Credit Hire After A Non-Fault Accident
Credit hire is its own agreement, sitting outside your motor policy, and it isn’t a free courtesy car. Before you agree to it, find out what other transport you could actually get, ask what the hire costs and who pays if the charges are not recovered, and be clear about what may be asked of you afterwards.
If another driver appears to have caused the accident and your car is off the road, someone may offer you credit hire to keep you moving. It can be genuinely useful. It is not, however, a free courtesy car, and it is not part of your motor insurance policy.
It comes under a separate agreement, and the hire company will normally look to recover reasonable charges from the at-fault driver’s insurer. That recovery is not automatic. Any of it can be argued over: who was to blame, whether you needed a car at all, what sort of car, the daily rate and how long you kept it.
§ 01Check the alternatives first
Before you agree, find out what else you could realistically get hold of. Your own policy might include a courtesy car. The other driver’s insurer might make you an offer. A second car in the household, a work vehicle, public transport or taxis might cover some or all of it. Compare the routes on credit hire against your own insurance.
Don’t turn something down before you understand it. Write down what you were offered, when it could have started, how long it would have lasted and why it did or didn’t suit you. If the charges are argued over later, a dispute may look at whether reasonable steps were taken to keep the cost down.
§ 02Ask about the price and the risk
Ask for the daily rate and a copy of the agreement before you sign anything, and ask:
- who is expected to pay the charges;
- what happens if liability is disputed;
- what happens if the insurer disputes the rate or length of hire;
- whether you could ever be asked to pay;
- what documents or cooperation may be required;
- when the hire should end;
- what insurance, mileage, fuel, damage or additional-driver terms apply.
If the answer would change your mind, get it in writing.
What other transport was available, and when.
The daily rate and what else the agreement charges for.
Why a replacement vehicle was reasonably required.
What the agreement asks of you, during and after the hire.
§ 03Explain the real need
A replacement should answer a real need. It isn’t an automatic right to an exact match for your own vehicle. Say what you use the car for, who depends on it and which of its features you genuinely can’t do without. What is actually available, and your own circumstances, still count.
Whether a hire was needed at all, for how long, at what rate and in what class is decided case by case, on the evidence. See what decides whether a hire was reasonable.
§ 04Keep the position under review
Answer reasonable requests, hang on to the repair or write-off updates, and tell the hire company if another car turns up or your circumstances change. Don’t keep the car simply because nobody has told you to give it back. Ask the hire company to confirm in writing when the hire should end.
§ 05If recovery is disputed
The provider may ask you for documents, a witness statement or attendance at court. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains that customers may be required to cooperate and, depending on the agreement and circumstances, could face liability if they do not. It also notes that a complaint about an independent accident-management company may fall outside its power unless the issue concerns an insurer’s involvement.
Read the agreement, keep everything in one place, and take independent advice if a real dispute develops. See what happens if liability is disputed.
§ 06Before you decide
Know who you are actually dealing with. Check the agreement, what else was open to you, the daily rate, who is expected to pay and what is being asked of you in return. Credit hire can meet a real need for a car. It should be a decision you have made, though, rather than something that simply happens.
§ 07Sources
- Financial Ombudsman Service, Credit hire and credit repair services following a “no-fault” accident — page states “Last updated: 10 July 2026”. Source for the agreement being entered into outside the motor policy; for “there is no guarantee that the third-party insurer will cover those costs”; for the warning that where the third-party insurer disputes liability or the amount of the costs “you may have to cooperate in the recovery of or even become liable for those costs”; and for the position that the Ombudsman cannot usually consider complaints about an accident management company for the service provided under a credit hire agreement, though it can look at whether an insurer or broker acted fairly when referring a consumer. financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Checked 04/09/2026.