Just tried to get a courtesy car-won't insure me.

hollydays

Just took my car into the dealership for a service.They had offered me a loan car for part of the day.

Of course its not until you get there you know which car they will give you.

My car is a minicooper s-the loan car was a miniclubman.

We spent ages on the phone to the insurer (edit-my insurer) being transferred back and forth,seemingly to be told there would be a £25 charge. Ok i said.

Then more time-then-no we wont cover that car.The salesman asked for a reason-they didn't seem to know,still kept hanging on (later told they were trying to get through to the underwriter).

Feeling i was was wasting way too much of the dealerships time at this point,we cleared down,(we were left holding on,)so I had to make other arrangements and I have no car today.

When I got home I again rang just to establish why ,and they seemed to think it would be because the car offered was too new compared to my own (mine 4 years old i think) . or because it was a different model. They said the underwriter often wouldn't tell them.

I don't feel this was great service because had they explained this while i was there maybe the garage could have offered me something that fitted their criteria,it was far too time consuming.

Any way of avoiding this happening next time I get offered a courtesy car (different insurance company next time maybe)

dzug1

One way is to cover it on your own insurance policy - mine does, though obviously different insurers will vary.

hollydays

That was my insurer we rang

raskazz

The reason for an insurer to decline temporary cover on a courtesy car is usually due to the relative vehicle groups and/or values. The insurer doesn't want the risk of their driver driving a car that is a much more powerful or risky car then the one that they usually drive.

If you post up the exact specs of your car and the courtesy car we can check the vehicle group ratings and relative values. IIRC the standard Clubman is a lower group rating than a Cooper S.

The only way round encountering the problem in future is to try to get the details of the courtesy car from the garage in advance - so then if your insurer declines cover, at least you have a certain amount of time to make other arrangements.

hollydays

Unfortunately, the salesman spoke to the insurance company and passed that info on,and the insurance company has it,all i heard was him saying clubman and the reg.

I too thought a cooper s would be a higher spec, ( i dont think a clubman is more powerful?)so assuming that is correct,their only other explaination was that the car lent to me needed to be older than mine.

i

Even if the garage i use next time is able to specify the exact car i will get,what's to say a different insurer won't have a different set of unwritten rules that I will then have to contend with again?

raskazz

hollydays wrote: »

Even if the garage i use next time is able to specify the exact car i will get,what's to say a different insurer won't have a different set of unwritten rules that I will then have to contend with again?

Every insurer will have a set of rules as to what they can and can't cover. There's no way round that, unfortunately - the rules will be so extensive and complex that it's not something that you can really check when you buy a new policy.

I believe that there are companies that operate online that can give you daily cover. Might be worth looking at that if you find yourself in the same situation in future.

shelly

I have to say I have never come across this situation. Whenever we have had a loan/courtesy car from a dealer whilst ours is in with them we have always gone on their insurance. I thought that was the norm?

agaveworm

shelly wrote: »

I have to say I have never come across this situation. Whenever we have had a loan/courtesy car from a dealer whilst ours is in with them we have always gone on their insurance. I thought that was the norm?

Absolutely. Unless OP is younger than 25?

I would have thought an S would be an higher risk than a Clubman too.....

hollydays

no-I am 47-they asked me to take my licence and insurance-i really didn't expect them to refuse to cover me.

agaveworm

hollydays wrote: »

no-I am 47-

Really? You type a lot younger.....

codger

I've never heard of anyone taking their car in for a service to a main dealer being asked by that dealer to bear the cost of the limited-duration insurance risk on the courtesy car provided.

Obviously, it's a different matter in the event of an accident and your car is off the road: if your insurance premium has included provision of a replacement car, then it's your insurance which picks up the tab.

But a courtesy car and a replacement car are two different things.

Main dealers carry ample insurance to cover their courtesy cars (it's factored in to the overheads they legislate for in their customer bills) so if the dealership you were using declined to offer a courtesy car, then it should've explained to you why you were such an unacceptable insurance risk.

(Oh: and I've never heard anyone being asked to fork out £25 for a courtesy car, either -- that's not a courtesy car but a hire car. Just what, exactly, is your garage playing at? More to the point, is it a main dealership anyway?)