Car written off by garage!

[permafrost]

My Mum's car went into a local garage for a repair however, the mechanic somehow managed to drive it in at speed, smashed into their ramps, bounced it into 2 other cars and have written it off! Her insurance have said she's not covered for this as she wasn't driving & the mechanic was an unauthorised driver - therefore no courtesy car, claim or payout! The garage have been really unhelpful and won't give her a courtesy car & are reluctant to give their insurance details, saying they want to settle privately - however they'll only give her £500 as its over 7yrs old!

Does anyone know where she stands legally? The owner was really rude claiming it was her problem for being upset as she's had the car too long so has become too attached to it and that their insurance 'won't fall for her sob story'!! Is there anyone we can report them too - she's been left without a car, no way of getting to work & her insurance are unwilling to help. Are they obliged to give her use of a temp. car and then replace her car as she's can't buy anything for £500 & she's totally reliant on her car. They said they can't pay anymore as they need to repair the ramp they damaged when crashing her car!!

Thankyou in advance of any advice.

[welshlibranr]

Oh!! what a nerve!! surely they must be insured to drive customers cars, and it's not your mum's problem that they need to repair their ramp!...........I think your Mum should take legal advice ASAP!................

[Andyvon]

I think you are right Eddie. I've occasionally heard women being quoted prices or having things explained in various motoring outlets for tyres, brakes, repairs etc. I know full well the woman is being ripped off and that they wouldn't have given me or another man that flannel or price. One example was when I had a chauffeur business and my first wife took a Mercedes for an MoT. I knew it had two small holes in the floor which needed two plates welded over and I guessed it would cost about £20. My wife came back saying they had quoted £1000 for welding! When I took the car back they looked bashful and said "Sorry. We didn't know it was yours. We'll do it for £20!" I've thought about mentioning it to the women in the past but the place was doing something to my car and I didn't want any hassle.

I think it's the same here as you say. The garage staff have got noisy and told some nonsense about the ramp knowing the lady wouldn't argue and would leave. They wouldn't have told that to a man.

[welshlibranr]

I would ring them again and give them another chance to replace your Mum's car, and if I didn't get any joy, then I would ring the Local and National Newspapers and and any TV show that exposes rogue traders, and give them the story!..............

[Andyvon]

Definitely the local paper and maybe mention that you are getting in touch with BBC Watchdog too.

[society]

Permafrost, I do hope you show your Mum this thread you've posted so she could see the very helpful answers and advice that's been given. Hope everything works out for her.

[permafrost]

Thankyou for all your replies - they're much appreciated. My Mum went to the garage today with a male friend to try & sort this out - with little success! Her friend asked for the insurance details & for the name of the driver and said he was taking photos of the car for the local paper - at which point the owner opened the door, raised his voice and threw him out and refused to talk to him & said he'd only talk to my mum! He once again refused to offer a courtesy car and said he's not paying any more money. So she still has no car for a second week - it does seem quite bizarre that her insurance doesn't cover her! Anyway I've been in touch with trading standards and I think her friend is contacting the local paper on Monday. I'll keep you updated....

[boxtops]

Good luck permafrost - time to make things formal though, I still think putting it all in writing and sending it to the garage, to ask them to pass it to their insurance company, is the next step. If they won't - or if they haven't got any insurance - they are breaking the law.

[welshlibranr]

Yes permafrost, please do update us! get as much publicity as you can!........I would go so far as to make some placards warning other customers not to use the garage, as their cars willl not be covered by insurance, and taking them out late at night, placing them near the garage!............lots and lots of them, ok he will remove them!............but it will give him a little grief, especially if you do it often, but on random nights..........just a thought!...........I could not let him get away with it!.........

[permafrost]

p.s. Forgot to say - they reluctantly gave their insurance details today, although they refused to name the driver so I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't insured which would explain their reluctancy to go through insurance.

[welshlibranr]

probably true perma, but still their responsibility!............not your Mum's fault that they employed someone not covered by their insurance!..................they need to be made to pay up!.............

[boxtops]

Permafrost, that doesn't matter. All you now have to do is to write to the insurance company with all the fact - date, time etc., and "one of their employees" was driving when this happened. The insurance company will then thoroughly investigate - the garage have to cooperate. They have to prove they were NOT negligent, not you having to prove that they were.

[Andyvon]

That response is very similar to a local workshop my neighbour employed last year to do his head gasket Permafrost. They took the head bolts off then did nothing for two months! Even when we took the head away for skimming ourselves then supplied the new head bolts and gasket set the owner still wouldn't do anything as they said we never supplied them!

That was only sorted out by Trading Standards. They didn't want to know at first and my neighbour had to badger them to do something, but the garage eventually put the car together again. They then just disappeared leaving about 15 customers' cars outside the unit!

I don't suppose the owner's name begins with an 'R' does it Permafrost? Many people in my town have wondered where he went.

[Andyvon]

My neighbour tried the police last year Eddie. They just said it was nothing to do with them - try Trading Standards. I think they might say the same again as this is a dispute about insurance. If the garage are not insured then it will be a civil matter.

[philkool]

Surely they must have got an insurance engineer to say that the car was an uneconomical repair as the garage cant say it is.

[boxtops]

Try the insurance first. This is still the correct route to go down IMO, I used to work in an insurance claims department and we used to see all sorts of claims come in, many hadn't been reported as potential claims before the claimants wrote in.

[Andyvon]

I hope so Eddie. Those people should be shut down and should certainly compensate Permafrost's mother for her treatment.

[danchip]

I may be wrong but is it not the law for garages etc to display copies of their insurance documents in a area where they can be seen i.e a waiting room or office, i know all of the garages i use regularly do this, send a family member or friend in to see if they can spot these!

Also as it has been previously said your mam can claim her expenses back so hire her a car and charge it to the garage!

[permafrost]

Finally my mum's insurers have agreed to take on the case, after telling her continually for the past week that she was uninsured for this matter. They're collecting the car for their own assessors to look at and will pursuing the garage for damages. Still no courtesy car though..... I've written a complaint to her insurers for giving her incorrect info for the past week and still refusing a courtesy car, and forwarded details about garage to trading standards. Insurers said can't guarantee getting money back if she hires a car, so as she doesn't have the money she can't risk it in case they don't recover all the costs. Fingers crossed something gets sorted soon...