contract hire insurance at Pickup Trucks

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Insuring Your Vehicle

In all cases it is the person who hires a contract hire vehicle who has to make sure it is properly insured, not the car leasing company. This means not only taking out fully comprehensive insurance to cover all those who are to drive the vehicle but also answering all the questions accurately and declaring any material facts.

Most forms of personal and business insurance (including home insurance) will state that you need to declare any material facts. Meaning if you have information that can influence their decision on policy and price, then it’s up to you to declare it.

A lot of drivers change their occupation, or move house, and neglect to tell their insurers; this is often just an oversight, but depending on the change in your circumstances it can make a drastic difference to your policy. Vehicle modifications can also change your policy, or even worse give the insurance company a reason to deny a claim; this can be something as simple as fitting a different body kit, tyres, wheels, etc..

If a vehicle is written off, the insurer’s standard practise would be to pay out the current value of the written off vehicle, allowing you to purchase a new one. It’s a different story if you were driving a hire car though, you will basically have ended your lease agreeement early and will therefore be liable to pay an early settlement penalty. This liability can be avoided by taking out GAP insurance.

The best way of covering this shortfall is will RTI insurance, or Return To Invoice insurance, which is a type of GAP insurance designed for this kind of situation. In the circumstances where your car is written off, the insurance will pay out the market value for the vehicle, this will provide the contract hire company with the value of the vehicle but not the penalties that it are due. RTI insurance will provide the hirer with the funds needed to settle penalties by paying out the difference between the current market value and the original invoice price of the vehicle.

Often the insurance company underwriters will attempt to deny a claim that should have been approved. If you think this has happened to you, you can have your claim referred to the Insurance Ombudsman, who will look at the claim and decide if in fact it should have been paid.

It is usually a major financial blow for the motorist when an insurance company refuses to pay out after a car has been written off. The problem is even worse for lease cars; you will end up liable not only for the market value of the car but also for ending your lease agreement early. This could be majorly expensive for a motorist, particularly if you’ve taken out a van contract hire, or other expensive or commercial vehicles. It’s probably advisable then to make sure you accurately input all your information when taking out vehicle insurance – you don’t want to give the insurance company any reason to decline your claim?