S-I-L has recently had a fairly large shunt in her car (BMW 120d) when her hubby hit a large stag in Scotland whilst they were driving up overnight...(apparently the midges are bad in the hills/mountains so the deer are remaining down low).
The hassle she's had getting an alternative vehicle, had me check our policy because we're going up there on tues for 10 days.... and i can't say i'm all that happy with the responses i've had so far.
We drive an estate and fill the thing up..(currently 2 dogs don't help, but at the end of the year a sprog will be added to the list)... so we'd need a an average sized estate as a minimum, for a courtesy car.
when i rang the insurer they 'assured' me that if it's their approved garage, they (the garage) will provide a car and they 'try' to match like for like......yeah right. The other thing is i'd insist on the repairing garage being one recognised by my manufacturer, so the paint warranty would remain, which will probably mean it's not the insurance company's approved one.
I've had this in the past, where the repairing garage couldn't provide a car for 2 weeks, by which time i'd like to think our car would be repaired!
Anyone got any ideas? 2 adults, a baby and it's paraphernalia and 2 dogs will not fit into a Nissan Micra or similar. What do other people do? Is it a case of 'you get what you pay for' and you have to go with a long established insurer or is it knowing what to ask for? I'm not convinced we've got the proper cover at the moment.
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I have recently switched most of my insurance over to Aon. A lot of their schemes offer an upgraded courtesy car as standard. If someone drives into me I should get a car with a minimum of a 2 litre engine so it should be something of a reasonable size.
Your insurer should offer you something reasonable. If the accident was your fault rather than a third parties fault I suspect they'll be less likely to make sure you have a suitable vehicle as it will cost them more. The other alternative is to tell the insurer if they can't provide a reasonable courtesy car from the garage then you'll arrange car hire and bill them for it. Get it writing they're willing to pay. It is much easier when a third party hits you as your insurance company won't be the ones paying out so you would be more likely to get a better car!
teabelly
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We decided to top up the amount paid by the insurance company, who used 'Enterprize' so we had a Grand Scenic rather than the Micra or Matiz on offer. I believe now that that Insurance company arrange like-for-like for a small increase in premium.
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The answer may be in the wording of your policy. Do you get the car as a right or merely as a courtesy. My policy says I get a car if I use "an appointed repairer and subject to availability" but it doesn't qualify the size/type of car. Many repairers provide a car off their own bat.
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L\'escargot.
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Is it a case of 'you get what you pay for' and you have to go with a long established insurer or is it knowing what to ask for? I'm not convinced we've got the proper cover at the moment.
yes, in short, if you are claiming off your own policy.
if you are claiming off a third party for a "no-fault on your part" incident, then it is diferent. refer to hj's faq, and that should help you get what is rightfully due to you.
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Hang on - the car involved in the accident is a small hatchback (A BMW 1 Series) yet you want an Estate as a courtesy car?
Is this some sort of a joke? Of course you are not going to get an Estate.
Thats like me crashing my car and demanding on an S Class Merc..
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I've just read it again. Hang on, what exactly do you drive? And have you had an accident or are you just.. assuming? This is a confusing thread. Whats your point?
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... This is a confusing thread. Whats your point?
not confusing at all. i thought it was crystal clear that westpig is just thinking ahead as to whether his insurance is good enough for his needs, should he be so unfortunate as to need to call upon it! ;-)
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sister-in-law had accident in BMW 1 series
wife and i going to same place on tues, which has fast flowing empty drivers roads with huge great beasts with horns on them roaming about.
we drive Jag X type estate.......and as family member has just had a problem, it's focused our minds on our own policy
we have not and hopefully will not have an accident, but don't want to be stranded with a Micra trying to fit in a load of gear, if we were to have a problem.
As policy will last for 12 months and we often travel long distances (3 times year London to Scotland, same London to Devon) it will also incorporate the arrival of Westpig junior at Christmas which will add to the luggage burden.
