Insurance approved mechanic left my partners van a death trap

I.O.U.

My partner had an accident in his van just before Xmas, during the snowy period. His van lost control (hit x3 cars) going down a hill & the steering snapped - this could have been a problem waiting to happen, snow or not, he ackowledged. The insurance company got an approved garage miles away from where we live to pick it up & reapir it. Since then he has had nothing but niggling problems with it & has taken it back twice (approx 30 miles away, taking days off work etc).

He managed to limp to a Kwik Fit in it last night, thinking there was definately a problem with it again. When the mechanic had time to look at it up on the ramp this a.m. he said the previous gargage had failed to tighten up some parts & according to the mechanic today rendered the van a death trap. He has written a report for him to show the first garage. The mechanic said he was surprised he even managed to get it to the garage. :eek:

The question is, who should this be reported to? The insurance company first I guess & initial garage (they are aware of his concerns). Trading standards?:mad:

This could have been a potential disaster & surely the mechanic involved initially should be investigated?

Any advice or similar situations? Thanks

forgotmyname

Mechanical failure caused the initial crash? Sounds like it was a deathtrap to start with.

You need to list everything the repairers fixed and maybe get an independant inspection to see if
the van has other issues to show its been bodged previously.

Some people do tend to over exaggerate repairs and faults.

What niggling faults and what did they fail to tighten up?

Hammyman

I'm with the above. He obviously didn't give a toss about maintenance so it is highly likely the repair to the accident damage was done correctly but this is other stuff that was faulty at the time or has happened since due to his complete refusal to service the vehicle properly.

vaio

Don't deal with the first garage, they were agents of your insurance company and as such the insurance company is liable for the mistakes.

Write to the insurance detailing the issues and include the report from KF. Mistakes do happen so you'll probably just get a sincere computer generated apology but you shouldn't be out of pocket so they should fund the costs of taking it back in terms of travelling & time off work

Hammyman

vaio wrote: »

Write to the insurance detailing the issues and include the report from KF. Mistakes do happen so you'll probably just get a sincere computer generated apology but you shouldn't be out of pocket so they should fund the costs of taking it back in terms of travelling & time off work

Do remember that as it is an at fault claim, these refunds of costs would be added to the total payout for this claim and must be declared when renewing insurance so would possibly have a negative effect on quotes given.

vaio

Nonsense, the insurance company will reclaim them from the at fault garage but in any event it wouldn't make any difference in an accident that involved damage to four vehicles

shaun_from_Africa

Mechanical failure caused the initial crash? Sounds like it was a deathtrap to start with.

Mechanical failure of any component can occur even if servicing and preventative maintenance had been properly done.
There isn't a single man made mechanical item that would be 100% guaranteed not to fail.

I am an aircraft engineer, and I've seen many instances of items failing well before their estimated life was up, and many of these failures happened despite extensive scheduled maintenance being carried out on the aircraft concerned.

cyclonebri1

This post has to be an absolute windup. Proove me wrong, please

Edited as as having read it again; it doesn't deserve a reply

cyclonebri1

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Mechanical failure of any component can occur even if servicing and preventative maintenance had been properly done.
There isn't a single man made mechanical item that would be 100% guaranteed not to fail.

I am an aircraft engineer, and I've seen many instances of items failing well before their estimated life was up, and many of these failures happened despite extensive scheduled maintenance being carried out on the aircraft concerned.

You are also gulliable, sorry;)

shaun_from_Africa

Gullible, why?

All I did was to state a fact that any mechanical component can fail without warning despite servicing or maintenance being carried out.

Lack of maintenance may have caused the steering to fail, or it may have been something that was totally unforseen & unpreventable, and without seeing an engineers report, there is no way for anyone on this board to know what caused the failure.

I was simply saying that it was wrong to automatically assume that

"He obviously didn't give a toss about maintenance"

, especially when that particular comment was coming from someone who on a different thread was getting very annoyed when people were making assumptions about lorry drivers without knowing the full facts.

forgotmyname

Why do people ask questions and then evade answering them?

My questions asking what failed and what work has not been completed fully. NOT answered.

You instead sidestepped these questions by saying any part can fail. Yet no mention of what failed and why it failed.

I was only asking as maybe the items your claiming have not been repaired properly were not touched by the garage during
the course of the repair. And may have been faulty when you purchased the vehicle.