Car Wash Damage - Advice please!

DJS1988

worried_jim wrote: »

Very interesting thread, I hope you get it sorted out. No surprise that they have declined liability they probably do this to all claims received to worm out the chavs. Good luck !

Thats the upsetting thing I feel like I am being made out to be a liar. Anyone can see that the damage on my car could really have only been caused by a machine in this way.

Going to be a long, slow process I think!

DJS1988

Spoken with my insurers. They can fight it, and I can hold off the repair (so I won't have to pay out the excess) until they admit liability. However, if they don't I'm stuck having to pay out £400, and will lose my no claims, so basically it will cost me an arm and a leg, through no fault of my own.

My dad is a police officer so is going to take some advice - I am wondering if I should look into launching a claim through the county court?

Kilty_2

I'd just go down the insurance route, they have the kind of legal clout you can't buy with £400 anyway.

Plus - £2500 of damage sounds serious and I'd definitely want it fixed even if it meant an insurance claim.

Queries

Hi, I did try posting a quick reply with all the relevant details, but I was not allowed to as a new user. Anyway, it may be worth contacting the Consumer Warrior, Anne Hunt at 'that's life' magazine, as she has dealt with a similar problem recently, i.e. a faulty car wash. Her page is called Fight for your Rights, details can be presumably found on their website. Good Luck!

neilmcl

DJS1988 wrote: »

I'm on hold to them now - only issue is that I can't afford to pay £400 excess in the hope I can get this back.

Do you have legal cover on your insurance. You can use this to try and recover any excess.

Just out of interest, where is the damage to your car, can you post some pics?

rev_henry

DJS1988 wrote: »

Spoken with my insurers. They can fight it, and I can hold off the repair (so I won't have to pay out the excess) until they admit liability. However, if they don't I'm stuck having to pay out £400, and will lose my no claims, so basically it will cost me an arm and a leg, through no fault of my own.

My dad is a police officer so is going to take some advice - I am wondering if I should look into launching a claim through the county court?

Let the insurers do this, don't try county court yourself, not yet anyway. The car still works ok right? Its just horribly scratched, so as long as you're not going to be selling it next week you can afford to live with it for a bit?

DJS1988

Queries wrote: »

Hi, I did try posting a quick reply with all the relevant details, but I was not allowed to as a new user. Anyway, it may be worth contacting the Consumer Warrior, Anne Hunt at 'that's life' magazine, as she has dealt with a similar problem recently, i.e. a faulty car wash. Her page is called Fight for your Rights, details can be presumably found on their website. Good Luck!

Thank you, I've sent off a quick email, even if they can give me a copy of their story it may help a little!

DJS1988

Just an update - their insurers are still denying liabilty and I have therefore informed them I am going to take legal action.

Such a headache over something thats no fault of my own - think as advised on another thread here I am going to send one letter directly to the garage to state I am about to action legal proceedings then there's nothing left to do but actually get on and do it!!

rev_henry

DJS1988 wrote: »

Just an update - their insurers are still denying liabilty and I have therefore informed them I am going to take legal action.

Such a headache over something thats no fault of my own - think as advised on another thread here I am going to send one letter directly to the garage to state I am about to action legal proceedings then there's nothing left to do but actually get on and do it!!

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear you're still having trouble. Make sure you add a decent amount of compensation for your time to the claim; you deserve it.