Courtesy car or hire car.

[jonbeeza]

Our car has just gone into the motor body repair shop, and a courtesy car is being brought out to us. I was just wondering, are the terms of a courtesy car the same as a hire car? The reason I ask is because they were bringing the courtesy car to our house after 5pm, and I will not be able to look over the body of the courtesy car, for any scratches or dents, or any other damage. Just to avoid being accused of returning a car with damage, that was already there.

 

[TCR4x4]

You’d have to look at the specifics of their contract, but generally, depending on the type of business, a courtesy car isn’t as finely checked as a hire car is.

If it’s a smaller body shop, it’s likely a cheap runaround they give out and aren’t to worried about it, bigger body shops might have better cars and be more finikity about it.

If you can, get a photo of the mileage as it’s delivered. If you don’t have to use it tonight, check the car tomorrow when it’s light. If there is damage, record it along with the delivered mileage.

 

[jonbeeza]

You’d have to look at the specifics of their contract, but generally, depending on the type of business, a courtesy car isn’t as finely checked as a hire car is.

If it’s a smaller body shop, it’s likely a cheap runaround they give out and aren’t to worried about it, bigger body shops might have better cars and be more finikity about it.

If you can, get a photo of the mileage as it’s delivered. If you don’t have to use it tonight, check the car tomorrow when it’s light. If there is damage, record it along with the delivered mileage.

It is a big body shop used by insurance companies, the courtesy car has been organised by the insurance company. So it may be a hire car, rather than a loan car. Not sure if you have to leave credit card details, when a courtesy car is loaned out.

 

[TCR4x4]

Ah, sounds very much like a hire car. Yes you will be liable for damage then. They will give you a sheet marked with any existing damage and they should walk round the car with you to show you it’s true, but if that’s not possible, I don’t know how it plays out.

All I can suggest is what I said before with the mileage. Of course they will argue a car can be damaged without moving though.

 

[jonbeeza]

Ah, sounds very much like a hire car. Yes you will be liable for damage then. They will give you a sheet marked with any existing damage and they should walk round the car with you to show you it’s true, but if that’s not possible, I don’t know how it plays out.

All I can suggest is what I said before with the mileage. Of course they will argue a car can be damaged without moving though.

Thanks for the reply.


I rang them and said I would not like them to bring the car in the dark, saying I would not be able to check the car over. The person said he will have a torch with him, but I did not fancy checking over a car by torchlight. I said I would rather they brought the car in daylight, so they said they will bring it in the morning. just as well they agreed, is it is ten to five now, and very dark outside.

 

[jonbeeza]

Just a quick update.

Just got a phone call saying they are bringing the courtesy car this morning, and I asked them what did they needed from me. They said they needed to see my driving licence and my credit card. They want to take my credit card details, just in case there was a dispute over any scratches etc when I hand the car back. They said they do not get into disputes, they simply take the money from the card. I have heard horror stories where people have taken delivery of a hire car, that has scratches already on the car. They get money taken from their card, and can't do anything about it.

To save all the stress of the worry, I have declined the car. It is obviously a hire car, and not a courtesy car. Oh well, back to catching the bus.

 

[jpgreenwood]

I’ve got exactly the same issue today. Crashed my car yesterday, phoned my insurance , Hastings Direct, car is being recovered today and local Vauxhall have been appointed to repair it. I’ll be collecting the courtesy car from Vauxhall later today. Very impressed with Hastings up to now. Important thing no one is injured.

 

[jonbeeza]

I’ve got exactly the same issue today. Crashed my car yesterday, phoned my insurance , Hastings Direct, car is being recovered today and local Vauxhall have been appointed to repair it. I’ll be collecting the courtesy car from Vauxhall later today. Very impressed with Hastings up to now. Important thing no one is injured.

I know exactly what you are going through, having to sort through all the mess. But are you getting a Courtesy car, or is it simply a Hire car, under hire car terms?

 

[jonbeeza]

I am just really glad that nobody was hurt with my little accident. Also really pleased that I managed to get all the Christmas shop done. It was also pretty lucky to have decided to stock up on heavy tinned stuff, and a few cases of heavy pet food. It would have been a struggle getting all that stuff on a bus.

 

[jpgreenwood]

I know exactly what you are going through, having to sort through all the mess. But are you getting a Courtesy car, or is it simply a Hire car, under hire car terms?
[/QUOTE
No idea? I’ll ask when I collect

 

[woof woof]

One thing I get stung for years ago was that when offered extra insurance I accepted (as I thought the existing cover could be better as my own was belt and braces) but the insurance company wouldn't pay as they thought it was OTT. So, if they offer you increased cover be careful.

 

[jonbeeza]

One thing I get stung for years ago was that when offered extra insurance I accepted (as I thought the existing cover could be better as my own was belt and braces) but the insurance company wouldn't pay as they thought it was OTT. So, if they offer you increased cover be careful.

