# No courtesy car after a write-off? | Preloved Car Hire

> A courtesy car covers repairs, and a write-off has none, so most policies stop. Why that happens, and how to get a car for the gap.

Source: https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/car-written-off-no-courtesy-car

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If you have been left without a car

# Your car is written off and you have not been given a courtesy car

A courtesy car is normally provided while your car is being **repaired**. If it has been written off there is nothing to repair, so most policies stop providing one, often as soon as the valuation is agreed. That leaves a gap between losing your car and having the money to replace it, and nothing in your insurance is designed to fill it.

## First, one question that could save you the cost entirely

**Was the accident someone else's fault, and have they admitted it?**

If so, do not pay for a car before you have spoken to your insurer or a credit hire company. Where another driver is at fault, a replacement vehicle can often be provided at **their insurer's expense rather than yours**. Credit hire firms exist to do exactly this.

We cannot compete with something you can get at no cost to yourself, and we would rather say so here than take a booking you did not need. Come back to us if that route is not open to you.

**This page is written for everyone else**, which on our research is most people: the accident was your own fault, or there was no third party at all; the claim is settled and the courtesy car has gone back; your policy never included one; the car was stolen and not recovered; or it failed its MOT beyond economic repair.

## Why a write-off usually means no car

Worth understanding the mechanism, because it is not your insurer being difficult and arguing with them is unlikely to change it. Most motor policies provide a courtesy car *while your vehicle is being repaired*, and often only when an approved repairer does the work. The cover is tied to the repair, not to you being without a car.

| What happened | What a typical policy does |
| --- | --- |
| Repairable damage, approved repairer | Courtesy car for the length of the repair |
| Repairable damage, your own choice of garage | Often no courtesy car |
| Written off (total loss) | Usually nothing, or only until the valuation is agreed |
| Stolen and not recovered | Usually nothing: there is no repair to cover |

Read your own policy wording rather than relying on the table. The phrase to look for is "courtesy car" or "replacement vehicle", and the words that matter are the ones about *repair* and *approved repairer*.

## How long is the gap likely to be?

This decides what you need, and we are not going to invent a number for it. Settlement times vary with the insurer, the dispute, whether the valuation is accepted and whether there is finance outstanding on the car.

**Ask your insurer or claims handler for the date they expect to settle, and write it down.** Then add the time you realistically need afterwards to find and buy a replacement, which is usually longer than people expect. That figure is the useful one, because it is a date rather than an open question, and it is what we need in order to quote.

Need a car while you sort out a replacement?

Tell us the term you want and when you need it, and we will come back with what we have and what it costs.

Two months up front on a six month term, three months on twelve months and longer. No obligation.

## What we do, stated plainly

We buy used cars outright and hire them to private drivers for personal use.

- **A fixed term of 6, 12, 24 or 36 months.** Every agreement has a start date and an end date on the face of it. The end date is fixed when you sign, and we tell you what it is before you commit to anything.
- **You choose the term** , and we agree the start date around when you need the car.
- **We own the cars.** They are used cars, described by age, mileage, MOT expiry and service history. You get those facts for the specific car before you agree to hire it.
- **We check who we are hiring to.** Licence, identity and address, every time. If you have read elsewhere that a car can be had with no checks at all, that is not what happens here.

## If your payout takes longer than the agreement

This is the honest bit, and the part most worth reading before you book. **The agreement ends on the date written on it.** It does not run on by itself, it does not roll into a second term, and there is no option attached to it that either of us can use to make it last longer. On that date the car comes back.

If you still need a car then, you can **carry on month by month at the same rate** rather than hand it back. No re-quote, no second initial payment, and no scramble to find something else while you are still waiting on an insurer. It is your choice to make at the time, not something arranged now.

So pick the term with a bit of room in it. **A term slightly longer than your best guess is easier to live with** than one that ends before you are ready. [More on what the end of a term means](https://prelovedcarhire.co.uk/what-happens-at-the-end).

## Common questions

**Will I get a courtesy car if my car is written off?** Usually not. A courtesy car normally covers the period while your car is being repaired, and a written-off car is not being repaired. Many insurers withdraw the car once the valuation is agreed. Check your own policy wording.

**Am I entitled to a courtesy car?** It depends on your policy, not on the law, unless another driver was at fault. A courtesy car is a benefit written into some policies and not others, and it is often conditional on using an approved repairer. Where someone else is at fault, a replacement vehicle may be provided at their insurer’s expense. Ask your insurer about that first.

**Who pays for a hire car after an accident?** If the other driver is at fault, their insurer may. If the accident was your fault, or there was no other driver, it is normally you. That is the situation this page is written for.

**How long can I keep a courtesy car after a write-off?** Typically only until the settlement is agreed, and sometimes a short period after it. Your insurer or claims handler will tell you the date, and that date is the one to plan from.

**Can I hire a car while mine is being repaired instead?** Yes, and the same fixed-term agreement applies. If the repair is being done by an approved repairer you may already have a courtesy car available to you, so check that first.

**What if I want to keep the car at the end?** The term ends on its date and you choose what happens next: hand the car back, or carry on month by month at the rate you have been paying. Nothing continues unless you tell us you want it to.

## Enquire