Courtesy Car accident

[GH421]

Someone went into my merc so i got a courtesy car.

A friend of mine borrowed the car saying he was insured to drive any car third party due to his insurance.

Someone hit into him and he gave his details.

We've now realised my friend was not insured to drive hire cars.

What's going to happen to the both of us?

 

[wemorgan]

He pays for the car/s to be repaired.
He pays a fine for being uninsured (?).
He buys you a beer for all the hassle he's caused.

Play Monty Pythons 'Always look on the bright side of life'

Chin-up.

 

[PXW]

I suppose one key question was whether your friend was entitled to drive the courtesy car at all - experts will be along shortly but I always thought that you needed both insurance/license and the permission of the owner of the vehicle to be able to drive it (so a car thief would always be driving uninsured for example).

I presume that he has checked his policy and discovered that the 3rd party cover doesn't extend to hired cars. My understanding of that is that it is aimed at the situation where someone gets a car under HP or similar and drives on an existing policy...worth reading the clause very carefully (a number of insurers no longer offer the 'third party for other vehicles' cover at all) - he may be OK since the car was not hired to him - so you told him it was OK to drive it, you were the keeper of the vehicle at the time, and the car wasn't hired to him.

But overall, I'm surprised that you loaned the car to him at all in these circs - been there myself, and without getting her specifically on the loan/courtesy car insurance I haven't even let Mrs PXW drive it.

 

[vijilants]

And he also pays for another hire car for you whilst your one is off the road

 

[ROBB]

My policy specifically excludes hire cars - i have a feeling this may be a common clause

D'oh

 

[GH421]

Since it was the womans fault though he won't accept liability. fact of the matter is however that he wasn't insured to drive that car.

6 points and a fine for him? Would he have to pay for the cars to be fixed though?

 

[GH421]

and when the AA came to pick up the car they gave him a courtesy and took the car to a garage and said they will claim off her. wtf.

 

[Howard]

I think it is 'third party with owners permission' , as you don't own the car , you couldn't give him permission ...

Anyway, sounds like you (and him) have dodged a bullet ...

 

[davidjpowell]

I would imagine it depends if the police are involved. If the third party insurer accepts liability and repairs the car as some will if their insured are obviously at fault then they may not pick up on the lack of valid insurance.

Otherwise a taxi may have been a cheaper option for your friend!

 

[vincenz]

The driving without insurance is a dead cert here (comitted by your friend).
Whether TWOC (taking without consent) has been comitted is difficult, it depends what the terms of the hire car insurance were and whether you were able to give permission (as stated above).
If you did not have permission then its TWOC for him, if you were able to give permission but didn't check then you have permitted him to drive without insurance (6 points and fine) (even if he said he was insured, it was upto you to check, ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law).

Whether this comes to the attention of the authorities though is a completly different matter.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Rory]

We've now realised my friend was not insured to drive hire cars.

He didn't hire the car though - does that make any difference?

Many cars are "hired" - on hire purchase agremeents, PCPs, leased etc.

Are the Police involved? The issue might be getting the owners permission, if that's asked for.

If Police not involved and it was the the woman's fault then (luckily for you and friend) I don't see that there's an issue.

 

[GH421]

The police came down as the accident happened at heathrow airport. They exchanged details and my friend was asked to produce his license only at the police station, which he had done.

The woman is not accepting liablity but there is representation from the AA claims company (Claim fast) as my friend wasn't at fault.

The car was picked up straight away and taken to an authorised repair garage. Incidently the same garage as where my merecedes is.

I spoke to the fleet company who now want my friends insurance details, which he is willing to give and take the hit of not being insured but if we can somehow get the AA claims people to foot the bill and charge it to the old mare's company would the fleet company still want to get their insurance involved?

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Will a claims firm get involved it the "old mare" is contesting liability....?

 

[bpsorrel]

What incredible bad luck!! There's a good lesson here - NEVER lend cars to friends, especially courtesy cars! I take it your friend ironically has the new courtesy car and you now have nothing! Crazy situation! However, if the police are not involved, you might try Accident Express - Claims Plus . Last year, my Saab was rear ended by a truck whilst stationary at a client's premises. I called AE and to cut a long story short, they repaired my car, gave me an identical courtesy car and. the important bit - didn't involve my insurance at all, as it was clearly a "no blame" incident. This could work for you both... worth a call maybe?

 

[219]

Someone went into my merc so i got a courtesy car.

A friend of mine borrowed the car saying he was insured to drive any car third party due to his insurance.

Someone hit into him and he gave his details.

We've now realised my friend was not insured to drive hire cars.

What's going to happen to the both of us?

Bad luck !

Your friend will need to look closely at the wording of his policy : the driving other cars bit usually says something like ' vehicles not owned by the policyholder or hired TO HIM ' because the car was hired to YOU and not TO HIM , he may actually have a loophole he can exploit here .

As long as the crash was the fault of the other party and not your friend , so that costs can be recovered from the at-fault party , your friend may be able to get off on a technicality .

There's still the matter of permission to drive though .

 

[bpsorrel]

We've now realised my friend was not insured to drive hire cars.

I wonder if a loophole might be that the courtesy car is not technically a hire car and your friend had your permission to drive it? Not sure how you stand though in regards to if you were able to give that permission... Complicated isn't it!

 

[vincenz]

I think before we carry on speculating you need to check the actual terms of your insurance contract.

When i've had courtesy cars in the past they have normally been insured as per my existing policy, i.e. same excess, limitations etc.

It may be worth a call to a solicitor to obtain some sound legal advice.

 

[bpsorrel]

Funnily enough, when my local Saab dealer give me a service courtesy car, it's always covered on my own insurance. They also always ask me if I'm intending to let me wife drive it and if so to ensure my insurance covers her to do so...

 

[219]

The problem is , the OP's friend was not covered under the OP's insurance , but thought he was covered under the 'driving other cars' clause of his OWN insurance .

He now needs to read the schedule of his own insurance very carefully - it will hopefully say something like " The policyholder may also drive other cars not belonging to him and not hired TO HIM"

Since the courtesy car was on hire to the OP and not to the friend who had the crash then he may still be covered after all - he needs to check .

Since , as far as we are told , the crash was the fault of a third party , the friend's insurance ought not to be held liable for any claim so would simply be helping their client out by confirming (albeit reluctantly) that he WAS covered .

 

[Baron_Samedi]

I think more and more garages are wising up to the courtesy car thing.

I have often (in recent years) paid a bit of a supplement for courtesy car insurance