Petrol Stations Fuel Mix Up - Contamination

david39

You can only claim against the retailer. The retailer willy be making a claim against the fuel supplier.

The person / business you need to take action against is the holder of the petroleum storage licence issued to the station. They will be the true retailer on the premises.

The licence should be displayed at the petrol station but it will probably be in a back office somewhere.

However, the information will be available from the fire department of the local authority in which the petrol station is situated. When you explain the reason why you want to know who holds the licence, the fire department may take a close interest in exactly what happened because either the tanker was misloaded at the time of loading or the compartment of the tanker was connected to the wrong underground tank when being unloaded.

Either incident shows an element of neglect that could lead to disastrous consequences - it suggests another tank at the garage had petrol loaded into it instead of diesel. Under adverse circumstances that could result in a diesel powered vehicle catching fire long after it left the petrol station.

Sally_A

I disagree david39, in previous incidents the fuel delivery company have held their hands up sharpish, and allowed the fuel station customers to claim directly from them; bypassing the fuel station, who is another claimant due to downtime and loss of profits.

It equates to approx £400 per vehicle, and there could easily be 100+ vehicles affected before the error is noticed.

sarahg1969

I also disagree. You do not only have to rely on the contract aspect. Whoever filled the tank owed a duty of care to the users.

Joe_Horner

But there were no snails in the diesel, M'lud!

The case against the retailer would be easiest to action, because there are both contract considerations from the supply of wrong goods and negligence considerations from the inappropriate supply of hazardous goods - it's not unreasonable to expect someone who's taking delivery of, and storing, several thousand gallons of flammable liquid to check they're actually receiving what they think they are. In fact, in that context, it's very probably negligent of them to simply rely on the delivery co getting it right!

steve-L

vaio wrote: »

Nah, I'm pretty sure that business to consumers contracts can't exclude consequential costs. (business to business contracts can exclude or include what ever they like).

I think pretty much the only exceptions to this are government or transport related. Government also includes the old nationalised industries so trains & post office which have the benefit of archaic legislation passed when they were in public ownership. Trains are covered by the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and there is an equivalent for the Post Office. Air travel is covered by some convention but the EU is nibbling at the edges and rights for passengers are improving. (see assorted grumbles by the Ryan air bloke)

In the OPs case, all consequential costs should be paid plus an amount as compensation because the OP missed the concert. I suppose if the other side was being super picky they could argue that only the "additional" costs should be paid re petrol as as you mentioned the OP was going to drive there anyway but in reality the other side will just pay up once the OP manages to convince them (s)he not going to give up. Sadly a LBA or even actual issuing of court papers might be needed to convince them

The liability will be decided by the judge, should it go that far.
First off though, the issue is to get the money.
Assuming the OP is not greedy (which is the case from their post) then they will be happy with their expenses and costs.

1. Write the letter before action making it clear that you presently want your costs (as detailed).
2. Give them 7 days to pay before you take it to court
3. Make it clear that you are being reasonable and if it goes to court this will then involve further costs for the court and reasonable damages. The point being it is in their interest to just pay up... and then take the matter through their insurers or the delivery company.

It might be the delivery company are putting pressure on them NOT to accept any liability knowing it will come back to them eventually? Maybe their insurers are advising them against settling?

Smi1er

LS1 wrote: »

I am over £400 down (cost of fuel drain by RAC, 1/4 tank petrol already in car, £35 of diesal I put in thinking it was unleaded), not to mention the hotel and tickets for Nottingham which I didn't get to use, and paying for a friends petrol and food to take my daughter to the concert and stay in Nottingham.

Why did you pay for your friend to stay in Nottingham when you had already paid for a hotel?

Your contract is with the Petrol station where you bought the fuel, so letter before action to them. The fact the delivery driver got it wrong means nothing to you, as you bought the fuel from the station, not the delivery driver.

Sally_A

Joe_Horner wrote: »

But there were no snails in the diesel, M'lud!

Well, I got it! Anyone else done their contract law exams?

vaio

I got it too but isn't it negligence/duty of care rather than contract law?

xoleeb

But on the bright side you never had to suffer Cheryl Cole

LS1 wrote: »

Hello!

Can anybody help me?! -

Jist of story - Petrol station had wrong fuel in pump and caused me to fill up with diesal instead of petrol. I have suffered lots of consquential losses directly due to this. No one is taking responsibilty for the wrong fuel being in the tank and I am seriously out of pocket.

In early October I filled up at a petrol station and put 3/4 tank of (what I thought was) unlead fuel into my car.
I was on my way from Bristol to Nottingham with my daughter to see Cheryl Cole in concert. I got 1 mile down the road and broke down.
After some real drama I managed to get a friend to take my daughter to the concert so she wouldn't miss out whilst I sorted the car.
It turns out that the tanker driver had put diesal into the petrol tank of the station, so whilst I used the correct pump and my receipt said unleaded, it was diesal in my car.
I followed the procedure as set out my the garage manager and got the RAC to drain my car the next day and kept all of my receipts. I was then advised to send them to the Area Manager of the garage who would be over seeing the claim.
The garage manager told me to claim for everything I ended up paying out for which I wouldn't have if it didn't happen, and to put in a claim for compensation.

I am over £400 down (cost of fuel drain by RAC, 1/4 tank petrol already in car, £35 of diesal I put in thinking it was unleaded), not to mention the hotel and tickets for Nottingham which I didn't get to use, and paying for a friends petrol and food to take my daughter to the concert and stay in Nottingham.

After 6 weeks of writing letters to every man and his dog, no one is taking responsibility for this incident!
The garage's insurance company have said they will only cover the cost of the fuel drain and diesal I mistakenly put in my car - they won't cover our consequential losses or pay compensation for the pure agony they have caused. They won't even pay for the petrol that was already in my tank that was subsequently contaminated or to get my car checked out by a garage to make sure it won't suffer long term effects.

The insurance company said it's the fault of the delivery tanker company, the tanker company said it's down the the garage, and the garage is now saying it's not even owned by the chain; it's franchised. Who the hells fault is it and who is going to pay me the money I'm owed?!
I have not yet accepted the refund for the fuel drain because I think this offer is absolutley disgusting, so I have been out of pocket for almost two months now, which is seriously started to affect me coming up to Christmas.

I cannot explain the drama and upset that it has caused, not to mention that I didn't get to go with my daughter to watch the concert which we had front row seats to! My car is only two years old and Ford have told me that it could suffer all sorts of long term damage because I drove with the wrong fuel it in.

I have contacted citizens advice and they have passed it along to trading standards, but once more this is going to take weeks of batting back and forth to get anywhere.

Does anyone have any advice that they can give me on this?

I'd be really grateful if someone could help. :(

vikingaero

xoleeb wrote: »

But on the bright side you never had to suffer Cheryl Cole

:rotfl::T

You mean:

But on the bright side you never had to suffer Cheryl Cole's recorded voice because she just can't sing.