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We had a courtesy car following an accident - who pays for this?

My wife had an accident in 2016 when she was hit on a roundabout by a car coming onto the roundabout. Her car was repaired and while being repaired she had use of a courtesy car.

A few weeks ago she received a phone call from her insurers saying they had been unable to settle the claim with the other party and would she be willing to go to court to which she agreed.

Today she has received a letter from a company saying that they have been appointed by her insurers to make a claim for recovery of payments they have made as a result of the collision. Should we be concerned about this? We did have the courtesy car for an extended period of time as we initially rejected the car because of the quality of the repairs which had been carried out.

Asked on 25 June 2018 by

Answered by Honest John
Your wife did not have the use of a courtesy car that is given free out of 'courtesy, instead you had the use of a credit hire vehicle, which you must have entered into a formal contract with. You are right to be concerned, without knowing what you have agreed to opens you up to a whole plethora of issues. If you had the hire vehicle for an extended period of time due to poor repairs, the repairer is liable for the cost of that hire from the original date of completion to the time was vehicle was rectified.

The at fault insurer is not liable for this. You need to be very specific in your language, did you deal with your insurer who passed you to an accident management company? Or did the insurer arrange repairs while arranging the credit hire? Or have you arranged your own accident management company to assist you?
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