Incident during breakdown recovery

tinaB_2

I broke down with two young children (under 4), A am covered by a very well known car brand who outsourced my recovery to a breakdown company who out sourced to another local recovery company.

The patrol person loaded the car onto the wagon and had the car keys. I sat with my children in the wagon. On leaving the car park where we parked car alarm went off and the patrol person pressed buttons on fob to stop alarm.

We drove off to join the motorway and had passed a junction (this gives you an idea of how far we had traveled) I car on the motor way flashed the wagon and pulled us over. the drive approached the wagon to alert the patrol person that the boot of the car was open and stuff was flying out.

The patrol person got out and went round the back to check and then approached me to step out of the wagon, leaving the kids in the wagon to check the boot. I did as said without a high vis! i was not offered to wear one and at the time was worried for my safety.

the boot was of course open and stuff had gone, there was a large space and i showed the driver the area. He offered to walk down a find items but i was unsure of the this - he wanted to leave me and the kids on the side of the motorway while he walked down the motorway....my concern how far back would be go? what could happen to me and the kids unaided on side of motorway. plus it was coming close to 11pm so very dark!

We both returned to the wagon and he apologised and admitted that he must have pressed the wrong button, he said that i shouls have the keys back and until we get home and turn the alarm off if it goes off again. Thinking about it - why didn't he notice the boot was open in his rear view mirror.

anyway contacted my car company of the incident as soon as i got home despite the patrol person letting me to log the incident in the morning.

The car company, the break down company that outsourced the job are not claiming liability for lost items. The patrol person is saying this never happened and the very popular break down company are accepting his story and rejected any claim or resolution for the incident.

anyone had similar case / incident??? need help...they are all refusing liability and fault, surely they should take responsibility

any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance

molerat

Letter before action to the primary breakdown company for your losses due to the negligence of their contractor.

McKneff

Forget all the 'what ifs' irrelevant

Concentrate on what did actually happened

Chucky1234

Agreed, leave out all the 'what if's'. Stick to the facts and keep it short and to the point. Explain what happened, where you were picked up from, what was lost as a result of his negligence and what you would like to happen to resolve the situation.

Warwick_Hunt

tinaB wrote: »

I broke down with two young children (under 4), A am covered by a very well known car brand who outsourced my recovery to a breakdown company who out sourced to another local recovery company.

The patrol person loaded the car onto the wagon and had the car keys. I sat with my children in the wagon. On leaving the car park where we parked car alarm went off and the patrol person pressed buttons on fob to stop alarm.

We drove off to join the motorway and had passed a junction (this gives you an idea of how far we had traveled) I car on the motor way flashed the wagon and pulled us over. the drive approached the wagon to alert the patrol person that the boot of the car was open and stuff was flying out.

The patrol person got out and went round the back to check and then approached me to step out of the wagon, leaving the kids in the wagon to check the boot. I did as said without a high vis! i was not offered to wear one and at the time was worried for my safety.

the boot was of course open and stuff had gone, there was a large space and i showed the driver the area. He offered to walk down a find items but i was unsure of the this - he wanted to leave me and the kids on the side of the motorway while he walked down the motorway....my concern how far back would be go? what could happen to me and the kids unaided on side of motorway. plus it was coming close to 11pm so very dark!

We both returned to the wagon and he apologised and admitted that he must have pressed the wrong button, he said that i shouls have the keys back and until we get home and turn the alarm off if it goes off again. Thinking about it - why didn't he notice the boot was open in his rear view mirror.

anyway contacted my car company of the incident as soon as i got home despite the patrol person letting me to log the incident in the morning.

The car company, the break down company that outsourced the job are not claiming liability for lost items. The patrol person is saying this never happened and the very popular break down company are accepting his story and rejected any claim or resolution for the incident.

anyone had similar case / incident??? need help...they are all refusing liability and fault, surely they should take responsibility

any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance

Because he has a nearside mirror and an offside one, the car was probably between the two.

What have you lost?

Claim for those lost items.

tinaB_2

thanks all for comments!

I wrote the claims at The AA explaining incident and the facts of what happened / whats missing and what cost of replacing the goods. They obtained statements and the patrol man has given a statement saying he didn't press the button and open the boot.

The AA are claiming no liability for the incident.....and land rover assist who outsourced to the AA are also saying that they cannot do anything.

They are not claiming any negligence from the patrol man.

Legal action would cost a lot of money

The senior claims negotiator is saying there is nothing they can do, i have asked for this to be escalated and she is refusing saying she has the powers to make this decision. Could i contact the ombudsman at the AA

Also who really should I be claiming against, it was Land Rover Assist who i contacted for the recovery of my car. If they have chosen to outsource than they should be leading the investigation to support me as a customer right???

They are saying that have nothing to do with it.....which i am struggling to understand

Johno100

tinaB wrote: »

We both returned to the wagon and he apologised and admitted that he must have pressed the wrong button, he said that i shouls have the keys back and until we get home and turn the alarm off if it goes off again. Thinking about it - why didn't he notice the boot was open in his rear view mirror.

You have omitted to state whether on your particular vehicle pressing the boot release on the fob causes it to open or just unlock.

tinaB_2

oops Sorry the boot completely opens when button is pressed

Hoof_Hearted

What items were lost?

iammumtoone

McKneff wrote: »

Forget all the 'what ifs' irrelevant

Irreverent to the monetary value of the claim yes. But in this case very relevant to the attitude of the driver - you can't ask a adult with two young children to stand on the side of the motorway, that is very dangerous. And the OP should not have been asked to check the boot there and then, he should have drove into a service station etc and then ask it be checked..

Warwick_Hunt

iammumtoone wrote: »

Irreverent to the monetary value of the claim yes. But in this case very relevant to the attitude of the driver - you can't ask a adult with two young children to stand on the side of the motorway, that is very dangerous. And the OP should not have been asked to check the boot there and then, he should have drove into a service station etc and then ask it be checked..

What's the relevance of the two children?