has any-one had any problems with drive assist.? I would advise any-one to refuse to use their cars. All they want is to take your money and rip you off. They will go to any means to do so, tell lies, get you to sign for contracts without you being able to read them, accuse you of damage to cars when you have done nothing !

Yes i was very cross when i wrote the post above, but i think that i have been set up by a company called drive assist. they are a company that supply courtesy cars for insurance company's.

i was involved in an accident which was not my fault, and whilst my car was being repaired i was given a car by drive-assit. They contacted me by phone to say that they would supply me a car and asked for my bank-account details informing me that i had nothing to worry about and that it was just routine.

when the day came that i was supplied with the car a member of their staff arrived and asked to look at my driving liscence and for me to sign their hand-held computer to accept the car.

the car shortly arrive after this with anothe member of staff, it was filthy and he spent no more than 2 minutes looking around the out-side, he never once showed me the inside only appoligised for the state of the inside.

i was then given an information pack, little did i realise at the time, when i was signing the hand-held computer before i had even seen the car, i was signing to accept a £250.00 excess on the car and full reponsibility for the state of the car. none of this was ever explained to me.

a week later the car was picked up by another member of staff who spent over 35 minutes examinining the car, he then told me that there was going to be a charge for a mark in the car, i had never seen the mark before and refused to sign the hand-held computer. i spoke to head office who informed me that they had found 2 marks which would cost me £234, i was furious.

has this happened to any-one else?

Hi -- To be forewarned is to be forearmed, have a look at this older thread in particular see the comment by member, "Dann" who is an ex-employee of the concern you mention.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/car-hire-firm-reported-to-watchdog-14606.aspx

lets just say, i'm ready for them as i have friends and family in the legal industry with plenty of help and advice, and i'm not afaid to bring them to court

I work for a one of Drive Assist's competitors, CCL, we mainly do the same thing as Drive Assist and altho I've never dealt with them myself, I do know that many of our customers are people who have come to us after having trouble with Drive Assist. Good news is that motor claim management companies seem to be catching on.

hopefully an end- Drive Assist contacted me today to say they would not be charging me. Would the out-come have been the same if I had not complained and took legal advice?

They have tried this for years with people, say to them you have pictures they soon will back down

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

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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