Do I Have to Use My Insurer’s Courtesy Car?
Your insurer is offering a small courtesy car and pressing you to accept it. You do not have to - and if the accident was not your fault, there is usually a better option.
No. If the accident was not your fault, you are entitled to a replacement vehicle from the at-fault driver’s insurer - and you can choose who provides it.
A courtesy car from your own insurer is usually a small, basic car offered as a goodwill gesture. A non-fault replacement should be like for like - the same size and type of vehicle you actually lost.
Courtesy car or replacement vehicle?
The two get talked about as though they are the same thing. They are not.
A courtesy car comes from your own policy, if you have that cover at all. It is typically a small hatchback, offered only while your car is actually being repaired, and it is not tied to what you were driving before.
A replacement vehicle after a non-fault accident is a loss you are claiming from the person who caused it. Because it is a loss rather than a favour, the starting point is putting you back where you were - the same kind of vehicle, for as long as you genuinely need it.
Where accepting the courtesy car costs you
It is not always the wrong choice, but there are three things people find out too late:
It may not fit your life
A small hatchback is no use if you drive a van for work, run a taxi, or need seven seats for the school run. Loss of earnings caused by an unsuitable vehicle is far harder to recover afterwards.
It usually stops when repairs stop
If your car is written off rather than repaired, courtesy car cover often ends quickly - sometimes long before you have been paid out and can replace it.
You may be using cover you paid for
Where the accident was not your fault, there is often no reason to draw on your own policy at all. Your insurer’s costs can end up affecting your renewal even on a non-fault claim.
Been offered a car that does not suit you?
Tell us what you drive and what you need. If a like-for-like replacement is available to you, we will arrange it.
What a like-for-like replacement means
Same class of vehicle
Estate for estate, van for van, seven seats for seven seats.
For as long as you need it
Until your vehicle is repaired, or until a total loss settlement is agreed.
Nothing to pay
Recovered from the at-fault insurer, not from you.
Delivered to you
Brought to your home or work, usually the same day.
If you rely on your vehicle for work, say so at the first phone call. It changes what is reasonable to claim, and it is much easier to evidence at the start than months later.
Be careful agreeing to anything on a first phone call from the other driver’s insurer. They may offer a courtesy car quickly. That offer is theirs to make and yours to decline, and accepting it can limit what you recover later.
Common questions
No. Where the accident was not your fault, you are entitled to claim a replacement vehicle from the at-fault driver’s insurer and to choose how that is arranged.
No. The cost is recovered from the at-fault driver’s insurer. Terms and conditions apply and we will explain them clearly before anything is arranged.
Call us anyway. Depending on how long ago it was and what you signed, it may still be possible to move you onto a suitable replacement.
Considerably. A taxi, private hire or delivery driver without a suitable vehicle is losing income daily, and that is relevant both to the type of vehicle and to a loss of earnings claim. Tell us at the outset.
Broadly, for as long as you reasonably need it - until your vehicle is back on the road or a total loss settlement is agreed. You do have a duty to keep the period reasonable.
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.