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Of the three things a defendant can still dispute after the High Court's 2021 decision, duration is the one that catches people out most often. Comparability gets argued at the start of a claim and rate is usually settled by reference to the market. Duration accumulates quietly, day by day, and it is decided almost entirely on documents you either kept or did not.
Need a replacement while yours is repaired?
Tell us what is off the road and roughly how long the repairer has quoted.
The Short Answer
Generally, for as long as you are reasonably deprived of your own vehicle. In practice that
means one of two periods depending on what happened to the car.
If it is being repaired, the reasonable repair period. If it is a
write-off, until settlement is made within a reasonable time. Neither is an
open-ended entitlement, and the word doing the work in both is "reasonable".
If the Car Is Being Repaired
The clock is the repairer's, not the calendar's
The relevant period is how long the repair reasonably takes, not how long you would like the
hire car. That includes the time to get the vehicle assessed, for the insurer to issue a repair
authority, for parts to arrive and for the work to be done.
Assessment and authority delays are usually not your problem
A gap between the accident and the insurer authorising repairs is common and is generally
outside your control. Ordinarily that is not held against you, but it is worth having the dates
in writing rather than reconstructing them later from memory.
Parts delays are legitimate, and prestige makes them worse
European parts frequently come from overseas. Specialist panel and paint work takes longer.
Manufacturer-approved repairers often have a queue precisely because the manufacturer restricts
who may do the work. All of that lengthens a repair legitimately, and none of it is your doing.
Keep the correspondence that shows it.
Where claimants get into trouble
Unexplained delay attributable to you. Not responding to the repairer. Not making the vehicle
available for assessment. Choosing a repairer with a long queue when a comparable one was
available sooner, without a reason. Each of these gives a defendant something real to argue about
on duration.
If the Car Is Written Off
The period runs to settlement, not to replacement
This is the distinction people miss most often. Once a fair settlement has been paid within a
reasonable time, you are generally expected to be in a position to sort out a replacement
yourself. Continuing to hire well past that point is exactly what a defendant will challenge.
A valuation dispute does not automatically extend the hire
Prestige write-offs often involve an argument about market value, and those arguments can run
for weeks. It does not follow that you may keep a hire car for the whole of that period at the
other side's expense. If you are heading into a long valuation fight, that is a strong reason to
get advice early rather than letting hire charges accumulate and dealing with it afterwards.
Total loss takes longer to confirm than people expect
A vehicle is often assessed, then re-assessed once it is stripped and hidden damage is found.
The period before "write-off" is confirmed is genuinely part of the deprivation, and the dates on
those assessor reports matter.
The Mitigation Question
The High Court's 2021 decision shifted the onus: once you have hired a replacement, it is for
the defendant to prove your conduct was unreasonable rather than for you to justify it in advance.
That is genuinely helpful, but it is not the same as saying conduct no longer matters.
A defendant who can point to a clear, documented period where you sat on the claim, ignored
the repairer or kept the car after settlement has something concrete to run. The onus being on
them is far less comforting when the facts are on their side.
What Actually Decides a Duration Dispute
These arguments are won and lost on paperwork, which is good news because paperwork is
entirely within your control.
Keep these
The date of the accident. The date the vehicle went in for assessment. The assessor's report.
The date repair authority was issued. Correspondence about parts, including any written estimate
of arrival. The date the repair was completed and the vehicle collected. For a write-off, the
date the total loss was confirmed and the date settlement was actually paid.
Write things down at the time
A short contemporaneous note explaining a delay is worth considerably more than an explanation
reconstructed months later. It costs a minute and it is the difference between a documented
position and an assertion.
Hand the car back promptly
The single easiest way to protect a duration claim is to return the replacement as soon as you
have your own vehicle back or your settlement has been paid. A few extra days for convenience can
undermine an otherwise clean claim, and it is a poor trade.
The Days Before Anyone Assesses Anything
People tend to think the clock starts when the repairer takes the car. Often there is a
meaningful period before that which is genuinely part of the deprivation and frequently gets
overlooked.
Towing and storage
If the vehicle was towed from the scene it may sit at a holding yard until the insurer arranges
assessment. You are without your car for every one of those days. Storage charges themselves are a
separate item from the hire, but the period counts, and holding yards charge daily, so it is worth
pressing for assessment promptly rather than letting it drift.
