A van i bought last October wasn't road worthy

the-stig_2

Hi, I didn't know until recently that i can claim for loss of earnings from the company that sold me a van that wasn't road worthy. Just after i bought it which was part cash and part finance, i found that the van needed alot of work done to it, £6,000 worth of work, i had only bought it for £8,000. The van was off the road for 6 months whilst i disputed the fact that the van wasn't road worthy to the finance company. Due to me being a self employed light haulage driver, i had no van to do any work. I had to use my savings to pay for the van and living costs whilst it was resolved. Is there a chance i can still take them to court through companies house, It's £185 to claim upto £5,000. £185 is alot of money to pay if i have wasted my time. Do any of you people on here know if its worth paying the £185 and is there a cut off period after a purchase, I only recently found out that i could take them to court about it. Any help is really appreciated. Kraig

fwor

the-stig wrote: »

Is there a chance i can still take them to court through companies house

I doubt that Companies House will be interested in the slightest, but you might be able to use the Small Claims procedure to make a court claim from them or the garage that sold it to you.

What evidence do you have that the vehicle was not roadworthy ~at the time it was sold to you~?

This is relevant because I'm pretty sure that, given it's now more than a year since you bought the vehicle, it will be down to you to demonstrate that it was faulty.

If you had the repair work done by an independent garage then it's possible that they may be able to provide testimony that it was faulty when you bought it, but then again they may not want to...

the-stig_2

Hi,

Theres a process that you can do by registering, I thought it was companies house, its where you have to claim to take a company to court, I cant think of the name of it if its not companies house,

( i found out it was the government gateway ) :j

I have all the relevant paperwork of all the work that was done and receipts to show and photos of before and after.

all the work has been done now, its just that i only knew recently that i could claim for loss of earnings whilst the van was off the road.

Kraig

Tixy

Money Claim Online is probably the website you are thinking of?
Its an online way to make a court claim.

You can make a court claim against anyone for any reason. But in terms of the chances of being successful that would depend on the facts and evidence in your particular case.

You can take court action against someone for up to 6years from when the claim/debt arose.

Is the loss of earnings the only outstanding issue in relation to the vehicle? have you come to an agreement with them in relation to the purchase price paid already?

When you mention that the vehicle was also on finance - was that finance secured against the van where they paid the van dealer direct for part of the purchase price? or did you take out a loan yourself and then pay the dealer yourself?

Gaz83

The crux of the matter is this, OP:

Can you prove, to a standard a court would find acceptable, that the van you bought wasn't roadworthy at the time you purchased it?

If you can't, then you are wasting your time.

the-stig_2

Hi,

Yeah i can prove with images and a garages assessment of the problems just after i bought it.

Yeah its the fact that the van was off the road for 6 months whilst it was dealt with by the finance company and the company i bought the van from, No agreement was made with the company i bought the van from, They didn't want to know anything at all. The finance company did everything with the van as it belongs to them still until the finance is paid off. Its the fact that they sold me a van that wasn't road worthy and i have all paperwork and evidence including assessments of repairs from Volkswagen commercial.

Kraig

Clive_Woody

Do you have legal cover on your home or car/van insurance? If so you may be able to use this to try and recover your lost earnings.

I suppose the other question is how have you calculated your lost earnings and can you prove that this figure accurately reflects your potential earning when the van was off the road (I assume previous year's accounts or something similar showing your typical earning per month would be ideal).

the-stig_2

Hi,

I wouldn't be able to use my van insurance as its for light haulage, I can prove from lost earnings from previous years earnings and also statements from courier companies of all the work i lost from the downtime i had whilst my van was off the road. I can show bank statements and prove that i had no money coming in in the 6 months that my van was off the road and that i was using savings to pay my bills, now all my savings are gone i am playing catchup with everything :-(

Kraig

Tixy

Just an aside to consider - will your loss of earnings claim per month be for more than the cost of hiring a van per month would have been?

I am aware of a case for loss of earnings (not quite the same scenario) where an roughly equivalent question was posed to a claimant in court.

glentoran99

did you go back to the dealer when you found it wasnt roadworthy? what did they say?

DevCoder

Also, if you are claiming for consequential losses then you also have to prove that you did your best to mitigate those losses.