Accident in courtesy car. Advice please

terrylamps

Hi, just looking for some advice. My brother in law got a courtesy car today whilst his car is being repaired because of a non fault accident. He was just about to turn left into a street but had to stop because a car was coming out of the street and the car behind him ran into the back of him. Now i know there shouldn't be an issue with liability but with it being a courtesy car is he likely going to have to pay some kind of excess or something, and if so will he get this back?

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Possibly and if he does then yes he can reclaim it from the "new" third party

terrylamps

Just found out that he had to pay a £825 excess but because he didn't have it they took the car back. He's been on to his insurance who have said they will waiver the excess as it was a non fault claim. Hopefully they will arrange another courtesy car as he won't get his back until next week some time.

thenudeone

Many policies automatically cover a courtesy car provided by a garage whilst the main car is in for maintenance or repair, on the same terms as the original car, however the garage almost certainly has a trade policy covering the courtesy car which will probably take priority.

I'd be inclined to push for the garage's insurers to accept and manage the claim. At least then it's not another incident on his main policy (although it will still have to be declared).

If the third party is at fault then eventually all of the costs will be paid by their insurer, but there may be an excess to pay in the meantime.

With two accidents in 1 year (even though both not at fault) it's going to be more difficult to find insurance, and it will be more expensive. In theory, the extra cost (for the 5 years which insurers usually require history) can be recovered from the at fault's insurer, but it's unusual to claim it and he should expect a fight.

malc_b

Even one no fault claim can put your insurance up as insurance seem to think this makes you more likely to have another accident. I'd agree that this case does seem to prove that but in general it shouldn't. The stats that shows this I reckon are due to faked accidents distorting the figures.

Anyway, the point is that as part of your claim against the other party you should include the increased cost of your insurance for the next N years until the accidents no longer need to be mentioned.

InsideInsurance

Given it is not the OPs vehicle they are more restricted in what they can and cant chose to do. Whatever happens they have to declare 2 incidents and itll make little difference if these are 2 non-fault claims on their policy or 1 non-fault claim and 1 non-fault incident

terrylamps

Think he has just gone through his insurance to deal with the 2nd accident as well (both have admitted liability). And he's been given another courtesy car today. He's hoping he has more luck with this one lol. I'll tell him to mention to his solicitor about possibly claiming for increased insurance premiums for the 2 non fault accidents as well though i'm guessing he may have to wait a good 3 years before he's got a more accurate figure as to how much the 2 accidents have affected his premiums.

thenudeone

It's difficult to tell how much an accident will cost.

I have 2 incidents (but no claims) in the past 5 years and my comprehensive insurance renewal is under £250. Even if I could prove that 5 or 10% of that premium was due to the incident where the other party admitted liability, it would be a lot of effort to pursue the other insurer.