see that if they're being paid by someone else, they might not be putting your parents' best interests first, right?

        In any case, I don't have enough details to really add anything more than what I've already commented - you're going to have to read what your parents signed. (I don't care what they've stated to you - unless it's in writing with a signature, I personally wouldn't rely on it.)

        For what it's worth, I can understand why the rental car company is going with this course of action - it's really the only one that makes practical sense. I just personally wouldn't be comfortable with it unless I've looked at all the documents myself (which neither you nor your parents seem to have done because you're still telling me what they've stated to you, and not that it's written down somewhere.)

        • 1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 16:19

          Ok that makes sense. I will check what we have signed and see what further action can be taken.

      • ranap on 30/11/2018 - 17:28

        The rental company has stated in very clear terms (and confirmed with the law firm they hired to represent us) that we will not be paying any legal costs regardless of a win or a loss

        Do remember that the court case can end with a judgement to recover the rental costs from your parents.
        so while you may not be paying any legal costs, your parents may still be stung by inflated rental fees due to the judgement. Be very careful of what you sign on.

  • askme69 on 30/11/2018 - 16:14

    Had a an accident a few weeks ago, not at fault. Insurance said take it to XYZ smash, did that and they gave a brochure and said this company will give you a rental car (didn't even inquire if we had rental car under our own insurance). Anyway, rental company rang that afternoon and said they cannot provide a car as the person who hit us did not have insurance. I assume they go the other parties insurance to recoup the rental car costs.

    Not a bad business model, they said we would get a new Audi to match ours etc, etc.

    • whooah1979 on 30/11/2018 - 16:45

      they said we would get a new Audi to match ours etc, etc.

      That sounds great. We won't mind driving a current model of what we've now for a few days.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/11/2018 - 17:00

    This sounds kinda scammy. I would walk away and would not go to court or authorize any action on my behalf.

    Your not automatically entitled to a rental car because your car is damaged and being repaired.

    • whooah1979 on 30/11/2018 - 17:11

      The cost of the rental vehicle may be added to the insurance claim.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/11/2018 - 17:38

        Then why has the other insurance company denied the claim?

        This whole thing is bazaar. The original rental company should have just replaced the rental car with a new one.

    • 1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 22:02

      It's concerning as the agreement we had signed (yes, yes I realise it was a bad decision) stated that we wouldn't pay any rental fees if we helped with a legal case in the event that they are unable to recover funds from insurance. I think we may have to recoup the costs if we choose not to litigate.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/11/2018 - 23:55

        How much money are we talking about and is the charge a reasonable fee or have they inflated it?

        Assuming it less than $2000 I would just walk away. They are not going to take you to court for that (it's not worth while but they certainly will threaten to) and this whole thing is dodgy as hell, so I doubt they want any legal scrutiny.

  • Diji1 on 30/11/2018 - 17:13

    However, we also were offered a free rental service while our car was being repaired.

    I know this doesn't help but the owner of the totalled vehicle should have rented a vehicle or used taxis and billed the at fault drivers insurance - not entered into this odd agreement where they're being called to court because the rental company cannot recover their costs. A lawyer should have been handling it with the legal fees paid for by the at fault drivers insurance.

  • PissLUR on 30/11/2018 - 17:24

    next time, hire and pay for the car yourself. then forward the bill to the insurance company.

    • whooah1979 on 30/11/2018 - 17:31

      The other driver's insurer has declined to pay for the rental vehicle. The rental company is now filing a claim against the other driver.

      • PissLUR on 30/11/2018 - 17:32
        +2

        they must have charged a ridiculous amount of rental fees.. that could be one of the reason declining to pay.

  • ranap on 30/11/2018 - 17:54
    +1

    For all those commenting that that the Not-At-Fault party should not have rented this vehicle OR rented a vehicle on own cost and forward the bill to insurance company have probably never tried to make an insurance claim.

    Insurance companies do not attempt to make Not-At-Fault Claim any easier than At-Fault claim. While paying the insurance premiums we have an expectation that these companies provide an insurance service and fight on our behalf for our rightful claim, however these companies do try to provide the absolute minimum service they can get away with. Minimising their costs and maximising profits is more important than the pesky customers who wish to make a claim.

    These accident rental companies do genuinely help the Not-At-Fault party, (Not aware of the legal standing of these companies yet) especially in scenarios where your livelihood depends on having a vehicle. Given that these companies have been existing for past few years, I am assuming that they are able to make the At-Fault insurance pay enough times to make this business worthwhile.

    To the OP:
    Don't know which accident rental company you used, When I used one few months ago, I was told that they would submit a claim for Car rental costs on my behalf to the at-fault insurer and would have it confirmed Or rejected within 2 days. If the claim was rejected then I was supposed to return the accident rental car. Did you not have such a condition when you were provided the rental car?

    • HighAndDry on 30/11/2018 - 18:30

      This isn't quite right. These rental companies provide a service, but the bulk of the value in this service is merely knowing that a lot of insurance companies will pay out for car rental and doing the paperwork to make the claim for car rental.

    • PissLUR on 30/11/2018 - 18:36
      -1

      have done that in the past with no problems.

    • 1000101BIN on 30/11/2018 - 21:59

      Rental car is long gone (returned around 4 months ago). We thought the issue was resolved until today when they sent the case to us and requested we sign to litigate the at-fault party for costs. I am assuming the rental company already tried to go after insurance but weren't successful.

