Please advise-think we've lost all our money! UPDATED!

Tilt

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

Can you send me a link please as Ive been told by 3 different companies now that your insurance is void if no car tax is on the car?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Motorinsurance/DG_186696

The above should explain it. Providing your car is SORN'd and kept off road, it does not have to be insured. However, your insurers should still maintain cover for the vehicle even if it is parked up and not being used. There is no reason why they shouldn't. After all, the only cover needed is fire and theft. Have you spoken to your insurers about this?

Penny-Pincher!!

Tilt wrote: »

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Motorinsurance/DG_186696

The above should explain it. Providing your car is SORN'd and kept off road, it does not have to be insured. However, your insurers should still maintain cover for the vehicle even if it is parked up and not being used. There is no reason why they shouldn't. After all, the only cover needed is fire and theft. Have you spoken to your insurers about this?

As we paid for legal cover we called the other day to see if we could get any advice but apparently this kind of legal help isn't included?

We've already paid the car tax now and as I said it was £70 for 6 months, so not a lot of money to loose after loosing everything we have.

Trading Standards have given us some more info on the seller today and he has other stuff against him and the guy said that if he was us, he would just pay out for the work as its highly likely we won't see a penny from the seller as he owes others. He's suggested we send another letter next week asking him to contribute towards the cost of repairs and we have managed to secure all the work done for £1300 instead of £3000. He also said we could still take him to court even if we fix the car and claim back the cost of repairs as long as we keep recipes and the prices are of fair price.

The thing is, is that we need a vehicle for OH's work and all my hospital appointments. Even if we got an old banger, this would cost £1000. Maybe we just need to put this down to stupidity and learn from it. We got the car at £1000 below book price and they hold their worth for a while. The mechanics we spoke with both said that all of the 3 jobs may not need doing, so they have suggested process of elimination starting with the cheapest option first which is £200 and see if this helps? The gearbox can be rebuilt for £700 which is much better than 2k from Citroen:eek::eek::eek:

We are just trying to be practical. Trading standards have let Inland Revenue know about this guy and they've also contacted the part in their council to let them know he's running a business from home and may not be paying relevant business rates. Auto-trader have also spoke with TS and have faxed relevant info about all cars etc that he's sold over the past few months.

PP
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hartcjhart

perhaps mention to him that with his proven history that you will go to the local press/tel/radio,It may also be worth putting pressure on autotrader to stop his advertising account as it could bring them into 'disrepute'

property.advert

Utter chaos isn't it ?

Cannot stop for a second now but couldn't stop for a second earlier either to check whether he was legit, that the car was HPI clear, had a warranty or to pay by credit card.

The pragmatic approach is going to be to get the car fixed and sue him for the cost of doing so. The OP needs the car, that is undeniable. The seller isn't going to pay up, also undeniable. Any legal solution will take time and may never provide a resolution. Meanwhile his car rots on the drive.

I'd invest a few quid in a lawyer to set out what you have to do to make your case as good as possible but also to have you driving the car after repairs. No other course of action will resolve the need for a car.

Tilt

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

As we paid for legal cover we called the other day to see if we could get any advice but apparently this kind of legal help isn't included?

xx

Priceless.

pulliptears

Tilt wrote: »

Priceless.

And very true. Most only cover for legal issues from accidents which personally I find completely ridiculous.

Tilt

Yes but not advising the OP that her insurance won't be invalidated if she SORN's her car is a bit pathetic isn't it?

pulliptears

Tilt wrote: »

Yes but not advising the OP that her insurance won't be invalidated if she SORN's her car is a bit pathetic isn't it?

I agree completely. The insurance company has been useless to OP haven't they?

colino

OP the most disheartening thing to consumers, well known to anyone who has dealt with them, akin to being savaged by a dead sheep, is the moron at trading standards telling you the dealer was known to them, you were wasting your time and just to cough up! TS should revert to just being an online letter templates centre and be done away with. Not one of the "professionals" I have met would be of any use in any other sphere of employment either.

However, if you have decided and are definitely not going to deal directly and get your money back, don't resort to these other piecemeal methods either.

Find out who in your local area is the go-to-guy for Citroens. You might be lucky and find local private hires run them, if so, there will definitely be a local, knowledgeable guy with the gear and the ability to fix the car outwith the dealer network.

Then, have it properly diagnosed by the indie, what the fault is and what else may or may not be wrong now and in the forseeable future with the car. Armed with that, you can make an informed decision to go ahead with quoted price repairs, sell-up, or galvanise you back into the direct approach again with the driveway dealer.

Best of luck, take action that will have a proper resolution and avoid the seat-warming muppets at TS.

Penny-Pincher!!

UPDATE!!

Seller has offered all our money back, but won't be able to do till Tuesday. He wants OH to drop to his house, but obviously OH will take a mate with him. Its on the condition that we don't take matters further.

OH is going to call his legal contact this morning and see what he says.

Good news:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

PP
xx