Council unlawfully scrapped my sister's car

brewthebear

what planet you on greed greed greed....... convenient how now the car was full ofwith pram car seats and all manor of stuff sure you didnt leave a bag full of cash as well maybe you could add that on now Ive jogged your memory, as if...... serve you right if you end up with nothing greedy people always cant help themselves £4600 get a life

beamerguy

betterthanyours wrote: »

She had a pram and car seat in the vehicle which retails at £950 on it's own. She has Asos refunds, perfume bottles and a car stereo which costs £100 at retail.

She didn't park in a dubious place. The location has no road markings, no parking restrictions. I've added pictures. There are many other vehicles parked there also. And no, she wasn't warned. Just take a look at the picture. I could print out a "Council Aware" sticker and stick it on anyone's car. That's not a warning.

I figured I would humour them though. Considering they did humour me with their initial valuation. Maybe we can have better negotiations, now that the funny stuff has been put aside.



The team manager did say it was a mistake. I have that in writing.

They used AutoTrader's car valuation service to quote their price. I've sent them the AutoTrader ads of vehicles that are of a good representation, similar spec, mileage etc

Regardless of what is being said on here, the fact is that the council have admitted to their mistake and it is their responsibility to put it right without detriment to you.
The price they offer must reflect the true retail price of the car, not a trade price

Car dealers use Glass's Guide to check trade and retail prices
http://www.glass.co.uk/

Regarding personal goods in the car, this is also your property which they have taken without your permission and they should compensate you for those as well.

You need to stick to your guns, maybe get a leading newspaper involved, its amazing when the media gets involved how things quickly change.

Remember, it is wholly their mistake and they have admiitted this.

StaffsSW

betterthanyours wrote: »

We recieved a "market valuation" of the vehicle yesterday of a poxy £870.00. The actual market value of vehicle replacement is averaging at £1,600. This would be a good time to engage a NWNF solicitor. Will said solicitor claim fees back from the council rather than the win sum? Never engaged in anything like this before.

The retail value may be £1,600, but that will be for an equivalent model in retail condition. The pictures posted of the car shows a number of dents and scrapes, which would drop the car to what is known as CAP Below Average.

Typically on older cars like this you will find a £1000 difference between a vehicle forecourt offering, and, for want of a better term, and old "beater".

You may be able to settle for £1000, but claiming for anything else allegedly inside the vehicle along with "alarm and distress" is probably not going to win you any favours in the negotiations I'm afraid.

beamerguy

brewthebear wrote: »

what planet you on greed greed greed....... convenient how now the car was full ofwith pram car seats and all manor of stuff sure you didnt leave a bag full of cash as well maybe you could add that on now Ive jogged your memory, as if...... serve you right if you end up with nothing greedy people always cant help themselves £4600 get a life

I wonder what you would say and do if it happened to you ??

betterthanyours

brewthebear wrote: »

what planet you on greed greed greed....... convenient how now the car was full ofwith pram car seats and all manor of stuff sure you didnt leave a bag full of cash as well maybe you could add that on now Ive jogged your memory, as if...... serve you right if you end up with nothing greedy people always cant help themselves £4600 get a life

How is it greed? She is a mother and also an expectant one at that. Don't you think it's plausible that there would be a flipping pram and child seat in the car? Car's have steroes, women also tend to leave perfume bottles in their cars too. It's not greed. They royally !!!!ed up and practically stole my sister's car. She suffered a panic attack on the first day of discovery, she's had to, whilst heavily pregnant, do her household shopping, pickup and drop off her daughter to school and afterschool activities. This might not sound life changing to you, but it really can be. Especially when someone is already anxious about an expectant arrival. Do you even want to begin to think about the undue stress she was put under and the danger of that?

If this was a civilian, he would be sent to jail. Let's put a price on that, shall we?

fisherjim

I would imagine you should be entitled to a similar figure to one where the car was stolen, and written off by some scally, maybe ask the insurance company for advice.

beamerguy

betterthanyours wrote: »

How is it greed? She is a mother and also an expectant one at that. Don't you think it's plausible that there would be a flipping pram and child seat in the car? Car's have steroes, women also tend to leave perfume bottles in their cars too. It's not greed. They royally !!!!ed up and practically stole my sister's car. She suffered a panic attack on the first day of discovery, she's had to, whilst heavily pregnant, do her household shopping, pickup and drop off her daughter to school and afterschool activities. This might not sound life changing to you, but it really can be. Especially when someone is already anxious about an expectant arrival. Do you even want to begin to think about the undue stress she was put under and the danger of that?

If this was a civilian, he would be sent to jail. Let's put a price on that, shall we?

My advice is get the right price for the car and contents. Forget a radio/stereo, all cars come with that.

As far as stress etc etc, you need a good legal begal on your side, it is not something you are skilled in and will only delay you getting another car and compensation

k3lvc

betterthanyours wrote: »

How is it greed? She is a mother and also an expectant one at that. Don't you think it's plausible that there would be a flipping pram and child seat in the car? Car's have steroes, women also tend to leave perfume bottles in their cars too. It's not greed. They royally !!!!ed up and practically stole my sister's car. She suffered a panic attack on the first day of discovery, she's had to, whilst heavily pregnant, do her household shopping, pickup and drop off her daughter to school and afterschool activities. This might not sound life changing to you, but it really can be. Especially when someone is already anxious about an expectant arrival. Do you even want to begin to think about the undue stress she was put under and the danger of that?

If this was a civilian, he would be sent to jail. Let's put a price on that, shall we?

Now you're just taking the !!!! - no doubt the perfume bottle was full and was the latest designer fragrance, the stereo was a high end aftermarket system and the pram was brand new from Harrods - this is all in keeping with the image given of the car and the location it's parked which looks far from 'premium' and obviously didn't cause her any stress or anxiety to walk down there and park


The more your story get embellished the less likely you are to achieve the magic compo you're after

betterthanyours

StaffsSW wrote: »

The retail value may be £1,600, but that will be for an equivalent model in retail condition. The pictures posted of the car shows a number of dents and scrapes, which would drop the car to what is known as CAP Below Average.

Typically on older cars like this you will find a £1000 difference between a vehicle forecourt offering, and, for want of a better term, and old "beater".

You may be able to settle for £1000, but claiming for anything else allegedly inside the vehicle along with "alarm and distress" is probably not going to win you any favours in the negotiations I'm afraid.

The car looks scruffy because it hadn't been washed. There was one dent on the tailgate. I don't really know the rest. As you can see, it does scrub up well. Regardless, Glass's value the vehicle at 1600+. I've had my sister request a settlement figure from her insurane company and we will take it from there.

beamerguy wrote: »

My advice is get the right price for the car and contents. Forget a radio/stereo, all cars come with that.

As far as stress etc etc, you need a good legal begal on your side, it is not something you are skilled in and will only delay you getting another car and compensation

That's exactly what I'm after here, getting the right price. The vehicle and contents alone would sum between 2,500 and 3,000. If they offered something realistic, she'd bite their hand off. But offering Circa 800 "in full and final settlement" really is just taking the utter !!!!.

Quentin

Did you find out if she has any uninsured loss recovery (aka "Legal Cover") when talking to her insurer?


If so they will pursue her claim for uninsured losses (which will include her costs getting replacement transport whilst awaiting her settlement for the write off)