With reference to the letter from SS of Prenton, I used to work for an Insurance Company defending credit hire claims. Quite often an innocent if somewhat naive third party would find themselves in Court being sued by the hire company and they would protest that they had not been informed of any possible liability and that the claim would be made at no cost to themselves. It all depends on the Terms and Conditions of the Credit Hire Contract, which should be examined. They might state that the hirer will be responsible for any unpaid charges. It is always best to avoid using these firms. Your own Comprehensive Insurance should provide a courtesy car or the third party insurers might offer one. This happened to me recently after being hit in the rear. It is in the interests of no Insurance Company to allow people to use these expensive credit hire firms or indeed in the interests of the motorist. Even if there is no car available, the legal expenses Section of the policy will include the cost of recovering reasonable hire charges.