Trying to plan ahead and get advice from others who have no doubt had the same problem.
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WP - There was nothing confusing about the OP - Even I grasped it in one read....
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thank goodness for that..... i did proof read it to make sure
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When I recently crashed my Vectra-C, I was offered a Ford KA. My insurance co. wouldn't go any larger than a group A hire car. If I wanted something in group B (eg, Corsa / Fiesta) then I would have to pay £3 a day; if I wanted something in group C (eg Astra / Focus) then I would have to pay £6 a day. Having read the T's & C's of my insurance policy, it does mention that they will only pay something like up to £18 a day for a hire car. In the end I just accepted the Ford KA, as all I wanted was a car that started, stopped, and got me from A to B until a decision was made as to whether the Vectra was a write off (which it was - sob)
Still, it could have been worse. I was originally offered a Chevrolet Matiz!
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When I had my accident in my Suzuki van, my insurer had the repairer contact me.
They said they would provide a vehicle BUT after I asked could I use it for business use and for my trade, they said no, but phone my insurer and they should provide one for this purpose.
I did and they had Enterprise ring me and they booked me a van and allow business use which was great.
When I turned up, they said sorry, we dont have any small vans, but would you mind having a LWB VW LT van instead? Im not kidding, I could have parked my Suzuki in the back of it but of course I accepted it. So I infact got an upgrade on what I already had. Great!
On the whole, Enterprise were very helpful and my insurer, Privilege, were more than happy to make sure I got a suitable vehicle. As I understood it, they mearly had to clear the extra cost with the other insurance company.
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DD , how come when RF / TVM wrote off his car, we had a full thread all about it and were able to give him some good humoured ribbing.
But you have written yours off and managed to sneak it in through the back door??? :)
Or have I missed a thread somewhere??
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Or have I missed a thread somewhere??
Bobby, no you haven't missed a thread. I just haven't got around to typing one up yet.
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Hey whats goin on here. You dont just casually announce, "when i recently wrote off the vectra"
Gory details demanded.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Gory details demanded.
Typing it up as you posted.
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Erm..."I've just read it again. Hang on"
As the tellytubbies would say... 'again, again'!
Third time lucky?
Cor!
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i'd insist on the repairing garage being one recognised by my manufacturer
Generally the car is provided by the insurance company's authorised repairer (the repairers hate doing it, but they're forced to by the insurance companies). If you choose the repairer then it's up to you arrange a courtesy car with the repairer - in my experience they'll loan you a car for a day or two if the car is mobile and can go in at a mutually agreeable date, but it it's off the road for weeks then you're almost certainly on your own.
Maybe you just have to recognise that these are hopefully infrequent events, and, if the worst comes to the worst, then you'll just have to stick your hand in pocket and hire an appropriate car.
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This is one thing keeping me in a company vehicle:
- accident and Passat off the road... couple days later have a nice Alfa 156 instead if 1.4 Astra/Focus - you have to play the game. Had the Focus within 45 minutes of asking.
- car in garage for service or warranty repair so bye bye Mondeo hello 2.0 Mazda TS or similar. Again a bit of a game that the hire company gives me more for my flexibility as again only allowed a 1.4 Astra/Focus ;-)
Out of hours the Mondeo died and I insisted at my expense a Mondeo size car (family health issues so hospital trips). Got one and a taxi to Manchester airport (free) but could not pay the extra, ever. Could not take it.
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westpig I dont know the answer to your question however I can tell you that the deer move up the hill /mountain through the day to avoid the heat,flies midges etc and come down to graze the better grasses at the roadsides in the cool of the evening ,I regularly travel over the cairnwell pass and even knowing the road as I do the only answer is to slow down.
enjoy your trip and stay safe
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Best mate had his 406 estate rear ended.Insurance company tried to deliver a 206 loan car to him.He quite forcibly refused on the grounds that he would not be able to get his wife,2 toddlers in child seats,dog, and other paraphenalia in the loan car.They agreed,and provided him with a 406 estate loan car until his own was returned from the repairers two weeks later.
