Some brief details:
My car was rear-ended a couple of weeks ago, was dropped off at approved repairer last week and we got a hire car. Car is totally driveable, but just been told it’s written off due to cost of bodywork repairs vs vehicle value. As a result of the write-off we’ve been told the hire car must be returned. No decisions as to value of insurance pay out, I’m offshore on nightshift and all the insurer’s offices are closed, my wife requires a car for work.

What do we do? Can we claim back the cost of a hire car from the other party’s insurer?

It’s a standard policy condition that a hire car is provided during repairs. If a write off most garages will request the hire car back.

The Insurer could arrange a credit hire vehicle until settlement. Failing that, drive your own car if it’s drivable until Insurer have paid you. It’s your own property until they pay you for it.

Failing that, drive your own car if it’s drivable until Insurer have paid you. It’s your own property until they pay you for it.

Don’t want to seem an arse, but is this a legitimate option? It would be ideal if it is, but if I tell the missus to go pick up the car and they don’t let her, she’s stuck 25 miles from the house and in a very bad mood.

Ask the insurer. Explain your situation.

and they don’t let her

It’s your car is it not.?

I’d refuse to return the car until I speak to the insurer and ask them.

I’ve had one of our client’s do just this (drive there own car away from the garage) as it was just a dent in the door but the insurer wanted to write the vehicle off.

The vehicle is still insured. It’s your property. No money has exchanged hands. It’s only a write off because it’s uneconomical to repair, not unsafe to repair.

Ask the insurer. Explain your situation.

I’m offshore on nightshift and all the insurer’s offices are closed.

I’ll try the driving our car away approach. I just thought there may be something about the fact that it’s written off means no insurance.

The courtesy car is probably owned by the garage undertaking the repairs. So I can see why theyd want it back asap. If rhe case.

Correct me if Im wrong but in the case of write off your cover automatically ENDS. SERIOUSLY.

It’s likely they may restrict your cover to third party only until you’ve been paid out or you choose to keep it/repair it yourself.

Is the garage open? Can you ask them if they will kick up a fuss if you drive the car away.

Correct me if Im wrong but in the case of write off your cover automatically ENDS. SERIOUSLY.

Not sure on this. Drove an MR2 Turbo backwards into a hedge (hard to believe, I know) a few years back, and they just kept the policy going for my next car.

Think I’ll have to bite the bullet and get up during the day tomorrow to make some phonecalls.

Cheers, all.

The Flying Ox – Member

I’m offshore on nightshift and all the insurer’s offices are closed.

Can your wife not call and ask?

Just been informed that someone’s coming to take the car away from the garage tomorrow and it needs to be emptied of valuables.

I love being drip-fed information.

Who’s coming to take your property away??

If you were rear-ended, it’s surely a non-fault claim?

The car is yours. Unless they supply you another vehicle get wifey to go and collect it in the morning.

I have come across insurers who want to stop cover after a write off but they have always allowed 7 days in the past. Bear in mind the garage is not infallible and another garage may say it’s not a write off. Your perfectly in your write to refute the garages opinion, drive off and seek advice else where.

Correct me if Im wrong but in the case of write off your cover automatically ENDS. SERIOUSLY.

And not sure now, but in years gone by a write-off also meant you lost the remainder of the premium.

If your in an accident in an unrepaired write off, surely there would be a strong case for the driver being irresponsible in driving an unroadworthy car. I am pretty sure that would invalidate your insurance.

I’ll try the driving our car away approach. I just thought there may be something about the fact that it’s written off means no insurance.

Insurance is usually transfered to the hire car mine was while mine was getting repaired slowly, 5 weeks for a new door.

Alos the garage may have stripped the car down to check repairs needed, so a bit difficult to driove of if its got no wheels or battery etc.

Same thing happened to me.

The minute the car was an insurance write off (still drivable though) the other parties insurance co wanted the hire car back asap & weren’t budging. My hands were tied too as when I picked up the hire car it was obviously my card used for the deposit.

I was able to use my written off car though until it was taken away to the big scrapheap in the sky 🙁

Mine was written off but repairable. They were happy to sell it back to me for 23% of the write-off value and then to re-insure it without additional premium until the original expiry date, provided I had it MoT’d to demonstrate it was roadworthy. However, different insurers may have different rules. I didn’t need to drive in the meantime so the OPs problem didn’t arise. Problem may be that there will be a condition in the policy that it must be roadworthy – provided it is capable of passing an MoT, it may still be insured until they’ve paid out.

