Got exactly same problem, they initially obtained my bank card details and when they collected the courtesy car, they claimed that I have damaged their car. I disputed it and refuse to sign for their claim as I was 100 % sure that i did not cause any damage. Few days later, using my bank details they obtain beforehand debited money from my account.

This is the biggest fraud that ever happened to me and they need to be stopped before they continue to rob people

Same old behind the scene tricks from insurers and their agents

What consumers are never informed of when the 'at fault' insurer calls to 'assure you they are admitting liability and will deal with your claim' is that;

The FSA Regulations dictate that you should receive in writing confirmation of their conflicts of interest and that you give your 'informed consent' that you are content with their conflict of interests! The conflicts are clear; the more services you receive the less profit the insurer makes. Therefore, over the last few years under the complete lack of regulation of insurers by the FSA. (see banks and causes of the credit crunch for thousands of exmples) motor insurers have made behind the scene contracts with hire companies, solicitors and car repairers to ensure that the value of a claim is 'capped' via many and varies forms of conduct and practice. All undisclosed to any consumer?

Claims Capping is well known as even consumers own insurers sell claims onto solicitors that they tell consumers are 'selected' or 'appointed' by the insurer concerned. Of course, these clear conflicts are never disclosed or any 'informed consent' obtained.

Repairing garages that rely upon insurers work referrals are well known to commonly have defective work levels approaching 50%. This may be because they are content to operate with insirers to use non-genuine parts and on many occasions second hand parts to keep repair costs to the insurers down. None of these facts are ever disclosed using the prescribed processes to obtain 'informed consent' as who in their right mind agrees to have their vehicle repaired using components that reduce the value of the vehicle once repaired as who when buying a car pays the same price for a car that was repaiered using a lesser standard than should have been?

Of course insurers operate free of any Ombudsman scrutiny as no 'third party' is allowed to have the Ombudsman investigate the conduct as the Ombudman operates under rules set up under 'insurer influence'.

Despite the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 clearly stating that anyone who has a right to claim upon any policy which all injured parties claiming upon another motorists insurance policy are, have a right to seek a refrreal to the Ombudsman. However, the Ombudsman uses their own interpretation of the FSMA to decline any third party complaint even when an insurer uses, self employed, untrained, unregulated 'agents' to seek out injured parties to ensure they are persuaded, cojuled and misled and even intimidated into accepting veastly reduced amounts for their injuries than the law allows.

So whenever you receive a call from an insurer explaining they are here to help, form you own view with these few pieces of information that I experience everyday in my professional life.

Hence the FSA are generaaly known as the commonly used words linked to the initials SFA, following the words they do.....

Oh yes, when you accept an insurer arranged hire car. The hire company can make as much from the add ons they seek you pay for than they do from the profit on the hire vehicle. The vehicle will be withdrawn upon instructions from the insurer rergardless of whatever you feel is fair. Also, those without a vehicle and in a finacial hole will be more likely to agree to the vastly reduced valuation of their vehicle when the insurance engineer has valued the vehicle within the reduced values an insurer has directed him to use. Also, if an engineers salary is linked to the costs reductions in claims are they likely to ensure your vehicle is valued at its full open market value or arrange for only manufacturers genuine parts to be used?

You decide?

Keep safe and if any thing happens make sure you seek out a truly Independent Accident Management Company authoried by bothe the FSA, MoJ and a Member of the Claims Standards Council.

The citzens of Plymouth f=generally use a company operating from that fine city and apparently do so because they know there are no behind the scene contracts operating that limit the value or quality of the services they receive.

But I am bias after nearly 20 years of only handling claims for consumers and catching insurers call centre kiddies out!

Ro

as usual no spell check !

i am not surprised by what i have been reading about driver assist. i had the unfortunate experience of having a hire car supplied by them by another parties insurance company. when they brought the car to me they realed off all these extra charges for insurance incase i had an accident bla bla bla but i just said no, i wasnt expecting to have the car for that long anyway. when the guy did the inspection of the car he was supplying me with i felt he was being really picky with what he was noting down so i started looking around it myself and pointed out few more nicks and scratches. they also took £50 from my credit card just incase there was any damage on return and this would hold all my details for them to take what they wanted. i must admit i was dead scared while i had the car incase anyone scratched it or anything. when i came to returning it they wanted me to bring it back to them so i just dropped the keys off at their office. whilst there i noticed on the counter this flip chart of the costs of damages. little scratches etc were £600 and £800 so i thought there is no way they are going to rip me off when they picked the car up.I made sure they phoned me when they arrived and told them i wanted to be there when they did their inspection. there was no way they were going to pick the car up and then call me and tell me about "damages". I did notice that an "I" was missing off the word FIESTA on the back of the car but didnt know whether it was like that before. anyway thankfully the guy never noticed he was too busy looking for scratches elsewhere but i can certainly see how they carry on if your not vigilent and i phoned them straight away to get my £50 put back on my card which they did!