I thought our insurance covered everything, it is only when you claim, you discover what is covered and what is not.
I am sure I still have protected no claims, but I am sue next years premium will mysteriously creep up.

 

[jonbeeza]

As I said earlier, I am not taking up the offer of a courtesy hire car. Just can't be doing with all that faffing about. So instead, I have been thinking bus. It is only £18 for a week of travel on the bus, using a weekly saver for the whole NW region. This works out at £2.57 a day, you can't even park for under a fiver a day, in most town centres.

 

[taxboy]

I thought our insurance covered everything, it is only when you claim, you discover what is covered and what is not.
I am sure I still have protected no claims, but I am sue next years premium will mysteriously creep up.

I'm pretty sure your premium will increase unfortunately. The protected no claims will keep your bonus amount intact e.g. 60% but the 60% will be applied to an increased base amount because of your claim

 

[jonbeeza]

I'm pretty sure your premium will increase unfortunately. The protected no claims will keep your bonus amount intact e.g. 60% but the 60% will be applied to an increased base amount because of your claim

I have been paying for protected no claims for well over twenty years, but I know my premium will certainly go up. But hey ho, that is just how things are.

 

[JonathanRyan]

I'm pretty sure your premium will increase unfortunately. The protected no claims will keep your bonus amount intact e.g. 60% but the 60% will be applied to an increased base amount because of your claim

Exactly that. It's not a mystery, sadly claims (even non fault) will almost always put premium up. The NCD will reduce the increase but won't prevent it.

It is obviously a hire car, and not a courtesy car.

I'm not sure why you are assuming that - whether it's a hire car or courtesy car, you would still be responsible for any damage whilst under your "care". Many insurance companies will simply transfer your policy over to cover the loan vehicle so you're covered for major stuff but if it's scratches you wouldn't want to make a claim anyway because your premium would increase even more.

 

[Gremlin]

I have been paying for protected no claims for well over twenty years, but I know my premium will certainly go up. But hey ho, that is just how things are.

Not necessarily if you have a good previous driving record with them, not all companies penalise you for one mistake

 

[jonbeeza]

Exactly that. It's not a mystery, sadly claims (even non fault) will almost always put premium up. The NCD will reduce the increase but won't prevent it.



I'm not sure why you are assuming that - whether it's a hire car or courtesy car, you would still be responsible for any damage whilst under your "care". Many insurance companies will simply transfer your policy over to cover the loan vehicle so you're covered for major stuff but if it's scratches you wouldn't want to make a claim anyway because your premium would increase even more.

But being a hire car it is required they have a copy of my credit card, I don't fancy them having that. As I have read stories where people get scammed for marks on the car, that were already there. So it is my choice, and I chose to do without having the burden of a hire car. Can't be doing with that headache.

 

[jonbeeza]

Not necessarily if you have a good previous driving record with them, not all companies penalise you for one mistake

I do remember the insurance saying a claim or two within so many years, before the protected NCB is affected. But, will just have to wait and see.

 

[Deleted member 49549]

You could probably do a deal with the insurance company saying that you will source your own transport. They make a cash payment to you instead of providing a vehicle. I did something similar a few years ago when I didn’t need the courtesy car.

 

[tijuana taxi]

Stand by to be inundated with unsolicited calls from Accident Injury Claim companies.
We also got harassed by the insurance nominated hire car company (Enterprise)
Apparently they charge insurance companies far more than the usual public hire car rate
Had to get a bit stroppy with them, getting to the point of going down the local office who kept ringing.
Didn't need a hire car, nobody hurt and the "damage" was a few scratches I removed with T-Cut
Only reported it because the other party was a right old whinger.
His fault entirely and going to cost him a lot more than he could have paid just fixing the slight damage.

Everyone is mad for money, no wonder insurance is so expensive.

 

[jonbeeza]

You could probably do a deal with the insurance company saying that you will source your own transport. They make a cash payment to you instead of providing a vehicle. I did something similar a few years ago when I didn’t need the courtesy car.

With Christmas and the lockdown, I have not needed the car so desperately, but only things like shopping. So I will see if I can struggle by without a car, for a little while. It is an interesting point, asking for cash rather than having a hire vehicle, as I will be saving the insurance company money. But, when I come to renew insurance next time, they may look at how much the claim cost them in total. So I suppose they will always be looking to claw back, as much as they can.

 

[jonbeeza]

We did get a copy of the damage report from the body specialist. It as not as serious as I thought it would be. It is listed as tailgate damage and damage to the lamp cluster. They say they have sent a copy to our insurance company for the OK on the parts needed. They will be waiting on them for the work to go ahead.

 

[Marc]

We did get a copy of the damage report from the body specialist. It as not as serious as I thought it would be. It is listed as tailgate damage and damage to the lamp cluster. They say they have sent a copy to our insurance company for the OK on the parts needed. They will be waiting on them for the work to go ahead.

