Who pays for a courtesy car?

Who pays for a courtesy car in Australia depends on the type of courtesy car and who was at fault in the accident. For a repairer-provided courtesy car, which is a free loan car offered by some smash repairers while your car is being repaired, the repairer pays for the car itself as part of their customer service, you do not pay daily rental, but you pay for fuel, tolls and any damage excess if you crash it. The repairer absorbs the cost to win your business. For an insurer-provided hire car that is included as a benefit in your comprehensive car insurance, your insurer pays the rental company like Hertz, Avis or Budget directly for the hire car cost. For example, after theft you get hire car for up to 14 to 21 days paid by your insurer, and after a not-at-fault accident where you can identify the other driver, your insurer pays for hire car during repair and then recovers the cost from the at-fault driver's insurer. If you are at fault and you have optional hire car cover which costs $50 to $100 extra per year, your insurer pays for hire car up to 14 days. If you are at fault and do not have hire car cover, you pay for your own rental yourself at $50 to $120 per day. If you are not at fault and the other driver is at fault, the at-fault driver's insurer ultimately pays for your courtesy or hire car as part of your claim for reasonable costs, often called demurrage or loss of use. In all cases, you pay for fuel, tolls, fines and any excess if you damage the courtesy car.