Rent a car free of charge after an accident

Imagine being involved in a traffic accident and no longer having a car to use. Does this mean you have to rent a car out of your own pocket to go to work with? No, if the other party’s liability is recognized, the costs of a rental car will also be reimbursed by the other party’s insurance company. This means that you can continue your life carefree, while we claim the costs for you from the other party.

Once liability has been acknowledged, the other party must cover the entire rental costs. The insurer of the other party is often reluctant to accept this. Insurers usually try to cover 75% of the costs. This is because they believe that your own car is no longer in use and that you will therefore save costs. The insurer estimates these costs to be 25% of the rental costs. However, this is an incorrect interpretation of the law. For example, in its ruling (no. 2017-396) the Dutch complaints institute Kifid was of the opinion that 100% of the rental costs of a replacement car are eligible for reimbursement. This means that insurers wrongly apply a guideline from which they infer that a reimbursement of 75% would be fair. Therefore, if a replacement car is necessary, you can proceed to rent a car without thinking twice about it. After all, the costs of this will have to be covered entirely by the other party’s insurer.

We have helped many of our clients obtain a replacement car free of charge. Have you been told by the other party’s insurer that you will have to pay for a replacement car, in part or in full, out of your own pocket? Or has your current representative told you something similar? Then contact us free of charge so that we can find out whether you have been short-changed.