Insurance Paid for Repairs. Should I Pay for The Hire Car of The Other Driver?

websterp on 12/02/2016 - 12:57
Last edited 12/02/2016 - 14:09

I know there had been a few "I've had an accident - what should I do?" threads lately so my apologies if I'm adding one more to the list. Luckily I did not knock down a pole ;)

Late last year I've hit a 14yo Nissan Sendan driven by a 80yo gentleman. I t-boned his driver side rear door at a slow speed while turning right into the main road at a three way junction. I was blinded by the A pillar of my car(a relatively large 4WD) and did not see the other car coming from my left. The door got damaged after hitting the left side of my front bumper. We both pulled over and first thing I did was declaring I'm the guilty party and apologised for what I have done. He was a bit shaken and considering his age I was more concerned about his welfare than myself or my car. I even held his hand and promised I'll do everything I could to assist him in getting the car repaired as he went on and on about his car being old and parts not being available and also about some truck driver who he had to take to court for not agreeing to pay up for an accident he's been involved in the past. I assured him I'm not that type and gave him all the necessary details about myself and my car. Still I had to wait for 1.5hrs as he wanted to write down everything about the car(including car dealer branding on the rego plate and stickers on the rear windscreen which had nothing to with the accident). It was a bit comical but I allowed him to do whatever he wanted and rang up my insurer(Bingle) as soon as I got home and being a budget insurer paid a hefty excess on the spot and got the claims process started. Then I rang the other driver and as he wasn't home rang the next day again and passed on the claim number(took over an hour to write it down while I spelt letter by letter but again I did not mind as all I wanted was to get him back on the road quickly)

He insisted he wanted to take the car to his usual garage/panel shop and I asked him to ring my insurer first as I have already created the claim and not to start any repairs until he speaks with my insurer. He then agreed to get the panel shop to speak with Bingle after driving his car there. I got mine fixed and the Insurance Co had been great with approving the repairs and parts for my car within days. The repairer told me that the assessor had told him to replace anything that needs replacing with a new part as mine was a relatively new car(less than 1year old), something I didn't quite expect from a budget insurer. That was the last time I've heard from the old gentleman and I assumed everything was resolved to his satisfaction.

Fast forward two months, and I receive a letter of demand from a car rental company asking me to pay $400+ stating I have to pay as attempts to recover the replacement car hire from Bingle has failed. I thought this is the reason for having full insurance(and even paying an increased premium after the accident). I'm just about to ring Bingle to find out what exactly has happened here as I never heard from anyone about a replacement car used by the other driver nor did I consent to anything of that sort in the only post-accident phone call I've had with him.

So what do you guys think about my situation right now? I've been involved in a minor accident or two in the past but this is the first time I've been the guilty party and made a claim. Therefore needless to say my understanding is quite limited on where the responsibilities of the insurance company start and stops. Should I ask them to deal with Bingle or should I let them take legal action against me and deal with it at court? Problem is I've never seen the inside of a courtroom before and wouldn't even know if it would be cheaper to pay up rather than dealing with solicitors and court proceedings.

Automotive

Comments

  • miarn on 12/02/2016 - 13:04
    +8

    Tell Bingle to deal with it, that's what you pay them for.

    Also pretty unlikely you (or Bingle) should have to pay for a hire car. His insurance co is probably just trying it on and Bingle will tell them to get stuffed.

    • jellykingdom on 12/02/2016 - 13:43
      +7

      Yes don't pay anything. Let him fight it with your insurance company. Not your problem

      • websterp on 12/02/2016 - 13:51
        +1

        That is exactly what my thinking had been. It can't be just a random thought for deciding to come after me instead of Bingle? I'd assume they know what they are doing much better than myself!

        • jellykingdom on 12/02/2016 - 13:53
          +5

          The car rental companies will try that kind of thing on. They just want to get paid!

          I had a cleaning company after me - they had cleaned my apartment after i moved out, i was told the cost would be deducted from my bond (i didn't get the money!) but they claimed they never got paid

          "not my problem" click

  • [Deactivated] on 12/02/2016 - 13:11
    +2

    I'm not an expert here but for $400, it's not worth going to court. You might want to check the rules of the Small Claims Tribunal however, as this might be the court that would cover this type of dispute. The costs are supposed to be low in this instance.

    I'm guessing the insurance that the other party had didn't include hire care facilities and that's why he's attempting to get it as part of your insurance payout or directly from you.

    • websterp on 12/02/2016 - 13:49
      +1

      Thanks for the lead about the Small Claims Tribunal. But wouldn't it be the decision of the debt collection agency acting on behalf of the rental company to decide on which court they will want to take me?

      • [Deactivated] on 12/02/2016 - 13:50

        Sorry, can't answer that one but you probably have a good point.

    • Serapis on 13/02/2016 - 17:35

      It's not even @ that point yet, it's just a letter of demand, just ignore it lol. You wouldn't contact any court or tribunal since they're the ones chasing up money, not you.

  • Smulder on 12/02/2016 - 14:14
    +4

    Forward the letter on to Bingle. Don't give it another thought.

    If they contact you again, tell them to contact your insurance company, then don't give it another thought.

    They will never take you to court, as they know that if they do, they will be facing the lawyers from Bingle, not yourself.

    They are just throwing s#!t at the wall to see if anything sticks.

