neilm

Some dozy bint slid nicely into my three door last night while I was parked at the side of the road.

As I was stationary with my lights on and she locked up in the snow and crashed into me it has been suggested I use HelpHire to sort the claim out, as its not my fault.

Anyone else used them ? What was the experience


www.helphire.com

Daviet

ive used them before and they were really good tbh.and i reckon they also help spped up the claim as insurance dont wanna be paying out fees to them for hire of cars etc.they also give you a car on a like for like basis so hopefully you will get something decent to use in the mean time.the depot up here has got alsorts of cars.carrera4s,m3's and a few scoob and evos so hopefully no slumming it in 1.0 micra
sorry to hear about your car tho

i did use helphire but my mate whos a bodyshop manager use http://www.accidentexchange.com/ and they have got some lovely cars aswell and seem to sort everything out no probs.

Nick.

Oh noes... I take it this is my dad's old 3 door (rsjp) if so.. bummer..

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Ive used a similar claims recovery firm, all went very smoothly.

SassyRS

i used them 9 years ago! they were excellent then, top service i must say!

tabetha

I went with ROOSIE's company off here, as they do nothing but car accident stuff, he is the fastest solicitor I have ever known, and been rear ended 5 times in 11 years.
They will sort you a courtesy car now, delivered to you from just a phone call on a no win no fee basis, and do all the work while you just sit back and relax, they also give regular updates, so you don't have to keep ringing them, but they are always there on the phone if you want to.
Roosie off here can be contacted on 07850671020
tabetha

zedtechs

Excellent company used them when I wrote my car of a few years back, delivered the car on a low loader and picked it up aswell.

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

bad luck for the 3 dr, is it bad?

what was it out in the snow for anyways?

i have used helphire twice. I had 2 seperate non fault accidents on my bike about 4yrs ago and my ins company use them to sort it out. ABsolutely fantastic they were. They provided me a hire bike straight away and did all the donkey work. I guess they are still as good!

neilm

Nah not really bad but she hit me right on the corner of the bumper, so thats fooked, the passenger headlight, fog light, indicator, the plastic headlight surround and the very front of the wing.

The claim will be quite high just because of the bumper needing to be replaced.


As for using it, I drive my Cossies all the time and always have done, no point in preserving it for the next person.

Plus when I left to do the job that morning it was a glorious sunny day, I dont think anyone was expecting 3" of snow in Potters Bar.

neilm

Well the call has been made, and so far so good, very professional so far.

I'll keep this post updated as the claim goes through so people can see if it will work for them.

It was Duncan at Automotive Unlimited who recommended this service to me as I was going to use his bodyshop to sort it so should be a decent repair and with all pukka bits as Duncan has a knack for finding those hard to find parts.


Hmmm I wonder what we could class as an equivalent hire car

300bhp Rear Wheel Drive Sports Saloon......

Daviet

i know they have got a few e46 m3's.my mate had a m3 cs for a few weeks from them
hoope all goes smoothly with the claim

neilm

Well, so far so good.

I placed my call with them and there have been a few calls back and forth, luckily the girl who hit me is insured so its all systems go.

I've been checked, cars been booked in to the bodyshop, I deliver it tomorrow, pick up my hire car and away we go.

Super smooth service so far and totally painless.

neilm

Well, so far so good.

I placed my call with them and there have been a few calls back and forth, luckily the girl who hit me is insured so its all systems go.

I've been checked, cars been booked in to the bodyshop, I deliver it tomorrow, pick up my hire car and away we go.

Super smooth service so far and totally painless.

tabetha

Glad you have got it sorted, it's just so inconvenient when dealing with a crappy company but these sound really good.
tabetha

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Sounds good! Their HQ is not far from me and its HUGE with a capital H!

Not too sure what they are actually for though? Surely you should be going through your insurance company and not helphire? If anyone could enlighten me that would be good

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Just found this on the helphire website - unlucky


"You'll need to show you have a 'need' for a similar standard vehicle, e.g. you may need a people carrier to transport children to and from school, or a prestige car because of your status at work etc."

bristol_fez

iTrader: (1)

I work for Helphire, dont want to state what we do etc as it may be breaking advertising rules.

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

should be like for like or better .. think for a cosworth replacement they offered a new vw passat...

