Car insurance question

UnsureAboutthis

I was flabbergasted to hear from a sibling today re their car repair, but should not have been, as I've heard about people waiting to get cars repaired/fixed and months to get a part/s in.

It was a clear-cut, third-party-fault accident 5/6 weeks ago. They were waiting at the roundabout for a gap, as was the little car behind them, about 10/20 seconds later a white, lonf wheelbased van drove in to the back of the small car which then hit my sibblings car, a realtivley new EV which is the sive of a mercedes c class/Audi A5 etc.

Sibbling was claimed via their insurance, as they don't have time to faff around; the culprit was insured/etc

Question: The car they have on loan via accident management I think it is a similar size but a model that lacks buttons almost completely and lacks a centre speed dial, etc.

now they have been advised it may take up to three months for a part "if required," as they can't tell until car is stripped. Can they demand a car similar to theirs?

They won't be able to claim its writtn off as still valued easily close to 50/60 k I guess

What are their options, please? Ideally they want a simialr car or possibly the money and will buy a used version of a similar spec/age mileage

They do not have legal cover with the car insurance but did pay for a courtesy car option

Woodstok2000

Courtesy car would be for a similar make/model but will have wording written in to allow for differences in specific.

clive0510

If the part in question is not currently in production then that's no bodies fault. thats the way it is, not sure what car it is, but all dealers have access to whats called a dealer search. they can search with the part number and see if any one in uk has that part. in the meantime not much can be done, so keep the loan car for now. if the required part never actually turns up, tell your insurance company and they have ways of dealing with it. total write off (two) is one of those. good luck..

QrizB

The car they have on loan via accident management I think it is a similar size but a model that lacks buttons almost completely and lacks a centre speed dial, etc.

In their position I'd be talking to the ambulance chasers accident management, company to see what other vehicles they might have available. The accident management company will be hoping to make £££ on their car rental charges, so should be happy to change the vehicle (if they have any others) rather than have your sibling hand it back.

A friend of mine had their nerly-new campervan T-boned by a van and it took ten monthsfor the body shop to get the parts from VW and finish the repairs. All that time they had the same hire car (not a camper van) and in that time they put 15000 miles on it!

XRS200

They've got a similar sized car from the accident management company but they want one with more buttons??

UnsureAboutthis

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82069562#Comment_82069562

Everyone is different, mate. When they bought their car they wanted an EV of good spec/quality but should have dails/buttons well at less some for some of the main functions, hence their purchase of that car and not others

Even the car makers are being forced back into making cars with some buttons, etc., which control items you regularly adjust, ef, car seat heating/cooling—heating up and down and speed of fan, etc., and a speedo in front of you and not down the the central touchscreen.

However, some will not mind but others do as they feel it enhances safer driving, and Euro NCAP has started to evlauate the safe uses of these controls in the cars' overall ratings.

sheramber

If the car is a courtesy car provided through his insurance, what does his policy say about the standard of the courtesy that will be provided

LightFlare

I would be wary of having a vehicle on “loan” from an accident company for any length of time

The daily/weekly rate for these can be eye watering and lead to all sorts of issues in the future when the final bill lands on the insurance company’s desk

Unless it is actually a loan (100% free of charge to any party) - I would be digging out the paperwork and checking

Aretnap

Question: The car they have on loan via accident management I think it is a similar size but a model that lacks buttons almost completely and lacks a centre speed dial, etc.

now they have been advised it may take up to three months for a part "if required," as they can't tell until car is stripped. Can they demand a car similar to theirs?

Demand of whom?

They can't demand it of the third party insurer. The third party insurer is responsible for reimbursing reasonable car hire costs that your sibling incurs as a result of the accident/repairs, and reasonable costs do include the cost of hiring a car of similar spec. However actually finding a specific car that your sibling is happy with is not the TPI's job - your sibling needs to find a suitable car themselves.

They've chosen to do that through an accident management company. The AMC is offering them a service: obviously what car they can provide is going to depend on what cars they have in stock and available. Your sibling can certainly ask for a car which is more in tune with their preferences, and if the AMC can't or won't provide one they can try another AMC. Though they might find that they've already signed an agreement which locks them into the current AMC, which would limit their options.

Meanwhile what they're entitled to under their own insurer's courtesy car cover will depend on the terms of their policy: it could mean anything from a small generic runabout to a car of the same class, size, performance etc. However even the latter premium option is unlikely to specify that it has to be exactly the same make and model, or be the same colour, or have the same number of buttons as the original car, or plenty of other details that some people might get picky about - it will just entitle them to one that's broadly the same size and class. It will also likely only provide a car for a limited amount of time (eg 2-3 weeks), so it's not as good as the AMC option in a no-fault accident.

So basically the first option is to go back to the AMC and ask if they have something available more in tune with your sibling's tastes; but if they don't their options are likely to be limited.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676204/car-insurance-accident-over-3-months-to-repair-car-ie-waiting-for-parts-my-rights

Who are you insured with?

Is the accident management company also dealing with the repairs or is that your own insurers?

With Accident Management/Credit Hire the hire company is giving you the car on credit and will then attempt to recover their outlay from the third party insurer. As such they will be limited to indemnity principles as that is all the courts will award them if they have to litigate. The courts are generally very generous and will accept that if you have a certain vehicle then you are entitled to something similar rather than having to mitigate your losses if you could practically exist without material inconvenience with a smaller/more basic vehicle.

In my claims days, before EVs, you would look at engine size, seats, doors and mark into consideration to determine if a vehicle was adequately aligned, Lacking buttons or the location of the speed dial is unlikely to come into consideration unless you have a medical disability which makes those essential for driving.

At the end of the day you could ask the credit hire company if they have an alternative vehicle more to your liking but given the cost of switching of the vehicle is not going to be recoverable from the third party insurer dont expect them to be too keen on the idea.

If you were claiming off your own policy rather than using an accident management company then matters are slightly different because you have contractual rights to whatever the terms say. That being said, the traditional courtesy car would be something like a VW Up or Ford Ka (group A 3 door car with a 5 door for those that really need it) and is only provided if the garage happens to have one available.

Some insurers do offer a higher tier(s) which replaces the garage provided vehicle with a hire car and it becomes guaranteed but still the entry level tier of this you are still looking at a small car, probably something like a Fiesta or Golf. Some do a higher tier which would be closer to your own vehicle. The other problem with this option is that unlike the traditional garage provided courtesy car the vast majority have a maximum number of days hire. So you probably will still get something "similar" which may not have the buttons you like and it may have to go back after 4-6 weeks after the maximum hire hits.

There are some high net worth policies that do guarantee the identical vehicle as a replacement car but I'm guessing you arent in that space as I doubt any of them recommend using credit hire, with the premiums they charge, they dont need to.

superbigal

When my New EV got pranged my Ambulance Chaser (Who was quite amenable to be honest) only had 1 EV. It was dugsheet but better than paying for fuel.