Suing 3rd party for car repair

pippa0_2

My car was damaged by a garage mechanic. The car is worth 2000.

Their insurer wants to right off car as it will cost 2500 to repair.

Question:

I love my car, had it for 10 years and pampered it (an old merc estate ). can I sue the garage to make them repair my car even tho it will cost more than its replacement value?????????

Please only answer if you are able to, not just becasue you have an opinion!

Thanks.

mattymoo

Is the £2,500 the cost to repair at a Merc dealer using new parts?

Whatever happens, you retain the vehicle. With that in mind, get the best settlement figure you can from them by providing evidence to support a higher valuation - things like Auto Trader ads, receipts, Ebay auctions etc.

You can then use whatever money you get to repair the vehicle using salvaged parts where possible.

Unfortunately sentimental value never comes into the equation so you just have to push for a higher cash settlement.

Quentin

pippa0 wrote: »

Question:

I love my car, had it for 10 years and pampered it (an old merc estate ). can I sue the garage to make them repair my car even tho it will cost more than its replacement value?????????

No .

pippa0_2

Quentin wrote: »

No .

Hmmm... do you have law/ins industry experience?

I don't mean to be rude. Its just that I was told by a barrister friend that my dispute is between me the garage and not their insurance company, and so if I want them to put right my car I am perfectly within my rights to sue them (assuming they refuse) to make sure this is done, irrispective of what their ins company says.

So, for example, if the ins pays 2000 but the repair cost 3000 then I can sue for the 1000 (or whatever it was).

That's a lawyer's point of view! But I am not convinced!?!?

geri1965_2

Either your barrister friend is talking nonsense or you are misunderstanding what he is saying.

Your contract is with the garage and any legal proceedings will be against them, however, they are being indemnified by their insurers and it is up to their insurers how to deal with the claim. No insurance company will agree to repair a vehicle that is beyond economic repair. You will be compensated for your loss by being paid the current market value of the vehicle, to enable you to buy a replacement.

As mattymoo says, it is possible to keep your vehicle and repair if yourself more cheaply if you are able to. Ask the insurers about negotiating a cash ettlement with you to retain the salvage (should be market value of vehicle less salvage value).

Quentin

pippa0 wrote: »

I was told by a barrister friend that my dispute is between me the garage and not their insurance company, and so if I want them to put right my car I am perfectly within my rights to sue them (assuming they refuse) to make sure this is done, irrispective of what their ins company says.

Your friend has mislead you.

Although you are "perfectly within your rights" to sue the garage you wouldn't win so this would be a waste of your money!

(And if you managed to get this to court, although the garage would be named as the "defendant", the defence would be handled by the insurance company's legal team, who would require their expenses on top of the court fees you would have paid up front!)

lisyloo

Their insurer wants to right off car as it will cost 2500 to repair.

Insurers often get cars repaired expensively.
I mean at high street dealers that offer courtesy cars.

You will probably find that you can get the car repaired somewhere else more cheaply.
You might also find there are parts of the repair that you might not need doing.
For example if there is a smal scratch/dent on a bumper do you really need a brand new one on an old car?
Obviously that's down to you but I would have thought that you could certainly take the £2K on offer and find savings of 25% on the repair.

This is not ideal, but if you love the car, then it may be your best bet.
You may well already know a decent backstreet garage.

But basically the others are right.
In legal terms it all comes down to sums and no-obne ever pays more than something is worth for sentimental reasons.
I do know exactly what you mean though. Knowing the history of a car add a lot of value personally but not financially. This is not recognised as legally settlements are done in purely financial terms.

pippa0_2

Ok thanks all, that seems pretty common sense to me. I only asked as my friend does have good knowledge of theory of law but when it comes down to it this would be a bad idea.

new secondhand car then

Equaliser123

You are under a duty to mitigate your loss - your barrister mate should have told you this.

Therefore, spending (and claiming) £2500 on a car worth £2000 is not loss mitigation.

lisyloo

If you love it why wouldn't you get it fixed up? (a little more cheaply).
or at least investigate the possibility.

pippa0_2

I might do, just need to get my other half on the job