janice s asked:
problem there. Insurance have supplied courtesy car. Here is the problem. The car a Zafira is horrid to drive and I have no clear view on the motorway because wing mirrors are to small. Asked for replacement and insurance say we are only entitled to class A which is Corsa or similar. My car is 4 x 4 (sorry if you don’t like them). Why do we not have a choice when we are the innocent party. Don’t want a Mercedes or anything just a decent saloon car.
problem there. Insurance have supplied courtesy car. Here is the problem. The car a Zafira is horrid to drive and I have no clear view on the motorway because wing mirrors are to small. Asked for replacement and insurance say we are only entitled to class A which is Corsa or similar. My car is 4 x 4 (sorry if you don’t like them). Why do we not have a choice when we are the innocent party. Don’t want a Mercedes or anything just a decent saloon car.
Some insurance companies do give you a choice, but they charge higher premiums to cover this. I guess you chose to pay a lower premium.
If he admitted liability then going through your insurance company may not have been the best thing.
I would have got my car repaired, hired a replacement car I liked, and sent him the bill. (If he then wished to get his insurance to pay it that’s ok with me)
Sorry, courtesy cars are set in your policy. If you want a better curtesy car, you need to ask for it when you buy your policy. Also you will need fully comp insurance, it’s not covered by 3rd party.
Have you a legal expenses insurance policy provided independently? If so you could ask them if they can provide a better hire car.
You have the right to have a similar car to your current one whilst your own is being repaired BUT as your insurance company won’t provide you one under the policy you would have to pay for the hire costs – including insurance and then claim the cost back from the other person (together with your excess) at your own risk. A legal expenses insurance provider is only too willing to do this as they get some of the hire fees!
If you have been in contact with the other person’s insurance company it may be worthwhile contacting them, explain why you need a better car and see if they’ll provide one – they might do this as it could be cheaper for them than another company providing the car.
If you are non fault and the other party has admitted liability then you can approach the 3rd party insurer to manage your claim ( if they havnt already contacted you ) and move your car into one of their approved repairers and also state that you need a like for like vehicle for the duration of repairs. Alternatively you can approach an acident management company who will arrange repairs and a like for like car but if you are already in a Zafira this is class C/D so you already have an upgraded car, just approach who has given you the car and ask for a replacement saloon or similar
A zafira isn’t a bad option as a courtesy car, think yourself lucky you weren’t given a Smart
Usually you just get a midget sized courtesy car for the period your own car is off the road. Something is better than nothing, I guess, and hopefully it wont be for long. My brother in law had a Ford Ka as a courtesy car and he is a BIG bloke – he looked like he was wearing it!
Some insurers these days offer you the chance to upgrade your courtesy car cover for an additional premium. However, in fairness to them, where their obligation is to provide a courtesy car whilst the insured vehicle is being repaired, it is not economically viable to provide a fleet of high-end vehicles for customers to utilise.
Smaller, cheaper to purchase, maintain, repair and run vehicles such as Fiestas, Corsas and the like are commonplace.