can anyone help? i had my car wrote off other partys fault! i was given a car from drive assist, i had to send all my paper work in, but they have said they have not recived the logbook and our now taking my c.car back! i now have to wait 30 day's from dvla for a copy of my log book, then send it in again, then wait another 10 day's for a check, i have to children one a baby and another at school who can't get there by bus as he has special needs what can i do? drive assist are now blamming me even though i have sent it and they have also lost paper work before this??

To Matt and Pammy, my girlfriend is in the same boat. Third party wrote off her car, admitted liability and have even paid the written off car, but they won't pay Drive Assist and Drive Assist have asked her to sign that same letter. I have asked them for a more conclusive letter stating "Please sign this because the third party will not pay unless you do sign and it will not hold you liable" but they won't do it! As with you both, they assured my girlfriend she woudl not have to pay a penny if the third party was liable. I have screen dumps off their website that state "Credit Hire: The fees will be taken from the liable third party". They are a bunch of liars and very dodgy. I have sent a complain to BBC Watchdog. Could I ask you both to do the same? Watchdog will only look into this if loads of people bring up the issue and it does seem very common lately. Keep in touch.

Right read some of these comments and am a bit annoyed now. Never posted on one of these sites ever before but feel I need to as this arguement is completely one sided

The trouble with society today is that everyone feels free to make complaints and comment on sites like this but when a service is good they dont even bother mentioning it. Not even a thank you.

I know people who work for Drive Assist as I live near their main office, many of my friendds have worked for them for years so they must be a very fair employer and lets face it at the end of the day there are a lot of firms going bust at the moment.

This site just seems intent on destroying a needed company and ruining peoples lives. If anyone has any doubts about Drive Assist at the end of the day remember that they are regulated by the fsa. They are not cowboys or fraudsters. They have been around for nearly 20 years- would they really still be in business if they were 'rogue traders'. And as people have added the big complaint seems to be damaged vehicles but as someone else has already pointed out -what if the vehicle was damaged whilst in your care? You may not have damaged it but you are still resposible for it. the same as you would be in the courtesy car.

I had a car from Drive Assist a few years ago following a non fault accident and they brought a car out the same day and I had no problems what so ever. everyone was friendly and polite. In contrast I tried to hire a vehicle privately from enterprise last month for a weekend break and their prices were sky high and their excess is £750. Why use enterprise and not drive assist you may ask. basically drive assist are not a private hire company.

Now I do understand why people want to post on sites like this but anyone reading this site who is worried about taking up Drive Assists offer should realise that I have it on very good authority that these complaints make up a VERY small percentage of their business and they have many many happy customers who would be lost without the upgrade to a drive assist car because without it they would have no car or a ford KA sized courtesy car which is not suitable for many people.

Hope this helps even out the argument as there are many awful firms out there but Drive assist is not one of them

Just because you didn't have any problems when you used Drive Assist doesn't in any way excuse their appalling behaviour towards other people. If you are up in court for mugging someone, you can't use the fact that you have met lots of other people whom you didn't attack as a defence!

As it happens the service I received from Drive Assist was shockingly bad. They deducted my credit card without authorisation and my bank quite rightly refunded my money. Drive Assist is now threatening to take me to court. I use the word threaten deliberately, since their letter implies that if I were to lose the court case I would have an automatic CCJ which would adversely affect my credit record. This is, of course, nonsense. Other people, less sure of the law, would probably cave in at this point. This forum exists as a support mechanism for people like me, them and others who continue to be abused by Drive Assist.

Incidentally, Madoff Securities International had been trading for 25 years and was regulated by the FSA. Obviously nothing dodgy about them then!

Drive Assist have just supplied me with a hire car. Mon-Fri I travel up and down the country so I needed something comfortable and suitable for transporting clients. The car was in superb condition inside and out. I requested that my BMW was taken to the dealership to be repaired; I’ve got my car back now and I can honestly say that I have had no issues with them – a great service!

Hi,

I have just been involved in an accident where i was not at fault. My insurance company said that they would put me in touch with Drive Assist. This way i would get a courtesy car and the claim would never be on my records (It'll be like you never had the accident!?). Having read this I will be thoroughly inspecting the car Drive Assist supply and taking photos/video.

However, i have a couple of questions:

Should i pay the £4 a day for the damage waiver? Am i not covered under my own insurance? And if i had a coourtesy car i wouldn't have to pay any money would i?

My insurance company (esure) as above said the accident will not be on record. But won't i still have to declare it if moving to another insurance company?

I would be grateful for any quick replies as they are meant to be dropping off today!

Thanks

the £4/day is the profit up-sell it seems most insurer's agent hire companies add that the law states is not the liability of the injured party as the only reason the payment is required is as it flows from the original act of negligence by the at fault party....another insurance trick some would say....also ALL incidents are reportable for an insurer to guage the risk....of course should a subsequent insurer find out (which they will as the claim will already be logged) they will have every right to void a policy from inception leaving you liable for prosecution for no insurance etc etc...plus the costs of any claim repayment to the MIB....

My organisation deals with many consumers misled in this way every year....

As insurers operate upon the basis of profit above all other considerations....it would seem anything goes....this may be as the average consumer has little chance, knowledge or resources to correct the wrongs and usually just gives up.....

seek INDEPENDENT advise always....

R

as usual no spelting cheques

Havent you read all the complaints? Take my advise and stear clear, ask your insurance company for a car from a normal car hire company. If you do use them, take photos of the car inside and out, when you recieve it and when you return it. Also be prepared for a bill, mine came the afternoon via email 2 hours after they collected the car

Matt and Pammy have you had any further news yet? I think there is something stupid in the contract that says they will come after the loanee for the payment if the third party hasn't coughed up after 11 months! Ridiculous. I can't beleive they have lied to us over so much money.

