Terms of Business

1. Identity and contact

These Terms of Business are issued by Citygrip LTD, trading as CityGrip Accident Claims. References in this document to “we”, “us” and “our” are to Citygrip LTD. References to “you” and “your” are to the natural or legal person who instructs us.

Trading name

CityGrip Accident Claims

Legal entity

Citygrip LTD

Companies House number

Pending / to be confirmed

Registered office

124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX

Email

info@citygripclaims.co.uk

Telephone

0330 043 3409 (published business line - see contact page)

ICO registration

Pending

We will update this section once Companies House registration and ICO data protection registration are confirmed.

2. Regulatory status

CityGrip Accident Claims is a UK accident claim management business. We do not hold and do not pursue FCA authorisation under the claims-management perimeter, we are not on the FCA Financial Services Register, and we do not provide regulated claims-management advice or legal advice. The Financial Conduct Authority regulates claims-management firms under the Claims Management: Conduct of Business sourcebook (CMCOB); our activity is deliberately structured to sit outside that perimeter.

Our activities are limited to accident support services that do not require FCA authorisation: vehicle recovery and storage arrangement, repair coordination through approved bodyshops, like-for-like replacement vehicle arrangement under common-law credit hire principles, engineer inspection coordination, and the onward introduction of personal injury or other regulated matters to SRA-regulated panel solicitors and (where relevant) FCA-authorised regulated partners. Where any activity you ask us to undertake would require FCA authorisation, we do not undertake it - we introduce you to an authorised partner who holds the relevant permission.

Nothing in these terms should be read as a representation that we are FCA authorised. We do not claim to be “FCA regulated” or “FCA authorised”. If anyone purporting to act on our behalf tells you otherwise, please report it to us at complaints@citygripclaims.co.uk.

3. Your right not to use a claims management company

The customer-choice statement at the top of this page is modelled on CMCOB 4.3.1R(1A) and published voluntarily by CityGrip as a UK accident claim management business outside the FCA claims-management regulated perimeter. The accident support service. It forms part of these terms and is repeated here for clarity:

You are not obliged to use a claims management company. You can pursue any claim directly with the insurer of the driver responsible at no cost to you. If your claim involves personal injury and qualifies for the small-claims track, you can use the Official Injury Claim portal (officialinjuryclaim.org.uk) yourself free of charge. If you wish to instruct a solicitor of your choice you may do so directly.

We will not present the use of our services as inevitable, necessary or cost-free in a way that obscures the alternatives above. Your decision to instruct us is voluntary and informed.

4. Services we provide

The services we offer to non-fault drivers are limited to the following:

• Vehicle recovery and storage arrangement - arranging collection from the accident scene or roadside, and onward secure storage at an approved compound while liability is established.
• Repair management - coordinating repair through PAS 125 / BS 10125 approved bodyshops, including manufacturer-approved facilities where required by warranty.
• Like-for-like replacement vehicle arrangement - sourcing a replacement vehicle on credit hire on a basis recoverable under common law, per Dimond v Lovell [2000] UKHL 27 and Lagden v O’Connor [2003] UKHL 64.
• Referral of personal injury claims - onward referral to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor, on the disclosure terms set out in section 10 below.
• Total loss valuation challenge and salvage retention support - including engineer instruction and ABI Salvage Code category review where appropriate.
• Uninsured / untraced driver claim handling via the MIB - under the Uninsured Drivers’ Agreement 2017 and the Untraced Drivers’ Agreement 2017.

5. What we do not provide

• We are not a firm of solicitors. We do not give legal advice and you should not treat anything we say as legal advice.
• We do not represent you in court. Litigation, where required, is conducted by the panel solicitor or by a solicitor of your own choosing.
• We do not handle fault claims. Where you accept liability for the incident, we will refer the matter back to your own motor insurer.
• We do not provide investment advice, regulated mortgage advice, debt counselling, or any other regulated activity outside the limited scope set out in section 4 of these terms.

6. How we are paid (fees and charges)

We are paid in different ways depending on the workstream. Each is described below. A schedule of typical recoverable charges is available on request by email to info@citygripclaims.co.uk.

