Complimentary Car Hire provided without thrid party insurance - now I am being sued!!

seanmac30

keith1950 wrote: »

Hi, from past experience, when you receive a hire car the driver has to sign the hire agreement, in this case therefore did both you and your wife sign the agreement ?

Nope, only me. My wife was added the following day and I have a receipt from Enterprise to that effect. She wasn't asked to sign the agreement nor was I asked to sign a new agreement. They just took a copy of her driving license. I am not sure if this is significant or not?

Johnny

keith1950

Hi, I cannot really comment as far as a hire car but when it comes to courtesy cars provided by garages the only people covered to drive are the ones who sign.

As you appear to have proof that she was added to the hire it would seem that Enterprise have been lax in not checking she was covered.

I don't think you have any comeback against the original insurers , good luck with your meeting on Monday.

forward_thinking_2

Very surprised it allows you cover on a hire car - who is your insurer?

olly300

forward_thinking wrote: »

Very surprised it allows you cover on a hire car - who is your insurer?

Lots of insurance companies have agreements with Enterprise that state you are covered under your insurance to drive one of their cars if they agree to provide you with a courtesy car. They just need a copy of your insurance docs.

For the standard little cars Enterprise gets under £10 a day.

BTW insurance companies that are covered come under the UK Insurance brand

olly300

seanmac30 wrote: »

Nope, only me. My wife was added the following day and I have a receipt from Enterprise to that effect. She wasn't asked to sign the agreement nor was I asked to sign a new agreement. They just took a copy of her driving license. I am not sure if this is significant or not?

Johnny

You could easily argue it is as they had a copy of your insurance docs.

And provided you with a receipt to add her on.

BTW Enterprise's standard excess is £250

forward_thinking_2

olly300 wrote: »

Lots of insurance companies have agreements with Enterprise that state you are covered under your insurance to drive one of their cars if they agree to provide you with a courtesy car. They just need a copy of your insurance docs.

For the standard little cars Enterprise gets under £10 a day.

BTW insurance companies that are covered come under the UK Insurance brand

Correct. But that usually applies only to hire cars or courtesy cars that are provided by your insurer for accident repairs and sometimes for general MOT/Service cover.

However, this hire car is not being provided by the OP's insurance company, it is being provided by a third party insurer therefore the cover to which you refer would not apply.

That isn't to say the driving other cars cover which is being discussed doesn't apply but in my experience it's very unusual for it to include hire cars.

olly300

forward_thinking wrote: »

Correct. But that usually applies only to hire cars or courtesy cars that are provided by your insurer for accident repairs and sometimes for general MOT/Service cover.

This is what Enterprise provide on behalf of the insurance companies.

They provide the courtesy cars as the insurers don't actually have any cars.

Otherwise there are a whole load of people who are have been provided with courtesy cars on behalf of insurance companies due to accidents who are now driving around without valid insurance.

Edited say: Enterprise either gets the fee for the hire car either directly from your insurer, or directly from the other parties insurer if the accident is a non-fault one. The issue in this case is the rules on who they were suppose to be insuring.

forward_thinking_2

Olly - everything you say is correct if the car is being provided by the OP's insurer. In which case their insurer provides the same level of cover (eg comprehensive) for all drivers on the policy.

However, unless I have misunderstood the OP's original post they have not gone through their own insurer and have been provided the car by the third party insurer (all insurers will try to do this if they know their customer is at fault to reduce costs). Therefore from the OP's insurer's perspective this is not a courtesy car.

Had the OP gone through their own insurer then things would be different.

Perhaps best to wait for the OP to clarify.

olly300

forward_thinking wrote: »

However, unless I have misunderstood the OP's original post they have not gone through their own insurer and have been provided the car by the third party insurer (all insurers will try to do this if they know their customer is at fault to reduce costs). Therefore from the OP's insurer's perspective this is not a courtesy car.

Looking around the web it doesn't look like there is a legal definition of a courtesy car.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/210223/courtesy_car_confusion_rocks_readers.html

A spokesman for the RAC explained: “Unless your insurance policy specifically commits to providing a replacement, you don’t have a right to a loan car. That’s why most are described as ‘courtesy’ vehicles in the first place.”

http://www.tescocompare.com/car/car-insurance-tips/courtesy-car.shtml

The courtesy car is something that’s often offered by garages should your normal car be under service or repair. Some luxury hotels may also offer such vehicles if guests are travelling by public transport.


If your car is off the road for insurance investigation or repair assessment purposes following an accident, some car insurance policies will also provide a rental vehicle that may be called a courtesy car for the duration.

So arguing it's a hire car probably won't work.

seanmac30

Hi Olly300,

The hire car was not provided by my own insurance company but the insurance company of the car that reversed into my car. This had nothing to do with my insurance company and I think this what Enterprise have misinterpreted as well. Enterprise, should have extended their own third party cover to my hire car. As Forward_Thinking has said there are many insurance policies that do not allow the policy holder to drive other cars so either the party receiving the hire car (i.e. myself in this case) buys extra cover (which is nonsensical given it is a courtesy car) or Enterprise issues hire cars negligently without adequate or any third-party insurance. The latter is what has happened in this situation.

Johnny