  • slow on 12/02/2016 - 14:28
    +1

    When someone crashed into me last year, their insurance company (AAMI) paid for my hire car for 2 weeks whilst my car was getting repaired

  • tomleonhart on 12/02/2016 - 14:58
    +4

    hmm. This is my story coming from the other perspective:

    Someone crashed to me and I only had third party. After a couple of drama exchange, she put the claims through her insurance (NRMA).

    It was never mentioned between us but I went through a company called Right2drive. Supply a claim number to them and they supplied us with a car while my car was fixed. NRMA rang us and said it's not their responsibility to supply the car hired for us and Right2Drive said it was.

    I believed Right2Drive and never heard back from NRMA again. So I supposed Right2Drive and NRMA battle it out.

    I suggest you contact Bingle and let them deal with it.

  • BigTed on 12/02/2016 - 15:22
    +3

    The car rental company has no claim against you.
    They have a contract with the old man - let them chase him for it.
    If he then wants to claim that sum from you - let the insurer deal with it.

  • kyttiekat on 12/02/2016 - 15:49
    +2

    Same as @slow and @tomleonhart - from the other POV; last year, someone crashed into me and my car needed 2 weeks of repairs. I contacted a company called Acorns who supplied me with a hire car during this period. The process was that I supplied them with my claim number, and as long as you're not at fault, they will give you the hire car for free and chase up the insurer of the guilty party for payment. I asked how this worked and why I hadn't heard of it, and I was told that according to the law, the guilty party's insurer must cover reasonable expenses including a hire car (as long as it's similar in make/model to your original - ie can't hire a premium car if you have a little hatchback!). So the hire car company goes after the insurer directly.

    From my point of view, it was pain-free and extremely convenient.

    I doubt they'd bother to take you to court for that amount. I assume it would be between your insurer and them. And it sounds like Bingle has declined, so they're going after you instead and hoping to recover the amount quickly.

    Best of luck.

  • Save 50 Cent on 12/02/2016 - 15:56
    -4

    So how exactly did the old man manage to get the rental car in the first place? I'm asking so next time my car breaks down, i can hire one for free and make them send a letter of demand to the next door neighbour or something.

  • Randxyz123 on 12/02/2016 - 20:20
    +1

    I'm just about to ring Bingle to find out what exactly has happened here as I never heard from anyone about a replacement car used by the other driver nor did I consent to anything of that sort in the only post-accident phone call I've had with him.

    Ring Bingle. You don't need to consent to him getting a rental car for a few days. You hit him and he has a right to request this and it is a completely reasonable thing for you to pay for(or to pay for through your insurance) as long as he didn't rent a Ferrari for the time his car was getting fixed. Who knows why recovery through bingle failed but I'd be on the phone to Bingle asking what the deal is.

  • websterp on 12/02/2016 - 20:46
    +6

    Hi All,

    Thanks so much for taking time to respond to my post. All is well!

    I've rung Bingle and apparently they received the same letter of demand and it looks like the rental company is using multiple tactics to recover their expenses. There is no argument that someone has to pay that up but I don't think it has to be me(If there had been no insurance then different story). As many of you have suggested here I was told by Bingle just to ignore the letter and to let them deal with it. Nevertheless they wanted me to email my letter to them which I did.

    Thanks again everyone. It was a bit stressful this morning not knowing how to respond in this situation and thinking about the hassle of going through courts and solicitors, etc as that was the sort of language in the letter.

  • PJC on 12/02/2016 - 21:51
    +2

    They cannot win against you in Court because they cannot prove it is your debt. That is why they billed Bingle.

    • Davo1111 on 13/02/2016 - 03:18
      -2

      What are you talking about? The "accident" was clearly OPs fault and a hire car is not an unreasonable cost.

      • PJC on 13/02/2016 - 03:42
        +2

        It is not the OP's debt. In Court, you have to prove a debt to recover a debt. They billed Bingle because it is Bingle's debt. They contacted OP because the old guy acquired his address, but the debt is Bingle's.

  • dandandan on 12/02/2016 - 22:03
    +3

    Ignore, don't pay and don't even forward to your insurance company as when one utilises this service, like the old guy in your story, he would have signed an agreement like the one below;

    Compass will use its best endeavours [absent the commencement of legal proceedings] during the Credit Period to have the Charges paid by the third party [‘TP’] or the third party’s insurer/s [referred to as ‘the TPI’] and if paid the Client will be released from liability for any Charges so recovered provided that the Client has fully complied with the obligations imposed on the Client as set out in this Mandate and the RA.

  • try2bhelpful on 13/02/2016 - 07:35
    +2

    You wonder how many times this rental company has managed to double dip by sending letters to both the insurance company and the person involved. Sounds like Bingle has stepped up, which is what an insurance company should be doing but it is disappointing how often this doesn't happen.

  • Candour on 13/02/2016 - 09:46

    the idea is that the insurance company works out everything. your old man seems to have gone to town on you. unless his insurace has a hire car and yours has one for him he may not get this automatically

  • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 14:06
    +1

    You should not be admitting fault even if it is, your insurance might not like that and might not completely cover if you inadvertently accept liability for more than the insurer is willing to accept.

  • dlakers3peat on 13/02/2016 - 14:46

    Other party pays simple. I have gone with a company called compass and they charge the other insurance company. Easy

    • Sydgun on 24/02/2016 - 10:36

      Does it matter if both vehicles are insured by the same company, e.g Car A hits Car B. Both car A and Car B are insured by Insurance company X.
      Driver of car A hires rental car for free from R2D. Could this backfire on Driver A?

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