Row over £1,000 hire car excess

P.G. writes: My wife was involved in an accident last June which was not her fault. She was using a car hired from Avis and the third party who caused the accident immediately accepted responsibility. Avis then took £1,000 from our credit card account for the excess on the insurance. We did not mind as we presumed it would soon be repaid. We have tried contacting Avis, only to be pushed aside. I contacted the third party and was told it was all sorted. YOUR wife has been stuck in the middle of a dispute between Avis and the other driver’s insurance company. Although you and your wife are £1,000 out of pocket, you have been shut out of the negotiations between the two sides.

Your wife was driving along a village road in Milnthorpe, Cumbria. As she drove past stationary vehicles, one of them, a pick-up truck, pulled out and hit the passenger side of her car. About a month later you spoke to the company that owns the pick-up truck and you were told that all the paperwork had been sent to its insurer, so your wife should be repaid the £1,000.

But Avis has told me a rather different story. Although the driver of the truck and his employer may have admitted liability verbally, once their insurer became involved they tried to blame your wife.

Avis said: ‘We empathise with this customer’s frustration over the delay in processing the refund of their excess, which was due to the third party claiming the customer was liable for the accident.’

It took seven months for Avis’s legal team to get the other side finally to admit liability. The £1,000 has now been credited to your card.