Car hit by Hertz rental. Can I deal directly with Hertz?

[jjr1]

My wifes car was left this morning in a car park and a woman reversed into it whilst we were shopping. She left details with the witnesses (the people cleaning my wifes car) and after calling her, she explained it was a Hertz rental.

So my question is, can I just approach Hertz directly and seek compensation or do I need to involve the wifes insurance company? The lady in question has no excess to pay so she wants to deal with the Hertz insurers.

I don't fancy involving the wifes insurers as this may lead to a claim without blame but will still load up her premium on renewal.

[worsy]

jjr1 said:

My wifes car was left this morning in a car park and a woman reversed into it whilst we were shopping. She left details with the witnesses (the people cleaning my wifes car) and after calling her, she explained it was a Hertz rental.

So my question is, can I just approach Hertz directly and seek compensation or do I need to involve the wifes insurance company? The lady in question has no excess to pay so she wants to deal with the Hertz insurers.

I don't fancy involving the wifes insurers as this may lead to a claim without blame but will still load up her premium on renewal.

Taken directly from

AXA Car Insurance quotation said:

Have you been involved in any claims or accidents in the last 3 years?

Yes No

You must declare all accidents, claims or damage involving any motor vehicle, including:

Any claim, regardless of who was at fault
Any incidents which did not result in a claim
Windscreen claims

Probably fairly standard. Up to you.

[GC8]

Yes you can deal with them directly and no, you do not have to involve your wife's insurers (although it may be prudent in some cases and arguably required in most).

/unsanctimonious post

[Magic919]

You can just let your wife's insurer know, for information purposes and then claim from the Third Party insurer.

[jjr1]

GC8 said:

Yes you can deal with them directly and no, you do not have to involve your wife's insurers (although it may be prudent in some cases and arguably required in most).

/unsanctimonious post

Would this still require my wife to tell her insurers on renewal and if so what is the benefit, if any, in dealing with it yourself?

[Hamish Finn]

jjr1 said:

Would this still require my wife to tell her insurers on renewal ?

worsy has already answered this question for you.

[LoonR1]

jjr1 said:

My wifes car was left this morning in a car park and a woman reversed into it whilst we were shopping. She left details with the witnesses (the people cleaning my wifes car) and after calling her, she explained it was a Hertz rental.

So my question is, can I just approach Hertz directly and seek compensation or do I need to involve the wifes insurance company? The lady in question has no excess to pay so she wants to deal with the Hertz insurers.

I don't fancy involving the wifes insurers as this may lead to a claim without blame but will still load up her premium on renewal.

1. What "compensation" do you want?
2. Why will it "load her premium at renewal"?

[creampuff]

LoonR1 said:

1. What "compensation" do you want?

Well given the car was being washed at the time of the incident, after it is repaired I think OP's wife would want it washed again.

[Fish]

Actually, (subject to correction!) if the car was under the control and authority of the valeters at the time of the accident and wasn't just parked, then YOU have not had an accident as the vehicle was not in your control.

I had a similar experience when my car was the responsibility of a tyre centre and before I returned and paid my bill hence became the driver again, an artic ran into it.... not a reportable accident that I have had but an accident that the tyre fit place had with their customers car...

[Blue Oval84]

OP - you still have to declare at renewal.

Benefit of dealing yourself is simply that you may find the third party's insurer to be very accommodating. If you put it in the hands of your insurer you will most likely be bounced to an accident management company who will fix your car and provide you with a credit hire vehicle.

There's nothing wrong with this except that you will be taking out credit for thousands of pounds worth of hire car, my friend was chased by the other car's insurers for months after he did this (his credit hire bill was five times larger than the repair bill). He was ok because in the end they did pay his bill.

If you claim directly then this won't be an issue, you'll get a courtesy car with no credit agreement, and repair at a place of your choice.

[worsy]

Fish said:

Actually, (subject to correction!) if the car was under the control and authority of the valeters at the time of the accident and wasn't just parked, then YOU have not had an accident as the vehicle was not in your control.

I had a similar experience when my car was the responsibility of a tyre centre and before I returned and paid my bill hence became the driver again, an artic ran into it.... not a reportable accident that I have had but an accident that the tyre fit place had with their customers car...

Taken directly from

AXA Car Insurance quotation said:

Have you been involved in any claims or accidents in the last 3 years?

Yes No

You must declare all accidents, claims or damage involving any motor vehicle, including:

Any claim, regardless of who was at fault
Any incidents which did not result in a claim
Windscreen claims

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Fish said:

Actually, (subject to correction!) if the car was under the control and authority of the valeters at the time of the accident and wasn't just parked, then YOU have not had an accident as the vehicle was not in your control.

I had a similar experience when my car was the responsibility of a tyre centre and before I returned and paid my bill hence became the driver again, an artic ran into it.... not a reportable accident that I have had but an accident that the tyre fit place had with their customers car...

Problem is you must disclose accidents or claims. And you are making a claim.
If my son has an accident driving my car, then we both have to disclose it on future insurances, him as having had an accident and me as having made a claim.

[mikeveal]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Problem is you must disclose accidents or claims. And you are making a claim.
If my son has an accident driving my car, then we both have to disclose it on future insurances, him as having had an accident and me as having made a claim.

No, you're not making a claim. The third party are claiming from their policy to pay for your repair.