The problem with scripts is that staff follow them as gospel without ever had independent training that would enable them to understand that the add-ons are in law nearly always recoverable from the offending driver and their insurers.

Unfortunately as the hire companies referred to operate at the behest of insurers they rarely advise customers without an eye on keeping their work providers happy.

Of cours ethe FSA has strict regulations on disclosing 'behind the scene contracts' that affect the advice given to vulnerable consumers which the law regards all accident victims are.

But there we have it not only have the FSA allowed banks to blow themselves into near oblivion but they have never ensured motor insurers cease behind the scene profit making agreements for themselves and their chosen agents of mis-information.....

ps this has not been spelt chequed!

Just a quick follow up ..... these are not courtesy cars. Courtesy Cars are provided by the body repairers and most of them charge for insurance (about £10 per day and they are normally very small cars like Ford Ka or Fiesta.... not vey suitable for 2 kids, buggies and shopping). These are HIRE CARS which the costs are paid for by the negligent party as you have a genuine need for a car (and by the way all the companies in this field record ALL the calls made to their offices). You are asked questions like do you have another vehicle you can use, do you need a certain size of vehicle etc.

Make sure you read before you sign .... (doesn't everyone?)

Check the damage record paperwork that you are sent or emailed with the actual vehicle... (doesn't everyone?)

Note down the times when you called the call center ... helps with any problems that arise as they can listen to the recordings!! .... and you can use it against them in court!!

If damage occurs when the vehicle is in your possession .... even if its by someone else in Tescos car park ... you will be charged!! ...... simple answer! take out the CDW insurance like you do when you hire a car in Spain!! Accidents happen ... thats why you are dealing with Drive Assist!!!!!

I work for Drive Assist ... and have worked for their competitors as well. Your recollection of events is not accurate. Firstly I cannot believe that anyone would sign anything without reading what they were signing and the product being there!! are you mad? .... secondly, if the car was as filthy as you say, why didn't you reject it? You can at any time decline assistance and hire a car yourself. I have been in the industry for over 5 years and the call centers have very clearly defined scripts, due to the legal aspects involved, and explain that you will recieve a car on a credit hire basis as you have a need for a car. Companies like Drive Assist, Accident Exchange, Helphire, Albany, Swift, etc ..all provide additional services and collision damage waiver (like any hire company) for a small fee. These companies are providing a service to hundreds of people every day .... if they were as bad as you say they would not still be around .... They main problem you seem to have is that they tried to charge you for damaging their car, seems fair when you are charging someone else for damaging yours! .... next time you hire a car ..take out the collision damage waiver insurance ... about £4 or £5 a day, a very small cost for a car when you don't have one .... good luck, and safe driving

Regarding the charge for the mirror...ask Drive Assist to confirm when they last inspected the mirror for any such repair?

If they say it was not noted as damaged on delivery to you ask how or when they inspect for the type of damage you found....It may be they never have inspected for the type of damage you found and therefore they cannot be certain it happened while in your custody and control?

R

ps no spelting or grammer cheque by me on this quick notes

Hi All. I am having problems also but not sure if there is anything i can do.

I have had a car from drive assist for about a month with no problems. The car was due to go back and so i thought id do the right thing and get it cleaned. When it was being jet washed the wing mirror just fell off. It turns out that someone previous to myself had broken it and superglued the mirror back on.

Now drive assist say they are going to charge me for someone elses damage!

I dont know if there is anything i can do though.

Its good to hear you like your job but these comments & statements are not being made up! its not a maybe that some drivers are not doing there job its a fact! as you can read we were not the only ones to complain about the service and its not just a coincidence that the same thing is happening to people, its quite obvious SOME of the staff at drive assist are not doing there job correctly which is seriously letting the company down if ALL the staff were like you then maybe the bad comments & unsatisified customers would not be writing on here! I have had no issues with drive assist themself its was just the bad service of that particular driver!

