Evans Halshaw Body Shop Leeds

nathanjm

Hi all,

I recently had my car bumped and booked it in with Evans Halshaw Body Shop in Leeds to get it repaired as they are a Nissan approved repairer (the car was fairly new so I wanted to maintain the manufacturer guarantee).

When I initially went down to get a quote for the work (to give to my insurance company) the engineer gave me a verbal quote of 7 to 10 days. Since I was going on holiday for a couple of weeks I thought i'd book it in before I went away and it would be ready for when I came back (eliminating the need for a courtesy car).

The insurance company approved the quote from EH and I emailed them to notify them that I would be going ahead with the work, and I would drop it off in a few weeks time just before I went away on holiday.

So I dropped it off for repair on the 15th Sept, went on holiday for 2 weeks, rang EH a few days before coming home to arrange for collection, only to be told they had not started the work yet.

Essentially, because my car is a Nissan LEAF and runs on electricity rather than conventional petrol/diesel, they had to wait for a engineer from Nissan to have the cars electrics shut down before they could start the work.

They have had the car ever since, ringing today (17th October) to say that they had finished the body/paintwork, and are now waiting for someone from Nissan to restart the cars electrics and will be updating me on Tuesday next week.

This will mean they will have the car for well over a month (plus the 2 weeks notice they had to arrange for any engineer needed ready for when I dropped off the car).

Because of the length of time taken to do the repair and inconvenience caused, i've asked them to compensate me for this.

From the response i've received from them so far, it sounds like they are unwilling to offer any compensation, so i'm wondering where I stand from a consumer law / legal point of view if I wanted to take this further?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

vuvuzela

nathanjm wrote: »

Hi all,

I recently had my car bumped and booked it in with Evans Halshaw Body Shop in Leeds to get it repaired as they are a Nissan approved repairer (the car was fairly new so I wanted to maintain the manufacturer guarantee).

When I initially went down to get a quote for the work (to give to my insurance company) the engineer gave me a verbal quote of 7 to 10 days. Since I was going on holiday for a couple of weeks I thought i'd book it in before I went away and it would be ready for when I came back (eliminating the need for a courtesy car).

The insurance company approved the quote from EH and I emailed them to notify them that I would be going ahead with the work, and I would drop it off in a few weeks time just before I went away on holiday.

So I dropped it off for repair on the 15th Sept, went on holiday for 2 weeks, rang EH a few days before coming home to arrange for collection, only to be told they had not started the work yet.

Essentially, because my car is a Nissan LEAF and runs on electricity rather than conventional petrol/diesel, they had to wait for a engineer from Nissan to have the cars electrics shut down before they could start the work.

They have had the car ever since, ringing today (17th October) to say that they had finished the body/paintwork, and are now waiting for someone from Nissan to restart the cars electrics and will be updating me on Tuesday next week.

This will mean they will have the car for well over a month (plus the 2 weeks notice they had to arrange for any engineer needed ready for when I dropped off the car).

Because of the length of time taken to do the repair and inconvenience caused, i've asked them to compensate me for this.

From the response i've received from them so far, it sounds like they are unwilling to offer any compensation, so i'm wondering where I stand from a consumer law / legal point of view if I wanted to take this further?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

What financial losses were you looking to be compensated for ? Have they offered you a courtesy car since your return ?

nathanjm

There was no offer of a courtesy car from EH.

Considering the inconvenience of being without the car for over a month (having to get trains to work, lifts to the supermarkets etc), I feel that if they were to cover the cost of my excess (£250), that would be an acceptable apology.

bris

It's out of their control though isn't it. EH have done their bit, the hold up is with Nissan to complete the electrical work, it's them you should be chasing.

visidigi

nathanjm wrote: »

There was no offer of a courtesy car from EH.

Considering the inconvenience of being without the car for over a month (having to get trains to work, lifts to the supermarkets etc), I feel that if they were to cover the cost of my excess (£250), that would be an acceptable apology.

Courtesy Car is your insurance not the crash repair center - they are not obligated to provide one - you buy it on your car insurance for these purposes - I guess the crash was your fault as you had to get the quote approved?

They may offer you goodwill, but I would imagine it might come from the insurance company rather than the garage. Did you keep your insurance company up to date on the repair difficulties?

If your insurance is doing the work then you should be getting them to chase it, not chasing it yourself.

nathanjm

bris wrote: »

It's out of their control though isn't it. EH have done their bit, the hold up is with Nissan to complete the electrical work, it's them you should be chasing.

But if my contact of sale/service is with EH then surely they are the ones liable for it. If they had a problem with their supplier (in this case Nissan) that's their issue to deal with not mine.

nathanjm

visidigi wrote: »

Courtesy Car is your insurance not the crash repair center - they are not obligated to provide one - you buy it on your car insurance for these purposes - I guess the crash was your fault as you had to get the quote approved?

They may offer you goodwill, but I would imagine it might come from the insurance company rather than the garage. Did you keep your insurance company up to date on the repair difficulties?

If your insurance is doing the work then you should be getting them to chase it, not chasing it yourself.

Crash was not my fault as the car was parked at the time it got hit. I'm paying the excess for now while my insurers chase the driver responsible who is from Romania.

As I chose EH to do the work specifically because they are a Nissan approved bodyshop, I haven't kept my insurers up to date as EH aren't on their list of preffered accident repair centres.

wealdroam

nathanjm wrote: »

But if my contact of sale/service is with EH then surely they are the ones liable for it. If they had a problem with their supplier (in this case Nissan) that's their issue to deal with not mine.

But I thought your contract ( I assume you meant to write contract) was with your insurance company, isn't it?

As such, your insurers have an issue with their supplier.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

wealdroam wrote: »

But I thought your contract ( I assume you meant to write contract) was with your insurance company, isn't it?

As such, your insurers have an issue with their supplier.

he taken it to his preferred garage outside his insurers approved or contracted bodyshop network, so any resulting issue's are with him and the body shop not his insurers.


its a case of: "you chose them you deal with them".

visidigi

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

he taken it to his preferred garage outside his insurers approved or contracted bodyshop network, so any resulting issue's are with him and the body shop not his insurers.


its a case of: "you chose them you deal with them".

Errrm not so sure. Have you got terms to back that up?

Insurer offers the ability to choose your location of repair. Insurer sees price and accepts repair.

If the op has to pay eh then claim it back from the insurer then maybe you're right. If the insurer is settling direct I beleive they take on the liability.

An approved repairers list just means the insurers have screwed a cheap deal out of the vendor

wealdroam

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

he taken it to his preferred garage outside his insurers approved or contracted bodyshop network...

That bit is ok, but the insurer agreed to deal with the OP's chosen service provider.

Whilst I agree that it might be simpler to go to the root of the problem, i.e. to Nissan, ultimately, the OP's remedy lies with his insurer.