Doesn't make any sodding difference though, you still have to declare to your insurer that you've had an incident or accident.

[youngsyr]

worsy said:

jjr1 said:

My wifes car was left this morning in a car park and a woman reversed into it whilst we were shopping. She left details with the witnesses (the people cleaning my wifes car) and after calling her, she explained it was a Hertz rental.

So my question is, can I just approach Hertz directly and seek compensation or do I need to involve the wifes insurance company? The lady in question has no excess to pay so she wants to deal with the Hertz insurers.

I don't fancy involving the wifes insurers as this may lead to a claim without blame but will still load up her premium on renewal.

Taken directly from

AXA Car Insurance quotation said:

Have you been involved in any claims or accidents in the last 3 years?

Yes No

You must declare all accidents, claims or damage involving any motor vehicle, including:

Any claim, regardless of who was at fault
Any incidents which did not result in a claim
Windscreen claims

Probably fairly standard. Up to you.

The second part of that AXA quote is nonsensical - it says you must declare any accident involving any motor vehicle. There are around 200,000 accidents in the UK per year, per that requirement you must declare them all!

[Seesure]

Why do we have this fear / aversion to involving insurance companies???

Does everyone REALLY get fleeced when they mention an accident / claim ???

My car took a knock last October in stop start traffic, I rang my insurance company to advise and they asked if I wanted them to deal with it or whether I was happy to deal with the 3rd party's insurer.

I chose the latter, had my car repaired, they also provided a hire car whilst mine was away.

Repair cost was circa £1,500, I had the hire car for 5 days (a 2.0l Vauxhall "Insipid").

When my renewal letter came through in March it was £30 lower than the previous year and lower than the same company was being quoted through the likes of comparison web sites....

[S11Steve]

Bear in mind that even though it was a Hertz car, it does not necessarily mean that Hertz provided the insurance cover at the time. Many rental customers use their own fleet policy, and in some accident management cases it is the drivers own insurance that covers the replacement vehicle.

Hertz are unlikely to divulge this information freely to a member of the public, so the request for information may well have to come through your own insurers, or the police if they were involved.

There is also the small matter of it belonging to Hertz corporate, or whether it is an independent franchise operating under the Hertz name.

[LoonR1]

Seesure said:

Why do we have this fear / aversion to involving insurance companies???

Does everyone REALLY get fleeced when they mention an accident / claim ???

My car took a knock last October in stop start traffic, I rang my insurance company to advise and they asked if I wanted them to deal with it or whether I was happy to deal with the 3rd party's insurer.

I chose the latter, had my car repaired, they also provided a hire car whilst mine was away.

Repair cost was circa £1,500, I had the hire car for 5 days (a 2.0l Vauxhall "Insipid").

When my renewal letter came through in March it was £30 lower than the previous year and lower than the same company was being quoted through the likes of comparison web sites....

Don't bother. Balanced comments like yours are ignored on here in favour of Urban Myth and hyperbole.

[Sheepshanks]

Seesure said:

Why do we have this fear / aversion to involving insurance companies???

Does everyone REALLY get fleeced when they mention an accident / claim ???

My car took a knock last October in stop start traffic, I rang my insurance company to advise and they asked if I wanted them to deal with it or whether I was happy to deal with the 3rd party's insurer.

I chose the latter, had my car repaired, they also provided a hire car whilst mine was away.

Repair cost was circa £1,500, I had the hire car for 5 days (a 2.0l Vauxhall "Insipid").

When my renewal letter came through in March it was £30 lower than the previous year and lower than the same company was being quoted through the likes of comparison web sites....

I was just going to post almost the same - except I let our insurance company deal with the whole thing after someone ran into the back of Mrs R's car.

To my mind, this is what having "fully comp" insurance is all about. st happens - you call your insurer and they sort it out.

[Alfa numeric]

LoonR1 said:

Seesure said:

Why do we have this fear / aversion to involving insurance companies???

Does everyone REALLY get fleeced when they mention an accident / claim ???

My car took a knock last October in stop start traffic, I rang my insurance company to advise and they asked if I wanted them to deal with it or whether I was happy to deal with the 3rd party's insurer.

I chose the latter, had my car repaired, they also provided a hire car whilst mine was away.

Repair cost was circa £1,500, I had the hire car for 5 days (a 2.0l Vauxhall "Insipid").

When my renewal letter came through in March it was £30 lower than the previous year and lower than the same company was being quoted through the likes of comparison web sites....

Don't bother. Balanced comments like yours are ignored on here in favour of Urban Myth and hyperbole.

In 2008 my car was hit by a van in a carpark. The van driver didn't stop and I didn't get the registration. I rang the insurance company who directed me to their local authorised repairer- they had a look at it and quoted me a price that was less than my excess, so I borrowed a car for a few days, paid for the repair and didn't make a claim.

The following year my insurer told me that because I'd had an accident in the year my premium was going up. I can't remember exactly how much it went up by but I do remember that it was in the hundreds of pounds. So it does happen.

[Zigster]

Sheepshanks said:

I was just going to post almost the same - except I let our insurance company deal with the whole thing after someone ran into the back of Mrs R's car.

To my mind, this is what having "fully comp" insurance is all about. st happens - you call your insurer and they sort it out.

Ditto. A few years ago, someone ran into the back of me while I was stationary at lights. We exchanged details, I called my insurer and they dealt with it from then on. Minimised the hassle for me.