What is Uninsured Loss Recovery Service?

When you are involved in an accident that is proven to not be your fault, with Uninsured Loss Recovery cover, you can often claim back any costs incurred through expenses resulting from the accident. This includes things such as hiring a replacement vehicle, using public transport, phone calls, damage to equipment and damage to clothes.

As the innocent party in an accident, your Motor Trade insurance policy should cover you to receive compensation from the guilty party’s insurer, to repair damages or replace your vehicle entirely. However, that settlement, which will usually be argued out between the insurance companies, will not usually contain compensation for other costs incurred due to the accident i.e. loss of income.

Dealing with insurance companies (after an accident) that aren’t working for your best interests can be a long, tiring, and often frustrating process, and could mean taking time out of your day to argue your expenses with someone, and justify your out of pocket losses. Having access to an Uninsured Loss Recovery service means you will have access to someone whose job it is to negotiate and argue with insurance companies on your behalf.

Having Uninsured Loss Recovery cover can often be quite useful if you don’t have a free replacement vehicle available to you as part of your Motor Trade insurance package. If your Motor Trade insurance doesn’t offer a replacement vehicle, you may have to hire one privately, and having Uninsured Loss Recovery cover may help you with the process. ULR providers may be able to give you advice on what type of vehicle you can hire, in the event that the other party’s insurer tries to argue the expense, and prevent you from getting a like-for-like replacement. However, please remember it is not guaranteed that you will recoup all the costs incurred from hiring a replacement vehicle.

If you have a Vehicle Sales Motor Trade insurance policy, the other party’s insurer could justify that you have a readily available supply of cars, and they might request you use a car from your stock instead of hiring a vehicle. This could mean you have to tax and register the car (if you hadn’t already done so) and therefore you may be able to claim a reasonable proportion of those costs back from the third party insurer. You may also be able to argue for depreciation on that car too as a result of the additional, unplanned use.

Uninsured Loss Recovery isn’t just about recouping the expenses for hiring a car (or using another one in your stock), it can also help you recover the costs of damage to equipment. For example if you are a motor trader with Mobile Mechanic insurance, and you haven’t taken out Goods in Transit cover, then a ULR policy may enable you to make a claim against the third party for any equipment and tools damaged in an accident.

The scenarios highlighted in this FAQ are written under the presumption that the accident has been deemed the fault of the third party. If you have any questions about what could be covered, or you’d like to speak to an expert about adding Uninsured Loss Recovery to your Motor Trade insurance policy, please call us on 0800 221 8077.