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we drive Jag X type estate.....
As prudence seems to be uppermost here, might it be a good idea to check the replacement car in the event of a breakdown too, in that case? My Merc broke down once (ignition switch) & the Mobilo warranty people whisked out a replacement C-class within 2 hours.
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What's wrong with fitting a set of bull bars?
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My Merc broke down once (ignition switch) & the Mobilo warranty people whisked out a replacement C-class within 2 hours.
...but even Mercedes "own" insurance only guarantees a 1.0L Hatchback in the event of an accident.
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...but even Mercedes "own" insurance only guarantees a 1.0L Hatchback in the event of an accident.
Er, yes.. I raised the point about breakdown cover & what might be (or not be) provided , since the OP likes to disaster plan...
I know nothing about Mercedes 'own' insurance, whatever that covers - I have my own broker, with copious accident provision.
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My neighbour drives an Audi TT and this was damaged recently by a drunk driver. Whilst it was off the road he used Audi Assist to find a similar car. Instead of a hard top he had a soft top convertible for the 4 weeks it took to get the repair completed. I believe he was only able to do this because he was not responsible for the accident and could claim the hire cost against the drunk driver (who the Police caught).
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Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
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In the past when my S type was whacked by a lorry, the Jag approved repairer, (that also did Rolls, Bentley, Aston etc) put me onto a private company that would offer 'like for like' courtesy/hire cars once they'd done an assessment and worked out they had a fair chance of recovering their costs from the other party.
I was had over by my then insurer, as my only courtesy car entitlement was what the repairing garage could provide...and they didn't have any spare for at least 2 weeks. (In other words you'd get a car if one was available, not automatically, which i had no idea about).
the recommended company provided a year old Merc C class 200k the following day and i had it for a month.
what's more the lorry co. insurer failed to pay up (because the driver lied through his teeth) and i had no hint of weariness about the month's hire. It was a really good service.
I'm happy to recommend the company, it was Bristol and London, based in Bristol. (Hope this doesn't fall foul of 'naming' policy as it's a positive recommendation..and if so i've deliberately put it at the end of my post so it can be deleted).
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once they'd done an assessment and worked out they had a fair chance of recovering their costs from the other party.
any number of companies do this. Being hit by a third party is a different kettle of fish from hitting a wild animal, though.
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true.......wish me luck, cars all packed, will be leaving shortly......will be paying special attention to reflective eyes in Glen Coe, although should be dawn by the time we get there
didn't bother changing the insurance, was on the 'too difficult' pile...would have to rely on charlie credit card if the wotsit hit the fan
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Some things imho aren't worth insuring against, unless you're very poor.
If you are a plumber, driving an old van and live from hand to mouth, and need a replacement van instantly, and can't afford to hire one, then you need that level of insurance.
How often do you actually have a prang that coincides with a two week driving holiday? Most people could probably cope with a Ka for a fortnight most of the time.
So for every prang say once in 5 years, only one in ten of these will coincide with a period requiring you to have a larger car, so it is a once in 50 years event. Oh yes, and there's a 50:50 chance it is the other driver's fault, so once in 100 years.
As OP drives a Jaguar and his trip to Scotland coincides with the start of the Grouse shooting season, I suggest that a 1% chance of havnig to pay an extra £20 per day for a decent sized hire car for a fortnight probably isn't worth insuring against.
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Just to mention that we moved to Churchill because they offer an 'enhanced courtesy car' for a small additional premium . According to the policy doc this 'aims' to provide a similar vehicle . I've gone for this because we need 6 seats and we don't all fit in a Corsa etc . Hopefully I will never have to utilise this feature ...
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cheaper to buy Deer whistles & have em fitted in front of the grill! work very well
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