QuestionI was in a car accident in 2010. Basically, someone made an illegal u-turn and hit my car. While my car was in the body shop, the body shop referred me to a car rental place. When I made a claim with the other party's insurance, they asked me if I'm renting a car. I informed them I was and the name of the rental place. The claims seemed to go through and all seemed well. A few months ago, I got a call from the car rental place saying that they've been trying to get a hold of the insurance company to pay the bill but had no success. They asked me to call the insurance company and when I responded that that is not my responsibility, they began to threaten to take me to court and to send me to a collection agency.
Despite my belief that I shouldn't even be involved in helping the car rental get their money, I called the other party's insurance company and spoke with the same rep that handled my claim. He said he would follow up with the car rental and get back to me. It's been two months and I assumed since I didn't hear from him, everything must have been taken care of. Today, I received a letter from a collection agency with the full amount due plus all these other service fees and interest fees. It's the weekend, so the insurance company is closed until Monday. I'm trying not to freak out but I wanted to have a solid plan for when I go into the car insurance company's office on Monday.
Answer Hello Lynette,
This is completely outrageous!
Here's what you need to do. On Monday morning, call the insurance company with your claim number. Ask to speak to the manager who is (or was) assigned to your claim. Inform the manager politely what has occurred and request his immediate assistance to resolve this. Resolving this also means resolving any issues with the collection agency. If the manager is not cooperative, go above his head. You might have to do some digging, but you can determine who is ultimately in charge.
They absolutely owe you for the rental attached to your loss. No excuses.
As your last resort, you might need to hire an attorney to send a threatening letter to the insurance company. And it would not hurt to inform whoever you speak to that this is your last attempt to get this paid, that henceforth they can deal with your attorney.
No, it might not seem cost effective to hire an attorney for a rental car bill, but this is your credit rating. And possibly you are entitled to some additional damages. That, of course, is a legal question.
I would also suggest you contact the collection agency and explain the situation to them. Whatever your choices, you do not want to simply ignore them.
I wish you good luck!
Jane Pytel
http://InsuranceExpertAdvice.com
http://SolutionsForYourInsuranceClaim.com
http://FloridaAutoInsuranceCentral.com