6.1 Non-fault accident management work

For non-fault accident management work we recover our charges from the at-fault driver’s insurer. You do not pay us directly. If, after the matter is concluded, the at-fault insurer accepts liability and discharges our recoverable charges, no invoice is raised against you. A schedule of typical recoverable charges is available on request.

6.2 Credit hire

Hire charges for any replacement vehicle we arrange are recovered from the at-fault driver’s insurer under common-law principles established in Dimond v Lovell [2000] UKHL 27 and Lagden v O’Connor [2003] UKHL 64. You sign a credit hire agreement that names the period of hire, the rate (ABI General Terms of Agreement rates where the at-fault insurer is a GTA subscriber and the matter falls within the GTA; the basic hire rate otherwise), and your duty to mitigate loss.

6.3 Personal injury referrals

Where we refer your injury claim to a panel solicitor, we may receive a referral fee from that solicitor. The referral fee does not come out of your compensation. The panel solicitor’s own fees (including any success fee under a Conditional Fee Agreement, capped at 25% of damages under LASPO 2012) and disbursements (including After-the-Event insurance premiums) will be set out in the panel solicitor’s own client-care letter and terms of engagement, which you sign with the solicitor directly.

6.4 What you remain personally liable for

If a credit hire or credit repair claim against the at-fault insurer fails - for example because liability is decided against you, or you cannot satisfy basic-hire-rate or period-of-hire challenges, or you breach the duty to mitigate - you may be personally liable for unrecovered hire charges and repair costs. We will discuss this risk with you and obtain your written acknowledgement before placing any vehicle on credit hire. You should not enter a credit hire agreement unless you have read and understood this risk.

7. Cancellation right (14-day cooling-off)

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have 14 days from the day after you instruct us to cancel this agreement without giving any reason. To cancel, write to info@citygripclaims.co.uk or to our registered office at 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. We will refund any sums paid (typically none, given fees are recovered from the at-fault insurer).

If you ask us to start work within the 14 days and then cancel before the 14 days end, we may charge you for work reasonably done. Where credit hire has commenced, hire charges accrued up to the moment of cancellation remain payable under the hire agreement (in the ordinary course these are pursued against the at-fault insurer; if recovery fails the position in section 6.4 applies).

A standard cancellation form will be provided to you at the point of instruction in compliance with Schedule 3 of the 2013 Regulations.

8. Your duty to mitigate loss and to cooperate

• You must give us truthful and complete information about the incident and your vehicle. Knowingly false information may invalidate your claim and may constitute fraud.
• You must produce reasonable evidence on request - photographs, the police reference number, dashcam footage, V5C, MOT, insurance documents, witness details and similar.
• You must take reasonable steps to mitigate your loss. In particular, you must not let a credit hire vehicle sit unused, and you must return it promptly when your own vehicle is repaired or when a settlement is reached.
• You must respond to communications from us, from the panel solicitor (if referred), from independent engineers and from approved bodyshops within a reasonable time, so that the claim progresses without avoidable delay.

9. Complaints

We take complaints seriously and treat them as an opportunity to put things right. If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please tell us.

• First write to complaints@citygripclaims.co.uk or to our registered office addressed to The Complaints Manager, CityGrip Accident Claims, 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX.
• We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and aim to resolve it within 8 weeks. Our complaints timetable voluntarily mirrors the FCA Handbook DISP 1.6 acknowledgement, interim-update and final-response standards even though, as a UK accident claim management business, we are not bound by DISP.
• Financial Ombudsman Service jurisdiction does not apply against CityGrip because we are not an FCA-authorised firm. Where your complaint concerns work done by an authorised partner we introduced you to - an SRA-regulated solicitor or an FCA-authorised firm - that partner’s own regulator (the SRA / Legal Ombudsman, or the FCA / FOS) provides the onward escalation route. Any unresolved complaint against CityGrip itself may also be referred to the County Court under ordinary contract or tort principles.
• For data protection complaints - for example concerning how we process your personal data - you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk. We will provide you with our ICO registration number once registration is confirmed.