Hello, I currently work for Drive Assist and am very proud of my role and of the comprehensive service they provide.

Like any good company it's only as good as the staff who actually do the job.

Each driver undergoes extensive training on how to do the job and to explain the legal responsibilities of the client or customer.

Each time a vehicle is delivered to a customer, the delivery driver has to 1, show ID and introduce him/her self, 2, explain in simple terms the delivery procedure including taking licence details and entering such details into the hand held computer, 3, showing the customer the controlls and any damage that particular vehicle may have sustained previously internally and externally. the customer is then invited to look for any damage or marks/blemishes/stains not pointed out by the delivery driver and not shown on the computer. these would be noted and added to the computer system at the time of delivery by the driver.

Not until these procedures were complete would the customer be required to read a statement on the computer above the signature box stating that they accept the condition of the vehicle.

Maybe some staff do not follow the correct procedure to the letter and this may lead to discrepencies later on in the service.

if the job is done right, the client is fully aware and in agreement with all the terms and conditions relating to the hire of their replacement vehicle.

any insurance excess portaining to the hire is also explained by the driver BEFORE customers sign for the car.

All of Drive Assist's vehicles are nearly new and are of a high specification.

in my experience, customers are very happy with the service they receive from all departments within the company, from first contact to delivery drivers such as myself.

My boyfriend has had the same sort of problem Drive assist was supplying his Courtesy car via his insurance company and has been ripped off, Car was spotless when arrived the driver was really thorough and did all checks, but on pick up it was a different story no thorough checks were made and the driver seemed happy with the car no damage was pointed out petrol was checked and everything was fine he passed him a hand held computer to sign for collection and went on his way happily telling him this was his last pick up of the day! it seemed strange it was so quick as the other guy took his time to check but he just thought it was because he wanted to get off!!

It was only 2 days later when he received a Bill thanking him for his Payment of £29.90 and a report saying there was damage to the rim that wasnt there before also the petrol tank was empty!! FURIOUS he called Drive assist who informed him that he should of read the hand held and that would of told him of the damage my boyfriend cant recall what was on the screen but surely any damaged should of been discussed!!! they told him that if he had any complaints he needs to email them,

We couldnt beleive that its happened with other people too! they seem to be just ripping people off and getting away with it i know its only thirty quid but its not the point were disgusted with them have made a complaint to the insurance company about using such a bad company and theyre looking into it! and ive just received a letter from Drive Assist who will be looking into it since receiving my phone call so we will see!!! will keep updated

I had a nice bloke with a south african accent delivering a car to my house from Drive Assist.I own a Range Rover which guzzles Diesel like water so they delivered one as a courtesy car.The bloke was superb, we checked the vehicle in and out and was in perfect condition so i would not mind been charged for damages that occured after.The thing is-fuel light was on, meaning the vehicle was almost empty.When i questioned wether i should return the vehicle on same level of fuel on the day they collect it, He showed me a receipt showing that he had put in £10 of fuel and had to travel 50 miles to my house.That was the amount he was authorised to fuel the car by the Company.Logic does not tell them that £10 in a Range Rover is peanuts.

I surely agree. What a bloody marvelous company run from a pig sty by unscrupulous louts.

Best you be made aware that many companies such as CCL and Drive Assist work for and on behalf of insurers and can often be operating without due authorisation from the FSA or Claims Management Regulator. Contact a Claims Professional seeking they confirm there are no behind the scene contracts with insurers that enable the vehicle supplier to make 'sales' for CDW insurance or for so-called 'repair charges' after being passed the victims details by the insurer of the at fault driver. CCL have a history of selling CDW type of insurance on top of the so-called free car that they are meant to be supplying to the injured party. But there again, CCL used to advertise that all their proceedures were FSA approved which is strange given their historic inability to be authorised by the FSA to sell CDW or ebven handle claims? Best remeber that every penny an insurer can cut from claims by hire companies dropping prices as they are able to recoup monies from the victim is a win for their Claims Capping/Third Party Capture/Intervention practices. While the FSA remain deaf,dumb and blind to the facts of the insurers and their contractors conduct victims remain victimised. But there we have it! R