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yrfox2
By yrfox2 | AA Member | 3 Posts | 25 June 2014 at 10:58pm

Is it fair and reasonable that if your vehicle has been in an accident and the other driver has accepted liability, that you can claim the reasonable cost of a rental car (practically cheaper that public transport options) to get to work (40 kms away) while the Insurance company is processing your claim and you are trying to locate a similar vehicle?
It is a valid expense (in my opinion) as a result of the collision (rear-ended whilst stationary on the motorway) in which the other driver was fined by the Police for careless driving. I need the car to get to work as public transport does not get me to work on time and I'm on 24/7 callout.
Any advice welcome.

ABayliss
By ABayliss | AA Expert | 2169 Posts | 26 June 2014 at 9:34am

You need to speak to your insurer, but basically, most policies have some provision for claiming some of the costs of a replacement vehicle under these circumstances.
They do consider the type of rental (for example, if you have a 20 year old clunker they won't pay for you to rent a new Ferarri) and they also apply a depreciation formula. In other words, they consider that if you were using your own vehicle, a certain component would be wear and tear, maintenance and upkeep of your car etc, so they have a formula for calculating this part of the running cost of a vehicle and subtract it from the amount paid to you.
Depending on the policy, once the claim is settled, they will usually cease any payment.
However, as I said, in the first instance, speak to the insurer.

yrfox2
By yrfox2 | AA Member | 3 Posts | 26 June 2014 at 10:13am

Thank you.

The only ones that win in the event of an accident are the tow truck people and the insurance companies. Not fair really when it is not your fault and you do everything possible to mitigate an accident by driving defensively and pay insurance premiums for over 30 years without claiming. They have certainly lost my business and that of my friends and family.

Anon
By Johnhan3 | AA Member | 52 Posts | 3 July 2014 at 9:15pm

My 22 year old clunker always gets good comments, and I chuckle when I see the many many later models with bonnets up on a cold day, and if the motorist are fortunate enough to have an AA card, being serviced on the road side :-)