Easter and long weekend crash replacement cars

Why long weekends produce more not at fault crashes

Long weekends concentrate traffic into a few hours on a handful of roads. The M1 north from Wahroonga through the Hawkesbury River bridge is the worst of it. The Hume Highway south past Liverpool and Campbelltown, the M4 west towards the Blue Mountains, and the Princes Highway down to the Gong all run at double their normal volume from about 2pm on the Thursday before a long weekend.

Double demerits are in force from midnight on the Thursday until midnight on the Monday for most long weekends. That changes behaviour. People brake harder when they see a highway patrol car, they tailgate because they are frustrated, and they drive tired on the way home. The result is a spike in nose-to-tail crashes, particularly on the M1 between Berowra and Mount White and on the F3 link at Wahroonga.

Two other patterns show up every year:

• Rear-end crashes at traffic lights on Friday evening in suburbs like Parramatta, Chatswood and Bondi Junction, where holiday traffic mixes with local traffic.
• Car park and low-speed collisions at shopping centres on the Saturday and Sunday, especially at Westfield Bondi Junction, Chatswood Chase and Macquarie Centre.

The important point is that almost all of these are not at fault crashes. If someone runs into the back of you, you have a claim against their insurer, not yours. That distinction is what lets you ask for a like-for-like replacement car while yours is off the road. If you are new to the process, start with our not at fault explained page.

Repairers and insurers on public holidays

Most prestige smash repairers in Sydney close from the Thursday before Good Friday and reopen on the Tuesday after Easter Monday. Some close for the full school holiday period. Insurers run skeleton staff over the break, and their assessors are not booking new inspections until the following week.

What this means in practice:

• Your car will sit at the tow yard or your driveway until at least the Tuesday.
• The at fault insurer will not authorise a repair or a hire car on Good Friday, Easter Saturday or Easter Sunday.
• Even if you lodge a claim online, no one will look at it until the Tuesday.

That is not a reason to wait. It is a reason to get the paperwork right on the day, so that when Tuesday comes, your claim is at the front of the queue. The people who get their cars fixed first are the ones who have photos, a police report number and a clear statement of what happened, all ready to send at 9am on the Tuesday.

If you need a car over the break and you are not at fault, you can book a replacement through a credit hire arrangement. The rate, the bond and any fees are shown on the car's page before payment. Bookings are fulfilled by Drive Tribe (drivetribe.com.au), the trading name of Australian Business Holdings Pty Ltd, and this site is part of that group. You can see what is available here: accident replacement car Sydney.

Getting a replacement car on Good Friday

Good Friday is the hardest day of the year to organise anything. Most tow operators are on call but not on the road. Most repairers are shut. Most insurers are closed. But you can still get a replacement car if you are not at fault, because credit hire does not depend on the other insurer saying yes on the day.

Here is the sequence that works:

1. Get the other driver's name, licence number, registration, insurer and policy number. Take a photo of their licence and their rego sticker if they will let you.
2. Photograph the damage to both cars, the position of the cars, the road, the weather and any skid marks.
3. Call the police if anyone is injured, if the other driver is unlicensed or unregistered, or if they leave the scene. Otherwise, you can report the crash online through the NSW Police community portal.
4. Do not admit fault, even if you think you might be partly to blame. Let the insurers work it out.
5. Arrange a replacement car. If you are not at fault, a credit hire provider can put you in a like-for-like car and recover the cost from the at fault insurer later.

If your car is a prestige or performance model, like-for-like matters. A base model hatchback is not a replacement for a BMW X6 or a Porsche Macan. Our like-for-like page explains what that means in NSW and how it is calculated.

Towing and storage over the break

Towing on a long weekend is where people get burned. Tow operators know that insurers are closed, so they charge a premium for after-hours and public holiday call-outs. If your car is towed to a holding yard and nobody authorises its release until Tuesday, you can end up with three or four days of storage fees that the at fault insurer may refuse to pay in full.

What to do:

• Ask the tow operator for the name and address of the yard, and the daily storage rate, before you sign anything.
• Tell your insurer and the at fault insurer where the car is, in writing, the same day.
• If the car is drivable, take it home and park it off the street. That avoids storage entirely.
• If it is not drivable, ask for it to be towed to a repairer you trust rather than a holding yard. Some prestige repairers have secure yards and will accept cars over the break.

Storage is a recoverable cost in a not at fault claim, but only if it is reasonable. Four days in a holding yard because nobody chased the insurer is not always seen as reasonable. Keep every receipt and every text message.

If you are not sure whether your car should be towed or driven, our first 24 hours guide walks through the decision.

If you are rear-ended on the way to the snow

The snow run is its own category. Every long weekend in winter, there is a cluster of crashes on the Hume Highway between Liverpool and Goulburn, on the Federal Highway near Canberra, and on the Alpine Way between Jindabyne and Thredbo. Most are rear-end crashes caused by people braking late in heavy traffic.

