synthedup said:
Looks like I may have this car for a couple of months.
Who has provided the 'courtesy car'? Your insurer, their AMC (accident management company) or the 3rd party's insurer?
If it's your insurer or an AMC, then be careful, as it's up to you to make sure you minimise any costs for out of pocket expenses.
So if you know you are going to be without a car for a longer period, and are relying on the 3rd party insurance to pay for the extortionate AMC rental, then you may end up having to explain why you're asking them to pay £5000 for a loan car when you could have easily gone to Avis/Hertz/Enterprise and done the same for £1000 for the same period.
You may find you are liable for the difference between what the AMC is charging and what the 3rd party insurer will pay you.
Only pointing this out as I had the same issue when I had my light altercation with a lorry. Repair bill was less than £2k, but the E92 M3 for 3 weeks was over £6k (£350 for the car, then extras for delivery, sat-nav, European cover, 2nd driver, etc.). The 3rd party's insurer wasn't arguing over the repair cost, but had to be taken to court to argue their point over the 'excessive' cost of the hire car.
Luckily I had correspondence with the AMC to point out that I'd only asked for a runaround and didn't need like-for-like, and also had a policy that covered any shortfall should the 3rd party argue the toss. Still too 14 months before I stopped having to make written statements.