£300 Per Day Car Hire ???

[tali1]

"A woman was given a £400,000 bill for the hired Mercedes she was given to drive while her accident claim was being resolved.

Susan Harries drove her Audi, worth £10,000, into a parked Honda in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, in 2016 and was offered a Mercedes C220 by an independent firm."


For three years, Mrs Harries hired the motor costing £300 per day with the total bill coming to £400,000.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/woman-handed-400k-bill-driving-17237827

[albaqwerty]

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/woman-handed-400k-bill-driving-17237827


3 years? daft bat and as she was at fault, she should pay it.
Also, the small print is there for a reason.

[tonyav]

They can afford it in Sutton Coldfield, ah wench ;-)

[Buenchico]

Claiming that someone reversed their car out of their drive, and into your path, when you actually ploughed into the back of their stationary (and unoccupied) vehicle because you weren't looking where you were going is probably NOT a good idea!
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/claimants-400k-car-hire-bill-a-stark-warning-to-reckless-providers/5101973.article

[tali1]

Regardless of who is at fault or whether it hired for 3 days or 3 years - not the point here .£300 per day car hire ????

[dannyk13]

Surely you checked the price of rental before you took delivery?

[dannyk13]

Sorry for you read she.

[TheDevil]

I think the woman was silly to use an independent firm for a hire car rather than going threw her insurance but not just that, she was silly enough not to read the fine print or it seems realise that there was a daily charge or what that daily charge was.

And as Buenchico mentions, the situation where she initially crashed her 10K car and tried to lie is heinous.

Yes, £300 car hire daily is extortionate and it makes you think, what utter mug would use that?

Rhetorical question of course, the same mug who ploughed into the back of a stationary car because they weren't looking at the road.

Some people are stupid, and deserve to be fined £400,000.

[CrapAtCryptics]

i`m surprised they gave her an upmarket car to start with - and judging by the recent adverts you could get a much better rate especially on an extended hire.

[TonyV]

She signed the small print £300 per day is not expensive if you want an upmarket car, and depends on other factors as well.

[TonyV]

guess she can take it to high court, but no chance of claiming that sort of money.

[Barmaid]

This is not traditional car hire, it is credit hire. There is loads of case law about this now.

[TheDevil]

£400,000 / 300 = 1333

So she had the car on hire from an independent firm for 1333 days.

1333 / 365 = 3.6

She had the hire car for over 3 and a half years.

Who on earth has a hire car for more than what is necessary?

The lady in question seems dumb.

[TonyV]

OK Barmaid hadn't read any case law, just given my thoughts.

[Khandro]

It's not even a top of the range Mercedes, the hire price is ridiculous, a new C class costs only around 30,000.
I can hire a Lamborghini here for 500 a day.

[TonyV]

OK Khandro, I would stick to Suzuki soft top jeep, at least you can have some fun.

[Khandro]

I've settled for a Honda Jazz Tony - perhaps it's an 'age thing' :0)

[bookbinder]

To have continued to drive the (expensive) hire car for such a long time, and probably she knew what the daily rate was, suggests that the woman was absolutely convinced that she would win her claim.

[TonyV]

Would not drive such a boring looking motor even as a second car.

[Buenchico]

Regular car hire firms get their money up front. The type of firm referred to in this thread knows that they won't see a penny until the end of the hire period (which could be many months or, as in this case, years).

Further, they know that if the driver (rather than an insurer) has to pay, there's a high risk that they might default, e.g. by declaring themselves bankrupt, as may well happen in this case.

So, just like lenders who offer money to 'high risk' borrowers, they're forced to charge much higher rates than are available through normal car hire arrangements.

[TonyV]

or get hardtop and fit soft top in the summer.