How Long Can I Keep a Hire Car After an Accident?
There is no fixed number of days. What matters is whether you still reasonably need the vehicle - and being able to show it.
There is no fixed limit. You can keep a replacement vehicle for as long as you reasonably need it - normally until your car is repaired, or until a total loss settlement is agreed and paid.
The word doing the work is reasonably. Keep it longer than you genuinely need and part of the charge may be challenged.
What decides the length
Two things: whether your vehicle is being repaired or has been written off, and how quickly everyone else moves.
If it is being repaired, hire normally runs until the repair is finished and the car is back with you. That includes waiting for parts, which is often the real delay.
If it is a total loss, hire normally runs until the settlement is agreed and paid, plus a short, reasonable period to buy something else. It does not run indefinitely because you are unhappy with the valuation.
The clock in practice
A typical claim moves through three phases, and each has its own delays:
Inspection
An engineer has to see the vehicle and decide repair or write-off. Until that happens nothing else can move.
Decision and authority
Repairs need authorising, or a valuation needs agreeing. This is usually the slowest phase, and the one worth chasing.
Completion
Repairs finish, or the settlement is paid and you replace the vehicle. Hire ends shortly after.
Return the vehicle promptly once you no longer need it. Days after that point are the easiest thing for an insurer to strike out, and they are the days you are least likely to recover.
Claim dragging on with no end date?
Long hire periods need managing, not just waiting. We chase the inspection, the authority and the valuation to keep it moving.
What can shorten what you recover
Three things put part of a hire period at risk:
Not needing the vehicle
If you had another car available, or were away and not driving, that period is difficult to justify.
Delay you caused
Not returning calls, not providing documents or holding up the engineer’s inspection can all be laid at your door.
No evidence of need
Where you rely on a vehicle for work or caring responsibilities, evidence gathered at the start is far stronger than an explanation given months later.
Common questions
No fixed maximum. Periods of several weeks are common and much longer periods happen where liability is disputed, but the whole period must be reasonable and justifiable.
That is normally a legitimate reason for hire to continue, as it is outside your control. Keep the garage updates and dates, since they are the evidence that supports it.
Usually for a reasonable period while it is resolved, but not indefinitely. Once a fair settlement is available, the expectation is that you replace the vehicle promptly.
The insurer may refuse to pay the excess days. With PTH Claims we will tell you when we think you should hand it back, precisely so this does not happen.
A short, reasonable period after settlement is normally accepted. Weeks of browsing is not.
Terms and conditions apply to all services described on this page. Free recovery, storage and replacement vehicles are provided on the basis that the charges are recovered from the at-fault party’s insurer. We will explain the terms in plain English before anything is arranged.
Before we act for you we are required to verify your identity and to carry out fraud and anti-money laundering checks. This may include checks with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies, which will leave a record on your file.
Where fraud is suspected, information may be shared with fraud prevention agencies, insurers and law enforcement. Providing false or misleading information in support of a claim may mean your claim is refused, and can be a criminal offence.