Waiting for the insurer to appoint an assessor
This gap varies from a couple of days to a couple of weeks depending on how busy the insurer
is. It is outside your control and ordinarily not held against you, but only if you can show the
dates. Note when you reported the accident and when the assessment actually happened.
Getting the car to a repairer
If the vehicle is drivable you may be asked to take it in yourself, and repairer availability
is not always immediate. Choosing a repairer with a materially longer queue than a comparable
alternative, without a reason, is the sort of thing that gets picked up on duration. If you chose
a particular repairer because the manufacturer requires it, record that.
Common Situations
The repair finishes but you are away
The deprivation ends when the car is available to you, not when it suits you to collect it. If
you are genuinely unable to collect for a short period, say so in writing at the time.
The repair fails and the car goes back
A rectification period is generally part of the same deprivation, provided the fault relates to
the original damage. Document the return and the reason.
You need the car for work
Since 2021 you do not need to prove you needed a car at all, so this does not strengthen the
entitlement in the way people assume. What it may affect is what counts as a comparable vehicle,
if the damaged car had a genuine work function such as towing or carrying seven people.
Liability is still being argued
If fault is genuinely contested, the whole entitlement is unresolved until that is settled.
Running up a long hire while liability is in dispute is a real risk, and it is the clearest case
for getting advice before rather than after.
If the replacement vehicle is booked
We never move you down a tier. If your dates are taken, these are the luxury cars we will offer instead, and we will tell you plainly if none of them is free rather than substituting something lesser on the day.
Range Rover Sport
- 294kW
- 5.9s
- AWD
- 5 seats
The kind of broadly comparable replacement the principle contemplates when the damaged car was a prestige SUV.
Mercedes-Benz GLS
- 243kW
- 6.3s
- AWD
- 7 seats
Seven seats, for when the car off the road was the family vehicle and a hatchback genuinely will not do the job.
Repair dragging on?
Longer prestige repairs are normal. Tell us the timeline and we will work to it rather than making you rebook every week.
General information only. Every claim turns on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I keep the replacement car?
Generally for the reasonable repair period, or if the vehicle is written off, until settlement is made within a reasonable time. It is not an open-ended entitlement, and the operative word in both cases is reasonable.
What if parts take months to arrive?
Parts delays are common on prestige vehicles and are ordinarily outside your control, so they are generally not held against you. Keep the correspondence showing the delay and any written estimate of arrival, because duration is decided on documents.
My car was written off. Can I keep the hire until I buy a new one?
Generally no. The period usually runs until a fair settlement is paid within a reasonable time, after which you are expected to be in a position to arrange a replacement yourself. Keeping the hire well beyond settlement is a common point of challenge.
The insurer is disputing the value of my written-off car. Does that extend the hire?
Not automatically. A long valuation dispute does not by itself entitle you to a long hire at the other side's expense. If you are heading into that situation it is worth advice early rather than allowing charges to build up.
Who has to prove the hire period was reasonable?
Since the High Court's 2021 decision the onus is on the defendant to prove your conduct was unreasonable. That helps, but it offers limited protection if there is a documented period where you delayed matters yourself.
What if the repair fails and the car goes back?
A rectification period is generally part of the same deprivation where the fault relates to the original damage. Document the return and the reason at the time.
Does needing the car for work extend the period?
Not in the way people expect. You do not have to prove need at all since 2021. Work use may be relevant to what counts as a comparable vehicle, for instance if the car towed or carried seven people, rather than to how long you keep it.
What should I do the moment my car is ready?
Return the replacement promptly. Holding it a few extra days for convenience is the easiest way to damage an otherwise clean duration claim, and there is very little upside.
Does the time my car sat at a tow yard count?
You are without your vehicle for those days, so that period is part of the deprivation. It is frequently overlooked because people start counting from when the repairer took the car. Note the date of the accident, the date you reported it and the date assessment actually happened, because that early gap can be several weeks and it is ordinarily outside your control. Storage charges are a separate item from the hire cost.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information about how replacement vehicle claims usually work in New South Wales. It does not take account of your circumstances and no solicitor-client relationship arises from reading it. For advice on your own claim, speak to a solicitor.
Does Drive Tribe run my claim?
No. We are a vehicle hire business. What we can do is supply a broadly equivalent replacement from a prestige fleet, and tell you honestly whether what we have is a reasonable match for what you were driving.