Accident rental car advice

[Spoons123]

After having a nightmare getting a like for like replacement car recently myself (not an Audi) I have a car sales business and I pretty much have all nearly S and RS model Audis. I was thinking of setting up a business to supply like for like Audi performance cars for Audi drivers whose cars are getting repaired. For the enthusiasts who love their Audis and would respect them not kids who want to race them.
I have checked my insurance and taken advice from our solicitor, it all seems doable

Any advice to a newbie to the forum to access the right people/companies please

Thanks

[blue_haddock]

It extremely niche business proposition unless you widen the net to include M Cars and AMG's.

But as you have a duty to mitigate your losses, it could be argued that driving a run of the mill Audi A4 for a few weeks instead of an S4 is not exactly a hardship so could mean the insurance company refuses to pay your hire fees.

[Ari]

My Mercedes SL was lightly damaged a few weeks ago. Mercedes Benz recovered the car, took it away and fixed it, and in the meantime loaned me a diesel Passat.

It was very nice to get the SL back, but I was very grateful for, and perfectly happy with, with the Passat for a week to keep me mobile.

My point being, I can't imagine many people are really that bothered about having a 'like-for-like' loaner for a few days, or even a week or two, while their car is being repaired.

[Jakg]

Spoons123 said:

After having a nightmare getting a like for like replacement car recently myself (not an Audi)

Was that because a car genuinely wasn't available? or because the insurer wouldn't pay for one?

I thought there were plenty of credit hire companies for prestige stuff - i.e. Range Rovers or equivalent.

You can see the agreed insurer rates here - https://www.gtacredithire.com/

[fourstardan]

Good luck with this one OP.....let us know when you've got back in the real world!

[Spoons123]

Jakg said:

Was that because a car genuinely wasn't available? or because the insurer wouldn't pay for one?

I thought there were plenty of credit hire companies for prestige stuff - i.e. Range Rovers or equivalent.

You can see the agreed insurer rates here - https://www.gtacredithire.com/

Thanks really helpful

[Spoons123]

fourstardan said:

Good luck with this one OP.....let us know when you've got back in the real world!

Lord Aleem of PET may disagree

[grumbas]

There are loads of credit hire firms out there that have this market well and truly covered.

The driver not at fault is entitled to a like for like hire car (rule of thumb, there are exceptions). At fault driver will get whatever their policy says they're entitled to.

This is a market where it's all about contacts and connections, my advice would be work on this before you buy a fleet of cars.

There's a lot of money to be made here if you can open the right doors, the hardest part is staying one step ahead of everyone else and the ever changing rules.

[Spoons123]

Thanks really good insight, much appreciated

[fourstardan]

Spoons123 said:

Thanks really good insight, much appreciated

Im surprised you don't already know this.

What are your own insurances likely to be up to on the cars being used for said business proposition?

[Sy1441]

I was in a not at fault crash in my S5. The insurers brought me a small Volvo, rejected it and ended up with an SL Mercedes, was fine with that.

[Spoons123]

Best thing to do apparently 🤣

[Insurancejon]

Spoons123 said:

After having a nightmare getting a like for like replacement car recently myself (not an Audi) I have a car sales business and I pretty much have all nearly S and RS model Audis. I was thinking of setting up a business to supply like for like Audi performance cars for Audi drivers whose cars are getting repaired. For the enthusiasts who love their Audis and would respect them not kids who want to race them.
I have checked my insurance and taken advice from our solicitor, it all seems doable

Any advice to a newbie to the forum to access the right people/companies please

Thanks

When you say you’ve checked your insurance, are you sure your motor trade cover allows you to rent cars out? Or have you read it and convinced yourself it will do?

Self drive car hire cover for anything with an s or r/s badge is less than cheap or easy

Then to find an underwriter that doesn’t exclude credit hire is an even bigger ask

[Simpo Two]

Spoons123 said:

I have checked my insurance and taken advice from our solicitor, it all seems doable

How much experience does your solicitor have in new business set-ups? It may be legal, but that doesn't mean it will work.

It's a good idea to try to shoot your own idea down, rather than embrace it too much. If you can't shoot it down then you can proceed

[ADJimbo]

Credit Hire is an arena that I play within as a supplier of vehicles - albeit very, very niche (funeral hearses, funeral limousines etc.) and it is fraught with issues - I'm too entrenched within it now to exit but if I had my time again, I would not go into it.

In terms of high performance vehicles you are proposing, there are a number of major players that service this market with the market leader being AMT Auto. Everything on their fleet is less than six months old and changed religiously - they must have a massive funding source to be able to achieve this.

The amount of delivery failures & vehicle rejections is high. Joe Soap in the street thinks he's getting 'like-for-like' which in his mind, is an identical vehicle to his which is off the road. It does not work like that, they get what they are given. If your Merc E Class gets stacked, you may get a BMW5, Insignia, Mondeo etc. providing the replacement vehicle is of equivalent size then that's it. The issue comes when you pay two drivers to take it to Aberdeen, it gets rejected on sight and the vehicle comes back. You cannot invoice for these costs...

With regard to payment, most credit hire companies will only settle your invoices once the claim has been paid and closed by the insurer - which can take many months so cash-flow is another consideration. In terms of vetting the hirer, forget it, you can't. Provided that hirer meets underwriting checks then they have the vehicle, regardless of what you may think of them. Refuse to hire to a client and you're out.

Insurance is less of a concern, as most credit hire companies will insist on placing the vehicle COI so you're covered for road risk by the hirers own insurance but you will need conversion cover, so when the hirer does a bunk with the vehicle, never to be seen again, you're insured for theft/fraud.

My advice would be go in with your eyes well and truly open. You'd be amazed what people do with hire cars...