£15 charge for courtesy car insurance??

[kevmo]

Hi

I have just booked my RX400h into Lexus Sidcup for some warranty work on the suspension (got excessive wear on both shoulders of the front tyres). I asked for a courtesy car while they look at mine and have been told that there will be a £15 charge for insurance. Is this normal? I have never been asked to pay for insurance for a dealer courtesy car before, although I have had to arrange for cover by my insurance company.

This is the first time I have had the car go into the dealer and am not happy to be paying for the insurance on the courtesy car, especially with the reputation Lexus are supposed to have for customer service.

Kev

[graham8370]

Many times a courtesy car from Lexus Guildford. Never been asked to pay for insurance.

[Shahpor]

When I got a car from them, they told me that the insurance was free, but for £15 I could reduce the excess from £1000 to £0.  I paid it both times I got a car.

[Spacewagon52]

The excess (£1,000) you would be liable for if it was involved in a crash. I think the £15 might cover this - well worth having IMHO.

[steve2006]

Perhaps asking the dealer to explain the charge would confirm the excess waiver, no doubt your own car will be returned washed and vacuumed free of charge.

[stevet]

I've never been asked for payment or even an option to pay.

[dougie175]

You may find your own insurance policy transfers across to any vehicle provided to yourself free of charge by a garage.

So you will actually be driving the vehicle on your own insurance with exactly the same terms as your own car i.e. if you have a £200 excess that would be the same for the courtesy car.

That is how our insurance works anyway on courtesy vehicles, we have 32 of them and 95% of insurance companies work this way. The only reason this may not apply is that you are not making an insurance claim to get the courtesy vehicle, but it would definitely be worth giving your insurance company a call to clarify if you are covered on your own policy when given a courtesy vehicle from a dealership 

[dandydons]

52 minutes ago, dougie175 said:

You may find your own insurance policy transfers across to any vehicle provided to yourself free of charge by a garage.

So you will actually be driving the vehicle on your own insurance with exactly the same terms as your own car i.e. if you have a £200 excess that would be the same for the courtesy car.

That is how our insurance works anyway on courtesy vehicles, we have 32 of them and 95% of insurance companies work this way. The only reason this may not apply is that you are not making an insurance claim to get the courtesy vehicle, but it would definitely be worth giving your insurance company a call to clarify if you are covered on your own policy when given a courtesy vehicle from a dealership 

I have just been charged £12 per day by Toyota dealer when wife's car was in for a service who advised me the charge is for insurance if your own insurance doesn't cover you. I checked with my insurer , Admiral  and they said they only cover courtesy cars exactly as you suggest , when they have been supplied whilst car is being repaired after a claim . 

[dougie175]

Yeah may be the case for others can only speak from a repair point of view, I think its awful for a dealership to charge for a "courtesy car" its not very courteous to then charge you for it!

[dandydons]

I wasn't best pleased to be charged 5 days . Car went in on Friday but they needed to order a part which arrived Monday but I couldn't pick the car up until today... They insist they are effectively giving the car free other than insurance . It was an Aygo so am sure I could have added it to my multi car policy for a month and it would have been cheaper ! 

[dougie175]

Enterprise only charge us £10 a day for the insurance and the car! £15 a day for each courtesy car is robbery in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong trade insurance isn't cheap but it isn't that expensive, we don't charge any customers anything for a courtesy car I have no idea how dealers get away with it, especially when they charge over £100 an hour!

For example we are Toyota approved and Audi approved and charge customers £26 an hour, yes both dealership Audi and Toyota uo the road charge over £110 an hour!

[kevmo]

Needless to say I will be asking for an explanation and also will check with my insurance company (with Lexus insurance too) before the car goes in.

[kevmo]

So, I had a look at my insurance documents over the weekend (Lexus Insurance) and found that I am covered for a courtesy car if mine is in for warranty work or servicing at a Lexus dealer. I called the dealer yesterday and was told that I did not need to pay the £15 as it was in for warranty work anyway, they also confirmed I would have been covered on my insurance.

I wonder how many people are charged £15 that they do not need to pay? I even questioned it when I was told about the £15 charge.

