This is a startling example of the issues both insurers and credit hire companies face in the current market.
The credit hire organisation will undoubtedly place the delays experienced firmly with the insurer. However, the considerable references to ‘courtesy car’ throughout the piece will leave the credit hire organisation with a mountain to climb to recover this matter. And with the courtesy cars – which include pricy models such as the Jaguar XF – having been let to the customer for almost a year, it’s easy to see how the bill racked up.
But even if the credit hire organisation and the insurer do overcome this hurdle, the basic hire rate, within two miles of the repairer (as this was the only address given within the piece), going back to April 2022, was £99 per day. That is two-thirds of the amount claimed by the credit hire organisation – and that is at the full period claimed, which will undoubtedly be challenged.
All parties must do better to avoid these cases where charges accrue and are out of control. While it is easy for both sides to blame each other, the individual, in this case, is correct: the only person who suffers is the premium payer. With news of premiums going up by an average of 20 per cent in 2023, it is worth keeping track of these costs and finding hire costs for the time the vehicles were used – whether it was a month ago or three years ago.
Here at Bridgetech, thanks to our SaaS platform, Arbitrate, we can provide basic hire rate (BHR) evidence that helps customers reduce rates paid on credit hire invoices. We can quickly generate robust, time-specific and geographically appropriate evidence to show the ‘going rate’ or the BHR for the hire period. This means customers can then agree to settle the credit hire invoice at a fair and reasonable daily rate, based on demonstrable evidence.