No courtesy car during delay in appointing repairer

dropoffvelo

Has anyone had issues recently with car insurance companies and their contractors like VizionNetwork refusing to offer a courtesy car until an insured person's car is physically in for repair? We have been waiting 2 weeks for VizionNetwork to find a repair centre with no update as to how long it will take. We raised a complaint about the lack of customer service ( lack of contact/updates) but they closed it off straight away saying there was no further action to be taken by them, and that they were dealing with increased demand due to " unprecedented weather events" ... correct me if I'm wrong but we've been having unprecedented weather events for the past few years at least. We have had to pay ourselves for a hire car and that cost will not be reimbursed. Another issue is the broker is Sainsbury's who use AXA as underwriter who use VizionNetwork for repair management. We get bounced from one to the other and noone takes ownership

DullGreyGuy

It's normal practice for a traditional courtesy car only to be given when yours is in for repair and therefore only if it is repairable. They similarly aren't guaranteed so are subject to availability. 

Many insurers now offer an enhanced courtesy car or guaranteed courtesy car etc which instead is a hire car. The plus side is you can get it straight away and covers total losses/stolen unrecovered but there is a maximum number of days (14 to 28) and so long part delays may result in the hire car going back before your car has been repaired. 

Check your policy book to see who your complaint should go to... for some it will depend on if its the sales or claims process you are complaining about. 

Ectophile

You haven't said who's ultimately going to be footing the bill for the repair - your insurance or someone else's.  If it's someone else's, keep the car hire invoices and bill the other party for the car hire.  It's easier if you have legal protection with your insurance.

Herzlos

The courtesy car will be provided by the repairing garage as part of the repair service. If you need a car because yours isn't driveable, then you'd need to hire one and have the at fault party pay for it (directly or after the fact).