Someone went into the back of the wife's Civic 7 or 8 years ago. We took it to a body shop where the insurance company had a hire car waiting. As we pulled into our drive (20 minutes later) her phone rang and it was the body shop telling her that her car was done. Turned out all they had to do was take the old bumper off and put the new one on, almost F1 style.

Fortunately, they delivered her car to us the next morning and the hire car company collected their car.

 

[jonbeeza]

Someone went into the back of the wife's Civic 7 or 8 years ago. We took it to a body shop where the insurance company had a hire car waiting. As we pulled into our drive (20 minutes later) her phone rang and it was the body shop telling her that her car was done. Turned out all they had to do was take the old bumper off and put the new one on, almost F1 style.

Fortunately, they delivered her car to us the next morning and the hire car company collected their car.

It will probably be a few weeks till we hear any new updates, we were getting updates from the bodyshop via texts to our pone. Will have to get Xmas and the new year out of the way.

 

[DaelpixPhotography]

Our car has just gone into the motor body repair shop, and a courtesy car is being brought out to us. I was just wondering, are the terms of a courtesy car the same as a hire car? The reason I ask is because they were bringing the courtesy car to our house after 5pm, and I will not be able to look over the body of the courtesy car, for any scratches or dents, or any other damage. Just to avoid being accused of returning a car with damage, that was already there.

Glad it isn't a hire car.

In 2018 my car was written off from some ass driving into the back of it while parked. I got a hire car. Only after a couple of weeks I got it picked up because I wasn't using it.

Some time later, I received a letter saying that the third party insurance wasn't going to pay for the car. It went to court. Luckily, I didn't need to sit in court because my solicitor sorted it out just before we were suppoed to go in.........The case closed a month later.

Have to be careful with hire cars because depending on the vehicle make and model, they go up in tiers, ranging from a standard car to a top luxury car, and they all go up in cost per day.

 

[AJQS]

I’ve got exactly the same issue today. Crashed my car yesterday, phoned my insurance , Hastings Direct, car is being recovered today and local Vauxhall have been appointed to repair it. I’ll be collecting the courtesy car from Vauxhall later today. Very impressed with Hastings up to now. Important thing no one is injured.

Dad was rear ended a few years ago, off car goes, gets written off by Hastings, he has a "courtesy car" from them, but buys new car in meantime and hands it back early (i.e before he is paid out for his car). Had a massive fight then with Hastings who demanded to know why he had given it back early, even took him to court (it was thrown out!). Other than that, they were great

 

[Nod]

When my Grandfather's car was off the road for a month or so after a prang, he bought a cheap run-around and sold it on for what it cost him once he had his real car back. The short term insurance was cheaper than renting an auto would have been and there was no auto courtesy car option.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Dad was rear ended a few years ago, off car goes, gets written off by Hastings, he has a "courtesy car" from them, but buys new car in meantime and hands it back early (i.e before he is paid out for his car). Had a massive fight then with Hastings who demanded to know why he had given it back early, even took him to court (it was thrown out!). Other than that, they were great

Ouch. But I kind of know why that happened.......

Insurance companies (or more specifically credit hire organisations - most large insurers either own one or put so much business their way they may as well own them) make a *lot* of money from providing you with a hire car. They hire a car for you and charge the at fault insurance company for the cost. Except it's not the cost. There's an agreement on how much a CHO can charge for hiring out a car and it has nothing to do with what they pay for it. If they can negotiate better terms then, well that's just good business, right?

You can find GTA rates by Googling - they aren't secret but they are probably more than you expect. As an example, GTA 2019 rate for a 1.2l Vauxhall Corsa is £37.45 a day. I just went on Kayak and I can rent a 1.2 Corsa for a week for £158 all up. So even if the CHO is no better at negotiating than just hitting a price comparison site, they can make over £100 a week by renting you a car - and you can bet they get better rates than some random hitting up Kayak. The more expensive the car, the higher the GTA rate and the bigger the gap between buying and selling.

And if your car is off the road for 3 months then they can rent a car for you every day - which actually is only fair.

In 2018 my car was written off from some ass driving into the back of it while parked. I got a hire car. Only after a couple of weeks I got it picked up because I wasn't using it.

So a clear "non-fault" and an easy profit for your insurers. I can only guess that the other insurers said they weren't going to pay to try it on or because their driver was claiming mistaken identity. Or maybe they are just idiots. But yeah, technically you would be liable for the hire if they didn't pay which is all kinds of nasty.

 

[MartynK]

A couple of posters mentioned credit cards in this thread. I'm just curious, but how do insurers/car hire firms deal with situations where someone doesn't have one? I've never hired a car in the UK, but I've never had a credit card here and I'm not interested in getting one.

 

[DaelpixPhotography]

Just as it happens I was with Hastings.

A couple of posters mentioned credit cards in this thread. I'm just curious, but how do insurers/car hire firms deal with situations where someone doesn't have one? I've never hired a car in the UK, but I've never had a credit card here and I'm not interested in getting one.

I only have a debit 'mastercard'. I wouldn't even touch a credit card.