  • WreckTangle on 01/12/2018 - 06:56

    Who’s being sued…the other driver or their insurance company? If the other driver had insurance then how are they liable for this in court?

    • 1000101BIN on 01/12/2018 - 11:33

      The case states "our name" -v- "at-fault drivers name" and has no mention of the opposing side's insurance company at all.

  • DarkOz on 01/12/2018 - 09:16

    I am not sure if I got the story correct:
    1. Parent had car accident
    2. Insurance arranged parent for car repair
    3. Car rental company called parent for free rental car as it is part of the insurance
    4. Parent rented car
    5. Rental car now not free and parent got sued for car rental fee

    As far as I know you should organise all your insurance claim, repair or/and rental car, through your insurance company. The fact that your parent took advice from a third party, the rental company, means that they didn't have permission from the insurance company to do so as part of the claim. Seems like your parent got tricked buy the car rental company. The problem now is your parent's words vs the car rental company's words. Do you have any evidence that the car rental company said it is for free?

    • whooah1979 on 01/12/2018 - 11:14
      +1

      Rental car now not free and parent got sued for car rental fee

      The rental company would like op's parents cooperation to help sue the other driver.

      • 1000101BIN on 01/12/2018 - 11:34
        +1

        This is correct. I believe the contract we signed stated that we wouldn't pay rental fees if we helped with any legal cases against the other driver. So it seems that if we choose not to help, we might have to pay the fees instead.

        • DarkOz on 01/12/2018 - 11:48
          +1

          Ah I completely got it now. But this is where the real problem lies. Claiming car rental expense throught a third party is not part of your car insurance if you hadn’t got approval by the car insurance company. This is a seperate and additionsl claim agsinst the car at fault and i can understand why they are fighting it.

  • WT on 01/12/2018 - 10:46
    +1

    there is a whole industry of rental cars for insurance, they charge stupid amounts to rent you a cheap POS then they go after the at fault insurance to recoup the costs driving up premiums

    • whooah1979 on 01/12/2018 - 11:18

      rent you a cheap POS

      The rental vehicle is like-for-like.

    • whooah1979 on 01/12/2018 - 11:22

      they go after the at fault insurance to recoup the costs driving up premiums

      It's reasonable to expect that the rental company to charge cost of the vehicle, administration, profit, etc.

  • Blue Suby on 01/12/2018 - 11:00

    Does the rental company start with 'EU' and end with 'car'?

    • andyhui01 on 01/12/2018 - 11:18

      The OP has stated they specialise in car rental for people in not at fault accidents. This is as clear you can make it without naming them.

  • Baysew on 01/12/2018 - 12:16
    +2

    Our primary concerns are:

    The rental company appears to be shifty at best and I'm not to sure about the legality of the repair shop passing our details to a supposedly associated rental company.

    Advise you insurance company, that you are unhappy with the chain of privacy being broken. However parents were happy enough to get the car while there car was being repaired.

    Furthermore, it appears that the costs will be paid by the third party or their insurance company following the legal case, (Probably the third party themselves as it seems the insurance company would have paid by now), and we are concerned regarding the safety of the household as the third party lives nearby we don't want an angry individual coming to our house.

    As you have stated, the insurance company directed you mother to the repair shop. What the insurance company doesn't want to pay for the rental car and so now, ending up in court. There is no comeback on the at fault driver, the insurance company has 'stepped into their shoes'.

    This may help others to understand what is going on here. From right2drive, a firm that provides this sort of service. From FAQ -

    What happens if the at-fault insurer doesn't pay the bill?

    Unfortunately, this sometimes happens. In the event that it does, we will commence legal proceedings in your name against the at-fault party’s insurer or the at-fault party. If this occurs you may be required to provide assistance which may include providing witness statements, documentation, and in some circumstances attending court as a witness.

    We do not charge not at-fault drivers for the rental costs or the legal fees associated with the recovery provided, you assist us in the recovery process and otherwise act in accordance with the terms and conditions of our agreement.

  • eggles01 on 01/12/2018 - 14:38
    -1

    GO SEE A SOLICITOR OR CONTACT DEPT.OF FAIR TRADING THEY CAN EITHER HELP OR STEER YOU INTO THE RIGHT DIRECTION

  • WreckTangle on 01/12/2018 - 17:50
    -3

    The other driver didn’t authorise the rental car and has no contract with them or your parents so i don’t get how they’re liable at all. I suspect your parents could potentially have sued for some out of pocket expenses if they took the bus, but trying to sue the other driver for Car rental isn’t a fair outcome. I assume that even if other driver is asked to pay by the court they will claim it on their insurance, but if their company says no then potentially the other driver may appeal or even countersue your parents for costs.

    Perhaps your parents should sue the rental company, if anyone?

    • whooah1979 on 01/12/2018 - 18:07

      The other driver didn’t authorise the rental car and has no contract with them or your parents so i don’t get how they’re liable at all.

      A contract isn't required. The other driver damaged op's parents property. OP's parents have the rights to file a claim to have the property repaired. They may also file a claim for other expenses while the property is being repaired.

  • Blue Cat on 02/12/2018 - 11:49
    +2

    My friend was in a very similar situation as you OP, but she didn't know any better and just agreed to go to court.
    It wasn't scary at all - she just had to testify that accident happened at this date and time, who was at fault and testify that she actually got a rental car and she used it as her replacement.
    From what I understand, the rent company has to prove to court that she was really driving the rented car so they have grounds for suing the at-fault driver.
    Just my $0.02

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