Just for info.....when vehicles are hired on credit which, has been the most fantastic solution for consumers where historically insurers profited from the lack of transport most folks suffered after an accident, there has to be within the contract a term that allows for the enforcement of the charges against the hirer, the consumer as without it the hire charges are unrecoverable from the at fault party.

This also allows the hire company to recover their charges from any customer who spins a pack of lies in order to obtain the hire vehicle.

HOWEVER, having hired accident replacement vehicles for longer than many of my customer's have been on the planet the principle is always that the hire company accept the amounts negotiated with the at faul insurer which, discharges all the amounts owed....

BUT, as these blogs show many Insurer appointed hire companies make extra from the injured consumers by selling CDW and over-charging for alleged damage etc etc...

The conduct of insurers has further diminshed over the last 12 months or so as so many are Bank owned and as we all know...there appears to be no morals with the financial services markets so insurers now attack claims and appoint many unauthorised individuals and companies to bypass the insurers statutory responsibilities under the strict laws and regulations of the Financial Services and Markets Act...which of course is much the same conduct the banks had that led to their collapse....

It would seem Insurers have little regard to good conduct as the Financial Services Ombudsman has found that 60% of complaints are upheld against the Financial Services Industry. The FOS also seem to believe that the real level of failure with the industry is higher but many consumers just give up a complaint. We are very aware of the many hurdles put up by insurers to prevent a complaint being accepted ...such is the FSA's unfitness for purpose as a regulator to enforce Parliaments will!

R

R

You will hear loads of tall stories to get you to get a car from this mob, but here it is in a nutshell:

You are signing a credit hire agreement which will make you ultimately responsible for the hire charge which will be at fantasy island rates. No matter what you hear or are told THIS IS THE CASE.

You will receive a car better than your own and it will arrive in a timely manner from a nice bloke/woman who'll ask you to sign an electronic device as a receipt of delivery. It'll be your choice to take the waiver or not. If you don't take it you will have an increased (some will say invitable) chance of been charged a damage bill.

You will then receive the 'paperwork' via e-mail with your signature transposed onto it. Chances are you will not know what you are signing until you receive this.

I would say to be on the safe side stay away from this racket, but that's my own opinion. If you do, make sure you 'lose' your credit/debit card and get a replacement with a new number.

As for your other question. As soon as you ring your insurance company and report the accident you have, in effect, made a claim. It is a 'fault claim' until they can get full payment back which can take months. This will afftect your renewal premium, any unprotected NCB and any new quotes you get until the matter is resolved even if you're clearly not at faut. It WILL be on your record and you'll have to declare it as Roly states. Even if the matter is settled in your favour you will still need to disclose it to future insurers for years (depending on insurer quoting).

Not to misquote Happysaks but seems a racket to benefit insurers at the costs of injured and vulnerable individuals.........but like all businesses.... some bad, some even worse but some open honest, transparent and consumer focused rather than contracted to insurer's profit targets.

Compton, I will certainly write to Watchdog over the next week regarding Drive Assist. I have not yet responded to their letter but will seek legal advice. I will certainly keep in touch and let you know how it pans out.

Matt

We nailed drive assist a couple of months back. Tesco Insurance recommended them and they supplied us a Mercedes.

On supplying the vehicle to my wife the delivery driver told my wife "no need to check it thoroughly, everything is OK". You'll find out why I can quote this verbatim in a minute. My wife insisted she take a look and the driver did the internal inspection whilst sitting on the driver seat.

I got home and immediately noticed a massive stain on the driver seat. My wife hadnt seen it - as that was where the driver chose to sit! We now believe he was purposefully obscuring it, and later found his colleagues were in on the scam...

The time came for the car to be picked up and I knew trouble was brewing (I'd read this forum). I was amazed that the young lad who collected it saw the stain without even opening the door !!!!! He then counted 12 additional dints that had apparently happend since we had the vehicle (just one week and one trip!!!!).

I refused to sign the form and he took the car away.

We then got correspondence asking us to settle a valet bill and 2 of the deeper dints or we would face legal action.

Fortunately I have CCTV covering my house, recorded both of the Drive Assist visits, including the delivery driver sitting on the driver side. On closer inspection I realised that the collection driver did not even look inside the vehicle - so how on earth did he know there was a stain ????? (obviously he got in to drive it away but that was after he issued me with the damage report).

It was clearly a scam and we had evidence. We alerted Tesco and Trading standards. Drive Assist sent us a letter withdrawing the claim. Tesco told us that Drive Assist is in the process of being removed from their pannel because of previous complaints and Trading Standards told us there is an on going investigation.

STEER WELL CLEAR PEOPLE!!!!! If you have a Drive Assist Vehicle right now and have a concern over pre-existing damage you should alert your local trading standards - they are keen to have witnesses. As an aside, CCTV is bloody handy sometimes!

Why didn't you call customer services when you noticed the stain the driver had missed off and report it to them, rather than leave it until when they collect the car and find it?

Its more likley that a stain would be caused after having the car after a week rather than 10 minutes after the vehicle had been dropped off? Think about it, if a driver unaware of your situation collects car from you and finds the stain not already been recorded or reported to drive assist on VCR, what else can you expect him to think?! According to report was no stain on delivery, now is one on collection which means most likely would of been caused whilst vehicle was in your possession, and even if you had told the story about the delivery driver missing the stain off when we collect vehicle after being sent a bill, anyone will say anything to get out of paying for damage.

To summarise, if you notice damage after vehicle has been delivered that isnt on VCR or hasnt been pointed out by driver, call customer services and tell them!...don't leave it until last minute then complain when they find something and send a bill