Car crash victim Matthew McNally was left facing a £27,500 bill after he was thought to have been misled by a Google advert, according to court documents obtained by Money Mail.
Matthew, 39, had been involved in a multi-vehicle crash in March 2018. It is believed he then used Google to search for his insurer’s number, but was instead put through to a claims management company.
Matthew was then transferred to another firm, Spectra Drive, which arranged the recovery of his Ford S-Max and hire of a Nissan Qashqai.
At the hearing in December last year, Portsmouth County Court heard that Matthew thought he was getting a free courtesy car, which should have been covered by his insurance policy with Hastings.
He added that Spectra told him he wouldn’t incur any charges. But, in fact, he had been given a credit hire car, and after leasing the vehicle for 128 days, Matthew had racked up a bill of almost £27,500.
Michael then attempted to claim this cost back from the at-fault driver’s insurer, Aviva.
But Aviva, the third-party insurer, successfully challenged the bill on the basis that Matthew wasn’t aware that he was liable.
The judge ruled that the claims management company had ‘misled him [Matthew] into believing he was speaking to his insurers’.
Although Spectra was not a party to the proceedings and did not give evidence, the judge found that the firm had altered a contract signed by Matthew, describing it as ‘a dubious and suspicious practice’.
The judge then took the unusual step of adding Spectra to the proceedings and the company now faces the prospect of paying Aviva’s legal costs, which could be up to £15,000.
The judge made no ruling against Spectra and did not rule on whether the firm had acted illegally, but Aviva argued in court that Spectra had ‘duped’ Matthew and its actions may well have been ‘fraudulent’.
Fraser McAndry, partner at Keoghs, which represented Aviva, says: ‘This case clearly demonstrates the huge risk to innocent customers and motorists of getting caught up in Google ad-spoofing.
‘It can lead to them being duped into, potentially, being liable to the credit hire company for thousands of pounds of charges that they had no idea they were incurring.
‘Unfortunately, Keoghs deal with many hundreds of suspicious credit hire claims each year, and I fear many other motorists will fall into the trap and potentially face paying huge fees if they don’t take the necessary precautions.’
A spokesman for the Credit Hire Organisation [CHO], the trade body for the UK credit hire industry, says: ‘We appreciate the Daily Mail bringing this issue to our attention.
‘Spectra Drive is a member of the CHO. The CHO has a process in place to audit new members to ensure they conform with appropriate practices and behaviours.
‘In light of the information about this particular case and the issues it raises, we will be undertaking a thorough investigation to determine whether Spectra should be a member of the trade body.’
Spectra was contacted for comment.