Using the Insurance companies approved repairer
Most Insurers promise a free courtesy car if you are involved in an accident – what they don’t tell you is that it will be very small, usually a Ford Ka or similar. Some Insurers use a courtesy car as a selling point but the truth is all Insurers provide them. It is actually the repairers that provide the vehicles and they are contracted to provide courtesy cars on Insurance jobs. Your insurance company will not bit be able up upgrade the size of vehicle as they are restricted to whatever the repairers have.If you call to complain you will be directed to the Policy Terms & Conditions where this will be confirmed.
Using your own choice of repairer (not contracted to your Insurer)
Your Insurance company will not provide you with a courtesy car unless you are using their approved repairer (another way of persuading you to use them). Some Insurers will give you a hire car for a 3 days max in the event of an accident but this is designed to bridge the gap between your accident and getting a courtesy car from their approved repairer. If you are not using their approved repairer then the hire car would go back after 3 days (this would also be a very small Ka type sized car). However not all Insurers will provide a 3 day hire car.
The accident was not your fault
If the accident was clearly not your fault then you will usually be offered a credit hire vehicle from an accident management company as your Insurer may pass on your details to them, or the accident management company may be owned by your Insurer. This usually means you actually sign a credit agreement for the car which makes you ultimately responsible for the cost of hire, but the Accident Management Company will usually claim the full cost back from the Third Party Insurer. Read the rull terms & conditions when entering into a credit hire agreement as in some rare cases you could be left with the bill if there are problems with the other Insurer.
Due to a recent court case, if you are in a non fault accident you are not automatically entitled to a like for like vehicle (like for like means if your vehicle is a BMW 520 then you would get a BMW 520 hire car free while your is being repaired), you are expected to mitigate the cost of your claim (save costs where possible) which means you have to prove that you actually need a like for like vehicle for business reasons or need a large car for a large family, otherwise you would be expected to save money and use a lesser model.