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

good luck with sorting it out i bet they do the job

i dont think they do it unless they know they'll get money back anyways?!

bristol_fez

iTrader: (1)

nielm, if you need any help with anything just drop me a PM

Oranoco

We used them after the XR2i got written off. They were superb, very helpfull and the little Polo we got was nice and clean and looked cared for. Can't knock them. They didn't press us for having the car back or anything

westus1

iTrader: (6)

had a car off them from 1st may till end august after some tit wrote off my old shed of a shogun,
got a brand new shogun for all that time and they're claiming my excess money back for me as well
cant complain at all
they delivered and colected the cars and everything, defo 100% recommended by me
i wouldn't hesitate to use them again

bigchez

I used to work for accident exchange and would thoroughly recommend them.

Speak to Nicola Gater or Michelle Brookes.

neilm

As they only work for people who are involved in non-fault accidents like me, I was stationary at the side of the road when someone crashed into me, there is no need to involve my insurance company all Helphire are doing is taking the job of sorting it all out off my insurance company and in the mean time giving me a hire car and by doing so, giving them their bunce.

Talking to a guy today who used to work at a main dealer that had a body shop he said they used to recommend them to customers all the time as it sped up the whole process.

Once an insurer knows HelpHire are involved they know there is a daily hire car charge being added to the final repair bill, so its then in their interest to settle the claim quickly.


I havent had to go to any other bodyshops to get estimates, I've just booked it in with an approved repairer who because of the link to Automotive Unlimited specialises in Cosworths and its all going through.

neilm

Shouldnt be a problem, as the director of a limited company I need a car fitting with the position

Be interesting to see whats there in the morning when I drop the Cossie off to be repaired.

SS1

iTrader: (3)

all sounds good..did you get any pics before the crash..and then the damage ones

neilm

No before the crash I was too busy trying to drive home.

But I have some at the scene pics and a couple in daylight afterwards to go in with the history for the car so should I ever come to sell it then people can see exactly what was done.

neilm

Guess what Passat Sport

The first disappointment of the journey.


300bhp, rear wheel drive, 3 door Prestige Sports Car

The equivalent is a VW Rep Mobile ?

Sort it out HelpHire.

A Scooby or an Evo might have been nice, or a BMW would have fitted the mould quite nicely

But a passat, the car that makes chicken soup look positively spicey and exciting.

Oh well, its free I suppose.

RIght, I'm off the get the beast

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

you could ask for a petrol car of the same standard they have some 3 l petrol cadilacs rwd im sure in the same group.. or a smaller golf gt170... may be worth a try..

neilm

Well a little update on the whole three door saga

Everything was going according to plan, driving the boring Passatt which is saving me a fortune being diesel.

BUT

The bodyshop are struggling to get a 3 Door front bumper.

Anyone got one hidden away they'd like to 'cash in' for Christmas otherwise if it goes on too long I suspect the insurers will start saying things like 'Write Off' and for the damage on the car it would be criminal to write it off.

PAUL S

iTrader: (8)

If its only the bumper that causing the problem you can ask for a cash balance instead and source your own one. They were just under Ł500 list plus vat when available so that what they would pay out plus repair the rest of the damage. A good used one is around Ł250-Ł300

neilm

Problem is finding a good used one, I've got a few people, as well as the body shop on the hunt as we speak.

Not as easy to find as people think and I guess situations like this are only going to get worse as time goes on.

fuzzy

i usd them after my car was written off by a truck. they gave me a brand new 307 iirc that lasted about 2 weeks before i broke it. then they gave me a new honda. that went back with no wing mirrors

Madbradz

Snow in Bedford??? Hope the 3dr isnt too bad love your car seen it around qute a few times

neilm

It wasnt in Bedford mate it was in Potters Bar about 3 weeks ago

rst in breaking

iTrader: (2)

i used helphire once when i was hit, had no problems with them at all

neilm

Right guys just to let you know the saga is now concluded.

I picked up my repaired 3 door today and didnt even have to pay the excess and then claim it back !

Duncan at Automotive Unlimited was an absolute star in orchestrating the whole thing, he sourced all the parts required and his bodyshop did a first class job on the repair, to the point where you look at the wing and all the spot welds are there as if it was factory, only the nice shiny paint on the corner of the slam panel where it meets the wing rail gives it away.

The whole thing was painless, apart from when we couldnt get a bumper and there was talk of writing the car off, but a 500 bumper was sourced and all that talk went away.

SO...

A very big thank you to Duncan at Automotive for putting me onto Helphire and for sorting a superb repair and to Helphire for a very professional service !

Less.

Glad it all went so smooth Neil one more 3/DR kept on the road

Chris Honeywell

My wife was rear ended at some lights shes got a help hire polo right now . No problems whatsoever

olic1

I used them a couple of years ago and they were fantastic then too!