AAMI Convenience Vehicle Policy

Greem85 on 23/04/2021 - 20:14
Last edited 24/04/2021 - 09:43 by 1 other user

I have recently been in a car accident, where the other driver was 100% at fault. Fortunately, he had a comprehensive 3rd party damage insurance (with AAMI), and acknowledged his fault straight away + lodged a claim.

When I called AAMI (his insurer) to organize a repair of my vehicle, I did enquire about a convenience vehicle (which they did not mention by default in their process when gathering details to organize repair of my car, sneaky!). That's where it got a bit strange: the operator admitted they can supply me with a convenience vehicle, but:

  • It will be done by a 3rd party hire company
  • I will be signing a hire agreement with them in my name, without AAMI doing it for me
  • The cost of the vehicle I will be choosing "has to be reasonable" and not exceed $95/day
  • I am responsible for running costs like petrol (fair enough, was expecting this to be the case)
  • AAMI will only cover bare hire cost of car, WITHOUT INSURANCE
  • As a bonus, when I requested them to send me these terms and conditions to my email so that I could review them before agreeing to anything, I was informed that it was impossible and that I'd have to agree to them during a phone call, otherwise they would not organize anything.

Has anyone had anything to do with them, and went through this process? The fact they are not covering insurance on that hire car looks like a red flag for me from a mile away.

Automotive

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Comments

  • ozhunter on 23/04/2021 - 20:21
    +3

    I wouldn't expect them or any other company to provide more than the bare minimum.

    • Greem85 on 23/04/2021 - 20:22
      -2

      Doesn`t it create a loophole for them to exploit and claim that any scratch the car comes back with will be charged back to me, even though they should be accommodating me as a party not at fault?

  • No on 23/04/2021 - 20:22

    When I had a not at fault crash my insurance arranged a hire car for me within an hour with no BS, can you claim from your insurance rather than AAMI?

    I did not have the hire car option on my policy.

    • Greem85 on 23/04/2021 - 20:23

      My car was worth less than a good TV set, so I had only bare 3rd party on it from my provider. Guess there's no hire car policy in there.

      • No on 23/04/2021 - 20:29
        +4

        In that case I think you're doing pretty good to get a hire car from AAMI at all. Find a car for less than the $95 that has a decent insurance policy built in.

  • PissLUR on 23/04/2021 - 20:25
    +1

    yes make sense. you would need to pay the hire cost in advance and then get them to reimburse you.

    $95/day is alot. you can hire car like corolla from nobirds.com.au with $0 excess for $50/day.

    i have done this at least twice where i am not at-fault and have no hire car extra on my insurance policy.

  • bobbified on 23/04/2021 - 20:30
    +2

    The fact they are not covering insurance on that hire car looks like a red flag for me from a mile away.

    Why would they provide you with insurance cover on a hire car? The agreement for the vehicle will be in your name so if anything happens to it, it's between you and the car hire company. Besides reimbursing you with the cost of the car hire, AAMI have nothing else do with the vehicle.

    You might be able to get away with taking up the 'excess waiver' option (and keep it under $95/day) when you hire the car and then pray they just reimburse you based on the total of the invoice (instead of going through it with a fine tooth comb).

    Since you're not at-fault, you can put a claim through your own comprehensive policy with no excess and get a hire car WITH insurance. Your insurance company will then recover the cost from AAMI (just a word of warning if you do this though - even though you're not at-fault, a claim may cause your premiums to rise for next year).

  • justgooddeals on 23/04/2021 - 22:27

    If your really worried about aami then just hire your own car through company below. Till you can find replacement vehicle.

    I didn’t have the option ticked for rental car insurance last time when I renewed. Was in an accident where I was “not at fault”

    Used- https://www.notmyfault.com.au/

    • jimbobaus on 24/04/2021 - 00:39
      +1

      my friend works for them.. great company.

      Suncorp Insurances (Bingle, AAMI etc) wont issue letters of liability anymore until the claim is "Finalised" which is what you need for them to give u a hire car. (recent change)

      Suncorp says when you contact them, decision on liability can change at anytime during the process, if you are found not liable any excess with not be payable (or refunded if paid) at end of claims process (when car is repaired / replaced) So they can not (and will not) issue a letter confirming other party is at fault until everything is done and dusted

      this is a major barrier to these hire car services…. Suncorp i think is sick of getting the bills for at fault claim car hire

      My friend was saying that its had a massive impact on their business since they made the change.

    • Greem85 on 27/04/2021 - 09:23

      Is that one of these companies, which charges like 3x the usual daily rate for the vehicle, and then requires you to attend court proceedings against the person who caused the accident when their insurer refuses to pay the bill?

      • justgooddeals on 03/05/2021 - 22:15
        +1

        I never saw any invoices. The other driver was at fault so their insurance company handled all expenses.

  • jimbobaus on 24/04/2021 - 00:36
    +1

    Worked at Budget and Thrifty for years
    Insurance companies were our main business for a lot of our cars.

    This is all standard.. you rent the car , they either cover XX dollars paid to rental company or pay you back for the costs.
    You are the renter… you are the driver so yes it goes in your name and you need a credit card for security etc like any other time you rent.

    • Greem85 on 27/04/2021 - 09:21

      Do you have any advice on how I can protect myself from being smacked across the face with a $4k lock on my credit card for a few months while they investigate if a scratch they think was not there was actually caused by me? Normally I would just take an excess reduction, but in this case I obviously do not feel like I should be paying even a cent out of my pocket, considering the other party is 100% at fault for the accident.

      • ol mate on 27/04/2021 - 19:19

        Last time RACQ provided me with a rental (not my fault, I wasn't insured by them - at fault party was), the car only had a $500 excess as part of RACQ's negotiated rate.

  • Spamazon on 24/04/2021 - 09:39
    -2

    You are not their customer, you get what you're offered. If you want better cover add it to you own policy.

    • Greem85 on 27/04/2021 - 09:19
      +1

      Maybe not, but they have taken over responsibility to fix my financial loss the moment their actual client crashed into my car. They get paid to take the weight of financial responsibility towards me away from the person who damaged my property. Their offer does not automatically become a satisfying resolution of the situation, unless I accept it.

  • wsqwin on 29/04/2021 - 16:57
    +1

    Not sure if you have found a solution, when my car was rear ended, I found a company called Right2Drive, they brought a similar car as mine to my house and picked up from my house when the repair was done.

    As long as you provide info regarding the at fault driver, they will do all claim for you regarding the cost of car hire.

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