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Here we examine the "loss of use" exclusion clause in your car insurance document.It describes what alternative transport your insurer will offer to you if your own car is off the road because of theft or accident. In most cases the answer is in the negative !! Certain insurance companies have a team of retained repairers who will offer you a courtesy car if one happens to be available. A small number of insurance companies have a hire car scheme as part of their policy whereby they will provide a car for you from their chosen hire car company. However, most insurance companies do not offer either of these options. Many insurance companies offer a rental car extension to their comprehensive policies. The extension is far from cheap and the policy cover is quite limited. You should decide if you feel it essential that you buy it. It is not a vital extra for everyone. Ask yourself these questions: If my car was inoperative would it be possible for me to : - get to work (by walk, train, cycle, bus)? - take the children/grandchildren to school? - go shopping - go on holiday? - pursue my sports, hobbies, social interests etc? If you could live without a car for a while, you don't really need to buy this extra cover. If you're sure that you can't then you should check that you have this cover. Bear in mind, if your car is stolen or an accident is your fault, you won't be able to recover any car rental costs from a third party. You won't be able to go and see a 'credit hire' company. You probably can't be certain of the loan of a replacement car from the repairers. So this additional cover becomes worthwhile for you. Similarly, if you do not wish to use the recommended repairer of your insurer, or your car is written off, your hire car extra cover will save the day. Let us look at what you can expect from an average policy. You can only hire a car if yours is off the road for over two days, but the maximum period of hire is fourteen days. If the hire car is required for longer than this you will have to pay the additional cost to the car hire firm. There has been many a disagreement between repair shop, insurance company and car owner when repairs have overrun because of non-availability of parts and no party wants to pay the extra hire car costs. You can't have a hire car for a windscreen or glass only claim. There is usually a delivery maximum so if you live away from the major cities and the hire company is a fair distance away from you, expect an extra charge if you require them to deliver it to you. Is it possible for you to get to their local branch yourself? Your existing car insurance policy will cover the hire car for comprehensive benefits. That helps your insurance company to keep down the cost of the hire car cover but if you are involved in an accident whilst using the hire car, the claim will be on your policy. The car can only be hired from the date your car goes in to be repaired if the damage to your car is such that it is still safe and legal to drive. If your car is not roadworthy you can hire the car from the day of the accident. Policies will very likely impose a maximum period of hire, such as fourteen days. If your car is repaired prior to this date, you must return the hire car as soon as you have your car back. The hire car supplied will almost certainly be a basic, manual gearbox vehicle no more than a year or two old. If you need something a bit bigger you will probably have to pay a supplement. If you require an automatic efforts will be made to locate one for you within the vehicle groups specified in the cover. The hire car will usually come supplied with a full tank of fuel. It must be returned with a full tank of fuel. If you don't you will be billed by the hire company for a fill up. And they charge a very high price for topping up tanks! Some hire companies will ask for an imprint of your credit card, insuring against the possibility of needing to top up the fuel in your car or bumping it whilst using it.
Article Source: http://www.financemanual.com
This article detailing the loss of use exclusion clause of a car insurance policy was written by Terry Cod. He has several years of experience working in the claims office of a number of UK insurance companies. His website www.instant-online-insurance.co.uk offers Senior Travel Insurance .
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