Courtesy cars and insurance

GustyGardenGalaxy

Bought myself a second hand car a few days ago from a reputable garage and, sod's law, but the damn thing broke down on Xmas day! It's covered under warranty so it won't cost me anything, and the garage kindly loaned me a courtesy car on Boxing Day and the helpful sales chap (checking his email on Xmas Day) said to check the insurance. So I contaced the AA today (they were closed yesterday) - simply put, the AA/my car's insurance company will NOT insure the courtesy car that was loaned to me. Apparently the loan car is too many 'levels' removed from my (now broken down) car that they are now insuring. They said that even if they could insure it, it would cost me nearly £50 for two weeks cover. I certainly wouldn't have paid that anyway as that is simply extortionate, especially as the breakdown was of course not my fault. They recommended that I try phoning 'AA Temporary Cover' - I did and they are even more of a rip off - £104 for two weeks cover! Good god, what an absolute con!!! Their only other suggestion was that the garage put me on their insurance so that I am covered to drive the courtesy car, fully comp. So I'll do that tomorrow. I just cannot understand the insurance company's attitude - how on earth do other people cope when they have courtesy cars? I had always assumed that the person that the car was loaned to would have been automatically covered by the garage/showroom - to be honest, assuming the above, I wouldn't have phoned the insurance company if the sales guy hadn't suggested it. So where do I stand on this? any advice please?

withabix

Courtesy cars (that aren't provided by your insurance company after an accident) normally go on the garage's insurance, BUT they are likely to charge you typically £10-£15 per day for this.

I get the cover free from the garage I use, but only because I am a regular customer and they do all the work on my car (so I'm probably paying for it anyway!)

dacouch

Courtesy and Hire Cars are the fastest cars on the road

GustyGardenGalaxy

withabix wrote: »

Courtesy cars (that aren't provided by your insurance company after an accident) normally go on the garage's insurance, BUT they are likely to charge you typically £10-£15 per day for this.

I get the cover free from the garage I use, but only because I am a regular customer and they do all the work on my car (so I'm probably paying for it anyway!)

I see, thanks. In that case I'm assuming that they can put it on their insurance and not charge me - after all, the car is being repaired by them under warranty (and I did buy it from them only a few days ago). If they do try and charge me then there will be some major fireworks .......

RichGold

dacouch wrote: »

Courtesy and Hire Cars are the fastest cars on the road

And have by far the best handling.

KTF

GustyGardenGalaxy wrote: »

I see, thanks. In that case I'm assuming that they can put it on their insurance and not charge me - after all, the car is being repaired by them under warranty (and I did buy it from them only a few days ago). If they do try and charge me then there will be some major fireworks .......

Yes, the car is insured by the garage. No need to call your insurers or anything.

When you collected the keys you should have signed a form saying to were liable for all fines, etc that happen whilst its in your care. They would have mentioned the charge then if there was one.

If, like most loan cars, it was supplied running on fresh air then return it running on fresh air. No point giving them a free tank of fuel, just cover what you have used.

GustyGardenGalaxy

I certainly didn't sign any forms - the guy just popped in on Boxing Day and gave me the key, informing me that I should contact my insurance company. I'm now regretting buying the car that broke down, due to the hassle it's caused me.

dacouch

KTF wrote: »

Yes, the car is insured by the garage. No need to call your insurers or anything.

When you collected the keys you should have signed a form saying to were liable for all fines, etc that happen whilst its in your care. They would have mentioned the charge then if there was one.

If, like most loan cars, it was supplied running on fresh air then return it running on fresh air. No point giving them a free tank of fuel, just cover what you have used.

I suspect the OP purchased from a relatively small dealer, it's more likely than not, that the garage do not have courtesy car cover (They may have contigency). It's expensive for them to buy and comes with a lot of restrictions.

GustyGardenGalaxy

Yeah, fairly small dealer - two showrooms though. Apparently the car is their courtesy car, but the main sales guy also uses it as his 'runaround' car. Hopefully I'll get it sorted out tomorrow - if not he can have the car back and I'll borrow my wife's if necessary (I'm insured to drive that). The breakdown of my 'new' secondhand car couldn't have happened at a worse time of year really - not only was the breakdown on Xmas Day, but the garage that does the dealer's repairs doesn't re-open until 4th January. So a big 'Bah Humbug' to Santa-bloody-Claus from me.

Notmyrealname

KTF wrote: »

Yes, the car is insured by the garage. No need to call your insurers or anything.

THIS IS NOT CORRECT. The garage can have a policy covering ITS EMPLOYEES ONLY to drive customers cars.

dacouch

Notmyrealname wrote: »

THIS IS NOT CORRECT. The garage can have a policy covering ITS EMPLOYEES ONLY to drive customers cars.

Sorry your not correct there.

A motortrade policy can offer cover to the employees, director's family members etc, customers (For test drives) and also customers using courtesy vehicles.

The policy would contain specific exclusions for certain drivers eg most employees would be business use only etc. Having drivers beyond employees only so many companies don't bother with courtesy car cover relying on their customers covering it on their own policy.