I suppose it all depends on your good or bad luck as to who you speak to when you book the car in.

[dougie175]

Good feedback I knew some insurance companies would cover people, maybe worth checking before anyone goes paying these fees!

[rayaans]

This is daft - I dont even get asked whether my insurance company covers me. The idea is that all insurance covers you for driving other cars as long as you have a comprehensive policy anyway?!

Ive never been asked for any sort of payment towards the cars Ive used whilst mine is in for service.

[dougie175]

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

This is daft - I dont even get asked whether my insurance company covers me. The idea is that all insurance covers you for driving other cars as long as you have a comprehensive policy anyway?!

Ive never been asked for any sort of payment towards the cars Ive used whilst mine is in for service.

Only third party though mate. I couldn't let you take out 1 of our courtesy vehicles third party, who would pay for the damage?

Also most insurance companies no longer cover people on other peoples vehicles, I say most I mean the cheaper end of the insurance market. It will be worth reading the policy details before assuming you are insured on other peoples cars, a large percentage of policy's do not cover you on any other vehicle than those named on your policy.

The reason for this would be the insurance company cannot assess the risk of insurance someone on a 1.2 saxo for say £200 a year, he goes out shopping with his mate who feels ill and says drive my M3 home would you.

Its this reason they have started to cover "courtesy cars" whilst your vehicle is in for repair as you are no longer insured on anything and such. Every policy is different though

[rayaans]

22 hours ago, dougie175 said:

Only third party though mate. I couldn't let you take out 1 of our courtesy vehicles third party, who would pay for the damage?

Also most insurance companies no longer cover people on other peoples vehicles, I say most I mean the cheaper end of the insurance market. It will be worth reading the policy details before assuming you are insured on other peoples cars, a large percentage of policy's do not cover you on any other vehicle than those named on your policy.

The reason for this would be the insurance company cannot assess the risk of insurance someone on a 1.2 saxo for say £200 a year, he goes out shopping with his mate who feels ill and says drive my M3 home would you.

Its this reason they have started to cover "courtesy cars" whilst your vehicle is in for repair as you are no longer insured on anything and such. Every policy is different though

That's what I meant, you're still covered 3rd party anyway. Ive borrowed about 5 vehicles through servicing for multiple days at a time, sometimes to get warranty work done etc but never had anyone say "oh Ill have to charge you for that". They just take down my license number and thats it.

[dougie175]

2 hours ago, rayaans said:

That's what I meant, you're still covered 3rd party anyway. Ive borrowed about 5 vehicles through servicing for multiple days at a time, sometimes to get warranty work done etc but never had anyone say "oh Ill have to charge you for that". They just take down my license number and thats it.

Yeah if your policy allows for it you may be covered third party. Think the problem will be most garages wont allow you to use their car with no cover at all for any damage done to it.

Nothing has changed about this really its just garages have realised insuring courtesy vehicles is expensive and I'm guessing they are looking to try and recover some of these costs. We never try and charge our customers at our spot, all our service level agreements prevent it but also it doesn't really make for customer satisfaction

[ColinBarber]

On 21 March 2016 at 3:01 PM, graham8370 said:

Many times a courtesy car from Lexus Guildford. Never been asked to pay for insurance.

Booked mine in a week ago and was told there may be an insurance charge. Goes in next week so I'll report back. I won't be happy if there is a charge. Not only have Lexus increased servicing costs to be about the most expensive compared to the competition (£245 for basically an oil change) but they are also wanting to charge for a  courtesy car. 

It's not as if the service is good, my last 4 visits have all resulted in damage to my vehicle or poorly executed work.

[dougie175]

Check your policy Colin and see if you are covered for a courtesy vehicle whilst your vehicle is being serviced that way you can show them that and they don't have a leg to stand on as far as trying to charge you.

[rayaans]

Ah just realised that my service plan includes free collection or a courtesy car. Might explain why I don't pay anything 

[ColinBarber]

There was no charge for the courtesy car, or a charge to lower the insurance excess down to £50. 

I suspect the charge they mentioned (via their centralised call centre for bookings) might apply only to the Toyota part of the dealership and not Lexus.