LIKE-FOR-LIKE. NOTHING TO PAY UPFRONT.
Courtesy Cars and Credit Hire After a Non-Fault Accident
If someone else caused the accident, you are generally entitled to a replacement vehicle for the period yours is off the road — and to one that is broadly comparable to what you actually drive. We arrange it, usually within a day, with nothing for you to pay up front.
Like-for-like replacement vehicle
No impact on your No Claims Bonus
No car insurance excess to pay
Manufacturer approved repair network
Dedicated claims handler & live updates
What Is Credit Hire
Credit hire is a replacement vehicle provided to a non-fault driver on deferred payment terms, with the cost recovered afterwards from the at-fault driver’s insurer rather than paid by you at the time.
You sign a hire agreement. You drive the car. We pursue the hire charges from the other side. In the ordinary run of a clear non-fault claim, you never pay anything.
It exists because the alternative is unfair: if you were hit by someone else and had to fund a hire car yourself for three weeks while waiting for repairs, you would be worse off through no fault of your own. Credit hire closes that gap.
Credit Hire vs a Courtesy Car — What’s the Difference?
What your own insurer or repairer may lend you as part of your policy or repair booking. It is usually a small car regardless of what you drive, it is often only available while the vehicle is physically in the workshop, and some policies do not include one at all.
Arranged because someone else is liable. It is normally like-for-like — a van if you drive a van, an automatic if you need an automatic — and it covers the whole period you are without your vehicle, including the wait before repairs start.
People use the two terms interchangeably. They are not the same thing.
If you have a courtesy car available and it genuinely meets your needs, use it. If it does not, credit hire exists for exactly that reason.
What You Need to Understand Before You Sign
Credit hire is not free money and it is not a hire car with no strings. When you sign a credit hire agreement, you are the hirer. The charges are legally yours. We recover them from the at-fault insurer on your behalf — and in the great majority of straightforward non-fault claims, that is exactly what happens and you pay nothing.
But you should go in understanding three things:
If it turns out you were partly or wholly at fault, some or all of the hire charges may not be recoverable from the other side.
If you have another car sitting on the drive that you could reasonably use, a court may find the hire was not reasonably incurred.
Keeping the vehicle longer than the repair or replacement genuinely required can leave part of the charges irrecoverable.
We will not put you into a hire vehicle if we do not think the claim supports it. Telling someone what they want to hear at the start is how people end up with an invoice they did not expect.
How Long Can I Keep the Replacement Vehicle?
For as long as you are reasonably without your own vehicle because of the accident.
If your car is being repaired, that means from the point you are without it until the repair is finished and it is back with you — not just the days it spends physically in the workshop.
If your car is written off, the period runs until you have received the settlement payment for it plus a reasonable window to find and buy a replacement. It does not end the moment the insurer emails you a valuation.
We will tell you when the hire needs to end, and we will tell you in advance rather than after the fact.
Will Credit Hire Affect My Insurance or No-Claims Discount?
You are not claiming on your own policy, so there is no claim against your no-claims discount arising from the hire. You do still have to notify your own insurer that the accident occurred — check your policy wording, but almost all of them require it.
Whether an accident notification affects your renewal premium is a separate question, and an honest answer is that it sometimes can, even on a non-fault basis. We explain why in the guide to non-fault accidents and your premium.
Talk to us today
Call us now — our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you've been in an accident that wasn't your fault, we can help.
0800 820 3860
Free, no obligation
Frequently Asked Questions
Still unsure? Here are the questions we're asked most often.
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No deposit and no rental payments during the hire. That is the point of the arrangement.
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That is the standard we work to — like-for-like on size and type. Availability at short notice can occasionally mean a temporary substitute while the right vehicle is sourced.
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There is still a route, but it runs through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau rather than an insurer, and it works differently.
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Often the same day or the next working day, depending on when you call and what you need. Call early in the day if you can.
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Usually yes, if it was reasonable and you kept the receipts. That is dealt with as an uninsured loss.
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Then it becomes a legal argument, and that is where the NJS Law side of the business takes over. Credit hire disputes are a well-established area of litigation and insurers dispute them routinely — it does not mean the claim is bad. See NJS Law: non-fault accident car hire.
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Your position depends on whether you needed a vehicle and whose fault the accident was. Passengers have their own rights, particularly on the injury side. See NJS Law: passenger accident claims.