But if the collision wasn’t your fault, you should be able to claim a hire car on the other driver’s insurance. In which case I would hope your insurance company would facilitate that.

Problem solved for now. Our little runaround shed is parked at the airport in Aberdeen. Wife is getting train to Aberdeen and picking the shed up.

On the plus side, new car time.

Hmmmm…. what car for shopping/child/MTB duties that’s a bit out of the ordinary? Thinking a Volvo 850 T5 or a Skyline 350GT…

The issue means the car is not worth repairing not that is unsafe to drive [ it may be unsafe as well mind hard to say without looking]
You could make a low value car a write off by damaging one door for example but it is still road worthy and it could pass an MOT…had it happen to me 🙄

Not sure re insurance tbh but you can claim any losses against the other party like say a train ticket!!

1st thing, read your policy, every policy is different and will have different clauses. Once that is done one of you needs to call the insurer.

Some mates have had good success using the claim management people to get what you need from the other parties insurance.

This is interesting. My first car got written off and I got a hire car, I kept the hire car until they paid me for the write-off. They sent the cheque out pretty quick though. Hire car costs were claimed back, by my insurer, from the person who hit me.

This is what legal protection cover (for about £10 per policy) is for.

i ve just bought a write off motorcycle and i ll be riding it in the dales.. write off? the exhaust was damaged when it fell off the stand and as a new exhaust is a grand plus vat plus fitting the insurance co wrote it off.

DOn’t bother with the 850 T5, get the 850 R and pretend you’re a police motorway patrol from the 90s 😀

Glad you got sorted for transport Ox.

My car got written off last year – fortunately it happened in front of a p. olice car so there wfind no shenanigans.It was declared a total loss by an independent assessor and I got a hire car for three weeks which initially feels like plenty time to find a replacement but I still ended up buying a car on the last day of the free three weeks!

OX.

YGM.

Hire car provided as a add on benefit regardless of fault = fixed time 14/21 days
Courtesy car provided by repairing garage = for the duration of repairs, no repairs , no car.
Hire car provided by at fault third party = until you have been paid or your car is fixed.

Depends which of the above is providing your temporary car.

Hmmmm…. what car for shopping/child/MTB duties that’s a bit out of the ordinary? Thinking a Volvo 850 T5…

You’ll be lucky to find a decent one, they ended production nearly 20 years ago.

If the car is not road worthy then not only is your insurance invalid but your are also committing an offence. If you happen to be involved in another accident (your fault or not) expect the strong arm of the law (both crown and civil) to come down on you hard. I know the garage would want they’re courtesy car back. Is it not possible for your wife to contact insurance company on your behalf? They usually don’t mind if they have permission of policyholder. An insurance company’s obligation is to put you in same situation you were in before the incident happened. Whether that is through financial compensation or sourcing a new vehicle, the choice is theirs. Explain once the car goes back they have not satisfied neither.

Blimey do people ignore even the OP these days?

I have had a car written off for a small crack in the bumper and a bent tailpipe on the exhaust. Got car back, bit of fibreglass and a new backbox and the car is still going round today, 7 years later. So it might still be road worthy, just the cost of a new bumper, repairing a dent in the rear quarter, or any number of cosmetic reasons why they have written it off.

If the hire car was from a separate company arranged by your insurance company (or a company they appoint) then you should be keeping the car until you have received the payment cheque (and you normally get a couple of days for the cheque to clear/find a new car etc).

If it’s from the garage the car is at then as soon as they deem the car a total loss their job is done.

If you want the car back act quickly. I knew ours was a write-of so wouldn’t let them take it to the garage and got them to come out and inspect at our house. Car would not run and has a bent shell.

When the insurance company write the car off the policy on that car ends. Your policy is then put on hold and you can switch the cover to a new car (paying any additional costs). If the car is safe and drivable and roadworthy then you may well be able to reinsure it (paying any additional costs). If it is cat C then it may need a VIC check but that is not a worry until the tax is about to expire IIRC. You may want to get a new MOT to check for anything dangerous.

Have a read through your policy document. I pay an extra £20/year for a guaranteed hire car in the event mine is stolen or written off.