Council unlawfully scrapped my sister's car

Tilt

It seems your only option then is to take a civil action against the council and let a judge decide.

HO87

Were there to be a civil action here and ultimately the OP - or is it their sister? - proved their case (or the council continued to accept liability - as they appear to have already done) then damages would be awarded on the basis that they returned the OP (or their sister) to the situation that obtained prior to the council crushing the vehicle.

It seems the council have made what they believe is a realistic offer which has been rejected by the OP (or their sister). So the situation is at an impasse.

Has the OP managed to contact a solicitor, spoken with an adviser at the CAB, visited the local community law centre or done anything other than post here?

These are suggestions which have been made previously and questions posed that have gone unanswered.

The involvement of an impartial third party whether they are a solicitor, a CAB adviser or someone from the law centre may well be the best way of breaking the impasse.

We are now two weeks down the line and I'm afraid that I see no evidence of anything substantial being done to resolve this situation beyond an amount of complaining.

betterthanyours

Just sent them this: (truncated a little)

I've noticed the following, mentioned on autotrader's site about the valuation tool and I enclose the link for your reference.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-valuation/result/guid/93c234fd-ba9f-44a3-8c64-0b64b6c2f5c0

You have pointed out that the sum on offer of £870.00 is for a vehicle of Honda Civic, similar age and mileage - in good condition.

According to autotrader's tool, good means:

Good:
Minor or cosmetic damage to bodywork, wheels, tyres and interior
Minor or cosmetic damage to lights, glass and mirrors
All tyres are safe and legal
Documentation and keys present
Partial, documented service history
Current MOT
No outstanding finance
The car has never been written off
It is not a category C or D vehicle

Excellent:
No damage to bodywork, wheels, tyres and interior
No damage to lights, glass and mirrors
All tyres are safe and legal
Documentation and keys present
Full, documented service history
Current MOT with at least six months to run
No outstanding finance
The car has never been written off
It is not a category C or D vehicle

I would like to draw your attention to the underlined sections in good and likewise, bold sections in excellent.

My sister's vehicle had full service history, there were no damage to lights, glass or mirrors. There was slight damage at the rear of the car. However, these could have been pulled out with a suction cup and the labour would have cost up to £100 - a generous budget.

Unfortunately, autotrader's tool does not provide a valuation for a vehicle in "excellent" condition. You cannot simply mark a vehicle as "good" condition simply because one item out of three is marked or could fall within the "good" section.

We would be happy to accept an interim payment of the amount on offer. However, we still seek a realistic valuation of the vehicle.

As advised, we are happy for the council to source a vehicle with no rust, similar mileage, age and full service history of verifiable nature and we would happily accept that without any monetary payment other than claiming the contents within vehicle and out of pocket expenses.

Having said that, the two links I included in previous email still stand as what we would constitute as realistic replacements.

Quentin

Tilt wrote: »

It seems your only option then is to take a civil action against the council and let a judge decide.

This is a route open to the op, but will involve a lot of time and money before actually getting to court, and is far from being the only option.

This should be the last resort.

Other options are scattered through this unnecessarily long thread which would be quicker and cheaper but the OP for whatever reason is letting this simply rumble on, when originally an urgent resolution seemed to be the need.

betterthanyours

@HO87

I've made a lot of lines of enquiries, not just here. How many lines am I supposed to follow along with keeping up with and following up the case? If I knew how to proceed with formal proceedings, I would issue them. But I don't.

I agree with you that the issue still is not resolved and I have projected this to the council.

betterthanyours

Quentin wrote: »

when originally an urgent resolution seemed to be the need.

An urgent resolution was needed. The council needed 1.5 weeks to investigate. How was I supposed to hurry this along? I emailed them a number of times. Even now, their investigation is still ongoing. However, their insurance dept seems to be willing to settle without the outcome of investigation. I'm basically receiving conflicting information.

HO87

betterthanyours wrote: »

@HO87

I've made a lot of lines of enquiries, not just here. How many lines am I supposed to follow along with keeping up with and following up the case? If I knew how to proceed with formal proceedings, I would issue them. But I don't.

I agree with you that the issue still is not resolved and I have projected this to the council.

I appreciate this and the situation is not that straightforward which is why I suggested that you contact a solicitor, visit the CAB or try your local community law centre. They could relieve you of some of the stress. At least you will have a professional on the job.

If you want to know how to issue proceedings then you need only visit Money Claim Online. You need nothing more than internet access. All the guidance is in one place and issuing court papers is available at the press of a few buttons, comparatively speaking.

Tower Hamlets has a local law centre at: 789 COMMERCIAL ROAD
(Entrance on St Anne Street)
LIMEHOUSE
LONDON E14 7HG

Tel. 020 7538 4909

They offer legal advice and if they are unable to take the case on then should be able to point you in the direction of someone who can.

There are CAB offices at:

Whitechapel CAB
32 Greatorex Street, E1 5NP

With drop-in sessions all day on Mondays and Wednesdays. You can call them at other times on:

0844 826 9699

Quentin

betterthanyours wrote: »

, their insurance dept seems to be willing to settle without the outcome of investigation.....

betterthanyours wrote: »

Just sent them this:.....

Your letter makes no mention of your other claims you wanted(Compensation/extra expenses incurred), and you should include these when dealing with them/their insurer.


ie you are not just negotiating the market value of the car!


(Did she ever make a complaint to her insurer about them cancelling her policy immediately and not allowing any time for a replacement to be put on the policy?)

Quentin

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

I have just spoken to very good Solicitor and he says as per my post above.

Well....


If this solicitor was in full possession of the facts he is not as good as he claims to be!

betterthanyours

Quentin wrote: »

Your letter makes no mention of your other claims you wanted(Compensation/extra expenses incurred), and you should include these when dealing with them/their insurer.


ie you are not just negotiating the market value of the car!


(Did she ever make a complaint to her insurer about them cancelling her policy immediately and not allowing any time for a replacement to be put on the policy?)

I had truncated the reply a bit. The other bits and bobs including the contents within vehicle amount to rough;y £1,200.

No, she hasn't launched a complaint about her policy being cancelled immediately. Does she have any grounding to do so? Is there any official guidance as to how long they should give someone to find a suitable vehicle to transfer the insurance to?

@HO87 do they actually have lawyers/solicitors/case workers at CAB?

I haven't the time to take off and attend these with her. Please do bear in mind she is pregnant and has a nine year old to ferry around. If she travels to whitechapel from poplar, it would be quite difficult to get back in time unless she went straight after dropping her daughter off to school.