No small print
How we are paid. In plain English.
You pay nothing upfront. Your replacement car is hired on credit and we claim the charges, and your other losses, from the at-fault driver's insurer. Here is exactly how that works, including the one case where the cost can come back to you.
- £0 upfront
- No excess
- Not on your record
- Written terms first
- Not on your record
- £0 upfront
- No excess
- 2-hour delivery
- Keep earning
The principles
Six things that are always true
If any of these ever stops being true, we will change this page before we change anything else.
£0 upfront, £0 during the hire
Your replacement car is hired on credit. You do not pay a deposit, an excess or a daily rate while you have it.
25% of what we recover, paid from the recovery
Our fee is 25% of the amount we recover from the at-fault insurer on your behalf. It is paid from the recovery, not from your pocket. You pay nothing upfront and nothing during the hire.
Not on your record
No claim is made on your own policy. You still tell your insurer the accident happened, which is a notification, not a claim.
Written terms before you sign
The daily rate, the hire period and the caveat are on the front page of your agreement, in plain English.
Nothing deducted without your written agreement
Nothing comes out of your settlement unless you have agreed it in writing first.
No payment for injury referrals
If anyone was hurt we refer you to a solicitor. We do not take payments from solicitors for passing on injury claims.
Our fee
25% of what we recover — and nothing upfront
We charge a single fee for managing your claim. It is a percentage of what the at-fault insurer pays, agreed in writing before we start. You never pay it from your own pocket.
25% of the amount recovered
Our fee is 25% of the total we recover from the at-fault insurer on your behalf — the credit hire charges, recovery, storage, repair coordination and your other losses. The fee is only due when the insurer pays. You pay nothing upfront and nothing during the hire.
Where we fund your repairs
Where we arrange and pay for your repairs, the at-fault insurer's settlement for the vehicle damage is handled by us. You receive your repaired vehicle. Any settlement amount above the agreed repair cost is retained by us as part of our fee. This is set out in writing before any repair work begins.
Your own losses stay yours
Compensation for your personal effects, loss of earnings and any personal injury is yours. We never take a percentage of injury compensation — injury is always referred to a solicitor and paid to you in full.
Worked example
A written-off car worth £1,000
Your car's pre-accident value is £1,000. The repair costs £700. The at-fault insurer settles the vehicle damage at £1,000.
- → We fund and arrange the £700 repair, so your car is back on the road.
- → The £300 surplus above the repair cost is retained by us as part of our fee.
- → Our overall 25% fee on the amount recovered is agreed in writing before we start.
- → You pay £0 upfront. Every figure is on the front page of your agreement.
Figures are illustrative. Your agreement sets out the exact amounts and prevails if anything here differs.
The money, step by step
Where every pound goes
A credit hire claim in four steps. Each one shows in your portal.
- 01
You sign a credit hire agreement
It says what the car costs per day and that the charges are claimed from the at-fault insurer.
- 02
We deliver and log every cost
Hire days, recovery, storage and repair are each recorded as a head of loss, with evidence.
- 03
We invoice the at-fault insurer
The schedule of loss goes to them. We chase it. You watch it in your portal.
- 04
They pay us, in the ordinary case
When the claim settles, the hire and other charges are paid to us by the insurer. Your compensation for your own losses is yours.
£0
From you upfront
0
Claims on your policy
The one honest caveat
You could be asked to pay for what has been provided if
- the accident is found to be your fault, or partly your fault;
- the account you gave us was untrue or inaccurate, and the claim fails because of it;
- you do not co-operate with reasonable requests, evidence or an inspection;
- you keep the car longer than reasonably needed, or after we ask for it back;
- you breach the hire agreement, for example an unauthorised driver; or
- you cancel or end the hire outside the agreement after delivery.
If it happens
We write to you first, with the amount and the reason, and give you a reasonable time to respond before anything is due. No surprise fees. We never pursue charges for a period the at-fault insurer has already accepted.
Recovery is not certain. Your credit hire agreement and our terms, section 5, set out the full wording and prevail if anything here differs. Your handler explains it before you sign.
See pricingBefore you sign
What you will see on the front page of your agreement
- The car and the daily hire rate
- That the charges are claimed from the at-fault insurer
- When you could become liable, in plain words
- How to cancel, your 14-day right, and what happens if you do
- That nothing is deducted from your settlement without your written agreement
- Your handler's name and the 24/7 line
Insurer vs us
Claim on your own policy, or claim from theirs? It's not close.
After a non-fault accident you have two routes. One costs you your excess and puts a claim on your record. The other doesn't.
Route A
Through your own insurer
Your excess
You pay it first — usually £250 to £1,000 — and try to get it back later.
Your no-claims bonus
A claim goes on your own policy. Your bonus can be affected until fault is settled.
Claim on your policy
Yes — a claim is opened against you and stays on your record.
Replacement car
Whatever your policy allows — often a small hatchback, sometimes nothing.
If you drive for Uber, Bolt or FREENOW
Standard courtesy cars aren't PCO-licensed. You can't work.
Who chases the at-fault insurer
You do — on hold, between jobs, for weeks.
Route B
Not on your recordWith Courtesy Cars UK
Your excess
Nothing to pay. We claim from the at-fault driver's insurer, not you.
Your no-claims bonus
No claim on your policy, so your no-claims bonus isn't touched.
Claim on your policy
No. It's not on your record — the at-fault insurer carries it.
Replacement car
Like-for-like. TfL-plated if you drive PCO, so it matches what you lost.
If you drive for Uber, Bolt or FREENOW
TfL-licensed replacement so you keep earning while your car is fixed.
Who chases the at-fault insurer
We do. Every call and letter is logged in your portal.
Questions, answered
Money questions, answered
In the ordinary case, the at-fault driver's insurer. We claim the hire and other charges from them under your credit hire agreement. You pay nothing upfront and nothing during the hire.
No. Credit hire depends on the other driver being at fault and their insurer paying. We only take on claims where the evidence supports your account, and we tell you where you stand before you sign.
Our fee is 25% of the amount we recover from the at-fault insurer on your behalf. It is paid from the recovery, not from your pocket, and is only due when the insurer pays. Where we arrange and fund your repairs, any settlement amount above the agreed repair cost is retained by us as part of our fee. Both are set out in writing on the front page of your agreement before any work begins. Nothing is deducted from your settlement without your written agreement.
Before delivery, cancelling costs nothing. If you sign online or away from our office you have 14 days to cancel the agreement, but because you usually need the car at once we ask you to confirm the hire should start inside that period; cancel within the 14 days and you may have to pay for the hire already provided. After delivery, ending the hire early for a good reason changes nothing. Ending it outside the agreement can make the charges up to collection yours. See our terms, section 8.
We pay a referral fee to bodyshops, brokers and fleets who introduce a non-fault customer, on terms agreed in writing. That fee is not charged to you and is not added to your claim. We do not pay or receive fees for injury referrals.
No. We provide accident management and paralegal services. Injury is always referred to a solicitor, and we take no payment for the referral.
Ready when you are
Nothing upfront. Nothing hidden.
Report in 90 seconds. Written terms before you sign. Every cost visible in your portal.
Courtesy Cars UK provides accident management and paralegal services. We are not a firm of solicitors and do not provide regulated legal or claims-management services for personal injury.