Rental Car claim help

mksangha

Happy New Year!!

Wat a start to the new year for me.
My car was hit by a lorry when parked at work. I claimed through my own insurance, they said they will recover their cost from the delivery company that the lorry belonged to. my car has been taken to their specialist garage for repair. I have been given a hire car through rent a car.
Just as my luck would have it, that cars sustained damage now aswell. No one else was involved this time so it would class as my fault. (I am honestly not that bad a driver, belive it or not!!)

My question is should i fix the damage to the rental car privately, which would probably work out cheaper than claiming through my insurance. Or is it best to come clean about it and let them deal with it how they deem fit?
Please help!!!

InsideInsurance

The hire car would normally have its own insurance rather than being covered by your motor policy

You'd need to know how much the repairs will cost before being able to make any decision

Quentin

They probably won't give you the option.

And you will be responsible for all their costs eg, they will want to hire a replacement to use till theirs is fixed or make you pay their loss of profit etc.

mksangha

InsideInsurance wrote: »

The hire car would normally have its own insurance rather than being covered by your motor policy

You'd need to know how much the repairs will cost before being able to make any decision

they would have thier own insurance but beacuse it will be classed as my fault they will probably claim on my insurance.
Is it legal for me to get it repaired without their knowledge? or do i have to inform them? i couldnt find anything in the paperwork clarifying the damage situation.

Quentin

If you have separate insurance for the hire car then your own insurance company won't be liable! They will only be liable if they are covering the car via your policy.

Assuming you took comprehensive cover provided by the hire company, then all you face is the excess.

Your contract will tell you what to do in the event of any accident.

Although repairing it yourself won't be "illegal" you still are bound by the hire contract and insurance about what you are required to do after an accident and your own insurance conditions to report any incidents.

You also run the risk of them not accepting the repairs and wanting them redone and still wanting the excess off you.

ska_lover

OP I work for a rental company. I would highly suggest you sort the repairs yourself as it is going to cost you a fortune otherwise. By organising these repairs you are not doing anything wrong and is not an underhanded thing to do, you are well within your rights

Where I work now, we do give the customers the option to repair damage themselves - however I know most places do not, as have worked in other Rental companies that just insist you return the car to them as is the most profitable option for THEM

If you give them back the vehicle, what will happen is, they will not dehire the vehicle until it is repaired so you will have to pay rental the entire time until it is fixed and in a rentable condition. They will obtain a quote from a Bodyshop (either in house or an independent one) in their own time, they wont rush as they are getting rental paid on the car the whole time. When they get the quote they will uplift this between 15% and 40% and then present you with an astronomical bill.

I would highly recommend you get a quote from a couple of independent bodyshops and go with the cheapest. If any bolt on parts are required, tell them that you do not need original manufacture parts (i.e from Ford or Merc whatever the car is) and that spurious parts will do. Parts that are not from the original manufacturer are not unsafe and there is nothing wrong with them, but they are MILES cheaper.

The fact that you say no one else was involved means it is a much simpler situation

Hope you get it sorted

mksangha

Thanks for the advice guys. I was given the hire car by my insurance. I was told my existing policy will run as it is. So i am actually not paying anything to have the car. I am fully comprehensive.
Plus would 2 claims so close together look bad on me? The first incident was not my fault. But this one will be. Theres too much confusion regarding all this.

I have managed to scratch the rear passenger door and a small dent on the wheel arch.

ska_lover

It will look bad on you yes. It is very minor damage and shouldn't cost very much to fix at all, If it were me, I wouldn't get the insurance involved.

Do you really want to get lumbered with paying your excess and your premiums going up? You can sort this yourself without the hassle

Quentin

So it looks like you are covered on your own insurance for this??

In which case you face paying your excess and losing 2 years ncd if you have unprotected ncd, plus an inevitable premium loading. (Not the scaremongering 'fortune' mentioned by the hire car rep above)

Doing it yourself is your call - you break your policy conditions by not telling your insurer with consequences should it come to light in future, and can reimburse your insurer their outlay if it's cost effective and get your NCD reinstated.

mksangha

Yh i m covered under my insurance on this. I might look at doing this without informing them then. I m still worried about it backfiring though.

mksangha

Quentin wrote: »

So it looks like you are covered on your own insurance for this??

In which case you face paying your excess and losing 2 years ncd if you have unprotected ncd, plus an inevitable premium loading. (Not the scaremongering 'fortune' mentioned by the hire car rep above)

Doing it yourself is your call - you break your policy conditions by not telling your insurer with consequences should it come to light in future, and can reimburse your insurer their outlay if it's cost effective and get your NCD reinstated.

Sorry can u explain the last part of what u said?why would i reimburse my insurance?