Car Insurance Courtesy Car problem

thom_yorke

Hi I've got a bit of an issue with my insurers and I'd be grateful for some advice before I call them.

Basically, my brothers car was hit and consequently written off. I am insured as a second driver and he was the main driver.

At the time of the accident he was abroad so I dealt with the claim.

My brother has now brought to my attention that our policy meant we were entitled to a courtesy car.

But at no point was a courtesy car mentioned or offered to me.

Is this something I could chase up? Are insurers supposed to offer me one or arrange one for me, or is the procedure that I'm supposed to ask for one first?

If they were supposed to offer one, what sort of action should I take? I was thinking that asking for a full insurance refund wouldn't be out of the question as they never fulfilled their policy.

Any advice is appreciated! Thom

Astaroth

Need to double check your policy - courtesy cars are not normally provided when a car is a write off (the garage dont get paid for providing them and as they dont get any labour out of write offs it would be pure loss for them)

lisyloo

courtesy cars are not normally provided when a car is a write off

My parents got a courtesy car when theirs was written off (Norwich Union direct) although I am aware that some policies say you can't have one for a write-off.
You need to check the policy terms and conditions not the advertising headlines.

thom_yorke

Hi Astaroth,

Thank you for your response. I should say that it took a week for them to finally get a garage to come and remove it from my driveway (which is where the accident occured) and then a further week for the insurers to get back to me and say it was a write off.

It's this period of time which I'm mostly concerned about as I was making and paying for travel arrangements, when according to my brother a courtesy car should have been in place.

DavidHM

Did you actually incur any expenses as a result of not having a courtesy car?

Your brother, who is the insured and owner of the car, won't be in a position to make any claim for loss of use as he would not have used the car himself; however, if he or you incurred expenses as a result of not having a car, you can claim for those.

NB - this is going to be a claim against the third party who caused the crash, rather than against your brother's own insurer.

thom_yorke

DavidHM wrote:

Did you actually incur any expenses as a result of not having a courtesy car?

Your brother, who is the insured and owner of the car, won't be in a position to make any claim for loss of use as he would not have used the car himself; however, if he or you incurred expenses as a result of not having a car, you can claim for those.

NB - this is going to be a claim against the third party who caused the crash, rather than against your brother's own insurer.

I did pay the expense of the travel costs during that period (bus, train and taxi fares)

I've had a look at the terms and conditions and it doesn't say anything about me having to ask for a courtesy car, so would I be right in assuming I didn't do anything wrong? I.e. it wasn't my fault I had to incur the expenses due to me not asking for a courtesy car?

My insurance has been very difficult to deal with thus far so I'm trying to ensure I'm in the right before I contact them about this.

Astaroth

Some insurers like NU and DL offer a guaranteed courtesy/ hire car that you get irrespective of circumstances

Most will say:
Have to use approved garage
Vehicle has to be repairable
Subject to the garage having a spare vehicle

If both of these criteria arent met then it is down to you.

Was the accident your fault? Is the at fault party identified if it wasnt? If they are you can reclaim your loss of use from the other party

thom_yorke

Astaroth wrote:

Some insurers like NU and DL offer a guaranteed courtesy/ hire car that you get irrespective of circumstances

Most will say:
Have to use approved garage
Vehicle has to be repairable
Subject to the garage having a spare vehicle

If both of these criteria arent met then it is down to you.

Was the accident your fault? Is the at fault party identified if it wasnt? If they are you can reclaim your loss of use from the other party

Thanks again for your reply.

The accident was not my fault and the other party has admitted this.

My insurer is Churchill and their terms are that they provide a courtesy car if using one of their approved garages. They arranged the removal of my car using one of their garages, so I'm hoping it fits the criteria.

Having re-read the terms, there was nothing in the policy about the car needing to be repairable in order to get the courtesy car, so again I should be ok there, and hopefully I'll be able to get something back.

Also, do you think it's worth trying to get a bit more out of Churchill by expressing my dissatisfaction at not being provided a courtesy car? Not having a car for two weeks (it took them that long to declare it written off) did cause a huge amount of inconvenience, especially when, according to the terms which I've now read, meant I should have had one. Is this worth bringing up or will I be pushing it?

Thanks again for all your assistance

Astaroth

If the other party has accepted liability you really have 2 options....

1) Claim for loss of use from the date of the incident until 5 days after you receive the cheque (£10/day)

2) Get a hire car from the third party insurer for the remainder of the period you are entitled (5 days after receiving the cheque) and claim loss of use for the period you were without.

I know churchill now offer the guaranteed courtesy car as an optional extra and if you have not taken this aspect then it is as per the normal conditions in the previous post.