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Original poster

Odd one, help needed! Car insurance related

21 replies

sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 16:57

NC for this as it's outing.

In April someone went into the back of DH, other driver completely at fault (for context)

The car was assessed and declared repairable, we have had a hire car that is being paid for by the insurers ever since. The garage fixing it has been waiting for parts and they keep pushing back the repair date, today it went from 30 June to 30 July.

We have had a holiday booked for the best part of a year for next month that involves driving to France (think eurocamp, completely reliant on having a car). The car hire company said we can take the car to France but it's a £300 cost as additional insurance etc, fair enough.

Our insurance company said they're not paying it as the policy is for them to cover the cost of a car while ours is being repaired. Surely this £300 is part of that cost?

I'm at work so haven't looked over the policy details yet but am I really going to be £300 out of pocket through no fault of my own?

OP posts:
ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 17:01

Can you quote exactly what they have said? On the face of it you are correct, the insurance is to give you a car that you can use exactly as you would have used the damaged car. But it depends what the policy says.

Have they quoted any particular part of the policy wording in support of their refusal? It might say somewhere that the cover only extends to a car for use in the UK.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 17:07

Thanks for replying @ChocChipHandbag, it was DH who spoke to them so I only got told what I've posted above.

I'm going to go through the policy when I get home from work but afaik no policy wording was quoted, he was just told they just have to pay for the hire. This is a cost that is a part of that so they should be paying it.

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ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 17:09

If you can post the policy wording here I’ll take a look.

SilverOrchid · 27/06/2023 17:10

The claim should be against the third party’s insurers, and so they should be the one footing the bill.

If you have taken a hire car under your own policy (instead of under a credit hire agreement with the other insurer footing the bill), then I think it’s common for there to be more restricted terms on what that hire car can be used for.

If the terms say you do need to pay more, I would ask if this is recoverable from the third party insurer as they should cover all of your losses given it was their driver’s fault.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 17:10

Thank you, I really appreciate it

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Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 17:11

SilverOrchid · 27/06/2023 17:10

The claim should be against the third party’s insurers, and so they should be the one footing the bill.

If you have taken a hire car under your own policy (instead of under a credit hire agreement with the other insurer footing the bill), then I think it’s common for there to be more restricted terms on what that hire car can be used for.

If the terms say you do need to pay more, I would ask if this is recoverable from the third party insurer as they should cover all of your losses given it was their driver’s fault.

And thank you for this as well

OP posts:
CatsOnTheChair · 27/06/2023 17:13

Have you had a call from someone talking about "out of pocket costs"? Get hold of them.
This should be something that is covered by them, and reclaimed from the other insurance company.
PS I got rear ended in May. Currently booked for August.... thankfully my car is drivable!

Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 18:00

CatsOnTheChair · 27/06/2023 17:13

Have you had a call from someone talking about "out of pocket costs"? Get hold of them.
This should be something that is covered by them, and reclaimed from the other insurance company.
PS I got rear ended in May. Currently booked for August.... thankfully my car is drivable!

Not to my knowledge, will ask DH. Sorry I'm so vague!

It's an actual nightmare isn't it, yes it might be drivable but you're driving around a damaged car!

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Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 18:03

@ChocChipHandbag I've attached the policy, this is all there is in courtesy cars. DH seems to be under the impression that because the car is rented from somewhere that makes a difference. I said of course it doesn't, the car is a courtesy from them to him, no matter where it comes from.

He has not been given any other policy info/restrictions when the car was provided.

Odd one, help needed! Car insurance related
OP posts:
Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 18:05

Not sure what happened there! 🤣

Odd one, help needed! Car insurance related
OP posts:
ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 18:59

It says that the courtesy car will automatically be insured by the insurer on their policy at no extra cost. If your original policy insured you to drive to France then the courtesy car should be insured on the same terms. Ask your DH (because he is the policyholder) to point that out to them and get them to explain why there is now an extra cost being incurred.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 19:55

ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 18:59

It says that the courtesy car will automatically be insured by the insurer on their policy at no extra cost. If your original policy insured you to drive to France then the courtesy car should be insured on the same terms. Ask your DH (because he is the policyholder) to point that out to them and get them to explain why there is now an extra cost being incurred.

Thanks, I've basically said this. He said do you want to sit next to me when I speak to them and I said I'd rather talk to them myself but they won't do that 🤣

He recounted the conversation, I'm not sure why he didn't just say I'm driving to France next month and my car isn't ready so I was just letting you know in case you need to notify the rental company, rather than going in with the rental company said it's £300. He was told it wasn't covered under the policy. I said did you ask where in the policy it states that but of course he didn't.

I work in HR so policy and process is my job, I suppose I think differently to him when it comes to these sort of things.

Thank you so much for all the replies, I will update the thread when I can in case anyone else encounters a similar issue.

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Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 20:00

Can I also point out that the hire car was arranged by the insurance company, as the courtesy car. It's not something we've sourced ourselves and are claiming back costs for. I understand that would make it more complicated.

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ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 20:17

Good luck. I’m not sure you need to go into the whys and wherefores of who arranged the courtesy car, just stick to “your policy says I’ll get a fully insured car at no extra cost”.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 27/06/2023 21:13

ChocChipHandbag · 27/06/2023 20:17

Good luck. I’m not sure you need to go into the whys and wherefores of who arranged the courtesy car, just stick to “your policy says I’ll get a fully insured car at no extra cost”.

Oh definitely, that was more for explanation to the thread 🥰

Thank you for your help, it's much appreciated and will likely save us £300 Flowers

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ChocChipHandbag · 28/06/2023 08:51

Well it should, but don’t count your chickens, insurance companies are remarkably bad at understanding and applying their own policy wordings. It might take a bit of escalation before you get to someone who understands the point.

YouveGotAFastCar · 28/06/2023 08:56

If DH authorises them to speak to you on his behalf, they'll allow that.

But all your DH needs to do is say that it says your policy will apply to the courtesy car - so unless your DH misunderstood his original policy and there would have been a £300 surcharge for him to drive in France anyway, that isn't applicable; and if it relates specifically to the hire car being taken into France (which it probably does), then it needs to be reclaimed from the other insurance company along with rest of the costs incurred.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 28/06/2023 19:31

An update!

DH rang the insurance again today and went through to a different dept (policy and not the claims handling dept, basically)

He asked if the policy covered him driving in Europe and the call handler said yes, they just needed to put a small surcharge on for fully comp if he wanted more than 3rd party fire and theft for the vehicle while abroad. He asked how this would affect a courtesy car and they said it wouldn't, it's the same policy.

He explained what he'd been told by the other department and they apologised and said that was incorrect info.

Apparently will cost at most £60 and this would have applied to our own car.

Thank you all for basically reinforcing what I said from the outset, you've all been really helpful!

OP posts:
ChocChipHandbag · 28/06/2023 20:32

Yay, excellent news!

Is the courtesy car smaller than yours? I saw that the policy said it was likely to be. That’s going to be a bit of a pain for long holiday driving. But better than nothing.

Original poster
sugaryglider · 28/06/2023 20:53

ChocChipHandbag · 28/06/2023 20:32

Yay, excellent news!

Is the courtesy car smaller than yours? I saw that the policy said it was likely to be. That’s going to be a bit of a pain for long holiday driving. But better than nothing.

It actually isn't, it's a qashqai so it's the same size but they're talking about swapping it as we've had it so long, I said it needs to be at least a Focus or we're in trouble

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Original poster
sugaryglider · 28/06/2023 20:54

Tbf the kids are all late primary age so we don't need any young child things like prams etc, I just want space to bring back wine and cheese!

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