10. Referrals and panel solicitor disclosure

For personal injury claims we refer matters to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor. The identity of the panel solicitor will be disclosed to you in writing at the point of referral, together with the terms of the referral arrangement (including any referral fee paid by the solicitor to us). You are not obliged to accept the panel referral and may instruct a solicitor of your own choice.

If you accept the panel referral, you enter into a separate retainer directly with the panel solicitor. We are not party to that retainer. The panel solicitor will provide their own client-care letter setting out their fees (including any CFA success fee within the LASPO 2012 cap), disbursements, ATE arrangements and complaint route (which, for a solicitor, ends with the Legal Ombudsman, legalombudsman.org.uk).

11. Marketing and contact preferences

• We do not cold call. This reflects the prohibition in CMCOB 3.2.5R and our own policy. If anyone telephones you claiming to call on our behalf out of the blue, it is not us - please report it to complaints@citygripclaims.co.uk.
• We will not send you marketing communications without your explicit opt-in. Service messages directly related to your live claim (for example storage updates or repair progress) are not marketing.
• You can withdraw consent to marketing at any time by emailing info@citygripclaims.co.uk. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

12. Authority to act

Before we communicate with insurers, engineers, bodyshops or any third party on your behalf, you will sign a written Authority to Act. The Authority is limited in scope to the index incident notified to us and to the services described in section 4. It does not authorise us to settle any claim without your prior instruction, to compromise any cause of action, or to give legal advice.

You may revoke the Authority at any time by written notice to info@citygripclaims.co.uk. Revocation is without prejudice to charges accrued up to the date of revocation under any credit hire agreement and to the position in section 6.4.

15. Document control

Version

2.0

Effective date

15 May 2026 (2026-05-15)

Last reviewed

15 May 2026

Next scheduled review

15 August 2026

Document owner

The Compliance Manager, Citygrip LTD

These terms will be updated if our regulatory positioning changes - for example if CityGrip ever decides to pursue FCA authorisation in future, or if a new statutory or industry framework applicable to UK accident claim management (outside the FCA claims-management perimeter) support services is introduced.

Frequently asked questions

Am I obliged to use CityGrip Accident Claims?

No. You are not obliged to use a claims management company. You can pursue any claim directly with the insurer of the driver responsible at no cost to you. If your injury claim qualifies for the small-claims track you can use the Official Injury Claim portal yourself free of charge, and you may instruct a solicitor of your own choice directly.

What happens if my claim against the at-fault insurer fails?

If a credit hire or credit repair claim fails - for example because liability is decided against you, or you cannot satisfy basic-hire-rate or period-of-hire challenges - you may become personally liable for unrecovered hire charges and repair costs. We discuss this risk and obtain your written acknowledgement before any vehicle is placed on credit hire.

How do I cancel within the 14-day cooling-off period?

Write to info@citygripclaims.co.uk or to our registered office within 14 days of the day after you instruct us. No reason is required. We will refund any sums paid (typically none). If you asked us to start work within the 14 days and then cancel before they end, we may charge you for work reasonably done.

Are you authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority?

No. CityGrip Accident Claims is a UK accident claim management business. We operate outside the FCA claims-management regulated perimeter and we do not pursue authorisation under that perimeter. We do not provide regulated claims-management advice and we will not appear on the FCA Financial Services Register. Where you want regulated work (legal advice, an injury claim) we introduce you, with your explicit consent, to an authorised solicitor or other regulated partner.

Do you charge me directly?

For non-fault accident management work, no - our charges are recovered from the at-fault driver’s insurer. For credit hire, the rate is set in the hire agreement and recovered from the at-fault insurer. For personal injury referrals, the panel solicitor’s fees are in their own retainer; referral fees paid by the solicitor to us are not deducted from your compensation.

Sign-off

Pre-launch sign-off required. This document requires sign-off by a UK regulatory solicitor prior to launch. Last reviewed: 15 May 2026. Next scheduled review: 15 August 2026.