Loss of Use - What You Are Entitled To

If the at fault party’s insurance company refuses to help pay for a rental vehicle while your vehicle’s being repaired, you’re entitled to “loss of use” damages, or in other words, the reasonable cost of providing a replace vehicle in the interim.

The loss of use period runs from the date of the accident up to the date the vehicle owner receives their settlement check for the damaged vehicle (and perhaps for a few days after that so that person can look for and purchase another car with the replacement funds), or until the car is fixed and returned.

The carriers might attempt to say the loss of use period only runs from the date of loss to the date they made their first offer for a totaled vehicle.  In our opinion, they are wrong as the vehicle owner can’t replace the car with another car until he’s had the opportunity to shop for another car with the replacement funds.