If it happens to you, the first problem is that you are 400 kilometres from home and your car may not be drivable. The second is that you are in a regional area where tow operators and repairers are thin on the ground over a long weekend.

What to do:

• Get the other driver's details and photos, same as anywhere else.
• Call the police if the cars are blocking the road or anyone is hurt. In NSW, report online if it is minor.
• If the car can be driven, drive it home. A repair in Cooma or Jindabyne will take longer than a repair in Sydney, and you will be stuck without a car in a town with no replacement fleet.
• If it cannot be driven, have it towed to a secure yard and arrange transport home. You can claim reasonable travel costs from the at fault insurer.
• Arrange a replacement car in Sydney for when you get back.

For a prestige SUV that can handle the snow run and still look right in the city, a replacement might be a Porsche Macan GTS or a BMW X6. Both are available through the fleet, subject to availability and the minimum driver age on each car.

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What evidence to collect when the other driver is from interstate

Interstate drivers are common on long weekends, especially on the Hume and the Pacific. Their cars are registered in Victoria, Queensland or the ACT, and their insurers are often not the ones you would deal with in NSW. That does not change your rights, but it does slow things down.

Collect the following at the scene:

• Their full name, address and phone number.
• Their licence number and the state that issued it.
• Their registration number and the state it is registered in.
• The name of their insurer and their policy number, if they know it.
• Photos of their licence, their rego sticker or plate, and their car.
• The names and phone numbers of any witnesses.

If they cannot give you their insurer's details, do not worry. You can still lodge a claim against them directly, and your credit hire provider can trace the insurer from the registration. What matters is that you have enough to identify the driver and the car.

Interstate insurers sometimes take longer to respond because the claim has to be routed through a different state's systems. Keep a written log of every call, email and text, with dates and times. If the claim drags on, that log is what supports your hire car costs. Our dealing with insurers page has more on this.

Starting the claim on the Tuesday after

Tuesday after a long weekend is the busiest day of the year for insurers and repairers. Everyone who crashed over the break calls at once. If you want your car fixed quickly, you need to be organised before 9am.

Have this ready:

1. A written statement of what happened, in plain English, with the date, time, location and direction of travel.
2. Your photos, sorted and labelled.
3. The other driver's details and insurer.
4. The police report number, if you have one.
5. The location of your car and the name of the tow yard, if it was towed.
6. A quote or booking for a replacement car, if you need one.

Call the at fault insurer first, not your own. In a not at fault claim in NSW, you are entitled to deal with the at fault insurer directly, and you are entitled to a like-for-like replacement car while yours is being repaired. If they push back, ask for the claim reference number and put your request in writing.

If you are a fleet manager, the same applies, but you also need to think about the driver's downtime and the vehicle's book value. Our business and fleet page covers the fleet side in more detail.

Planning the repair around the next long weekend

Once your car is in the shop, the next question is when it will be finished. Prestige repairs in Sydney often take longer than people expect because parts have to come from Germany, the UK or Japan, and some parts are on backorder. A repair that starts in April can easily run into June, which means it may not be finished before the next long weekend.

Plan around it:

• Ask the repairer for a realistic completion date, not a best-case date. Add a week.
• Ask whether any parts are on backorder and how long the delay is likely to be.
• If the delay is significant, ask the at fault insurer to extend the replacement car. In a not at fault claim, you are generally entitled to a replacement for the reasonable duration of the repair.
• If the repair is going to run past the next long weekend, book your replacement car early. Prestige and performance cars are in demand over Easter, the King's Birthday and the October long weekend.

If you want to understand how long a prestige repair typically takes in Sydney, and why parts delays happen, our how long prestige car repairs take in Sydney and parts delays pages go into detail.

If your car is written off instead of repaired, the process changes. Start with our statutory write-off guide.

Booking a replacement car over the break

If you are not at fault and you need a car over a long weekend, you can book one through the fleet. The rate, the bond and any fees are shown on the car's page before payment. The bond equals the excess you choose. Paying by card carries a small surcharge, while bank transfer and cash on the rental do not. Cars can be booked from a single day, and delivery is available across Sydney.

For a prestige SUV that matches the kind of car you were driving, the BMW X6 xDrive 40i M Sport and the Porsche Macan GTS are both in the fleet. For something more practical, especially if you need a tray or a tow bar, the Toyota HiLux Rogue 4x4 is available. Each car has its own minimum driver age, shown on its page.

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If you are a smash repairer, solicitor or broker who refers clients, our partners and referrals page explains how that works. If you are not sure whether you are entitled to a replacement car at all, read our what not at fault means in NSW page first.

To see what is available now, start here: accident replacement vehicles.