Total amount for small claims?

MoreSnowPlease

I'm going to small claims over a faulty car. I am just wondering what the total amount I want to claim would include, because the expenses, time/loss or earnings and inconvenience would all total under £10,000 meaning I could claim online. But when you add in the car (£14,000) it goes over £10,000 but this is an asset which I want to return for a refund minus mileage. So I am not technically claiming that amount.

Does anyone know?

Thanks

LadyDee

https://www.compactlaw.co.uk/free-legal-information/small-claims-court/claiming-costs.html

DoaM

Was there finance involved in the transaction? (Credit card or other loan specific to the vehicle). If yes then a Section 75 claim may be a lot simpler and doesn't approach any limits based on what you've said.

I highly doubt however that you can justify costs in the thousands on top of the vehicle cost.

MoreSnowPlease

Thanks

I'm not justifying costs in the thousands. I just want to know whether I need to include the cost of the vehicle in the claim given that is an asset I want to return ?

Do I count the total package of the claim to include the vehicle cost or not?

This makes the difference as to whether I can go to small claims or not because the vehicle cost over £10,000 which is the limit for claiming online.

No it wasn't bought on credit.

DoaM

If the car is being returned then you can't also claim for it. It might help if you can provide a bullet summary of what you intend to claim.

MoreSnowPlease

I'd like to claim for

Cost of diagnosis of problem
Cost of fixing problem
Cost for alternative transport while problem being fixed
Time/loss of earnings during the process of fixing, liasing with seller who should have fixed/diagnosed, going through mediation,


Car was bought, there was an immediate issue but I was assured it was because it was sat on the forecourt, issue resolved but came back intermittently a few months later, then resolved, then came back permanently. All within 6 months.

Garage refused to diagnose issue, refused to fix car, refused to do anything. They said that because I had had it nearly 6 months it wasn't there when I bought it

I went to main dealer to diagnose, and fix.

I want to return car and have costs covered because they have not followed consumer law at any point, forcing me to fix it to stop any further damage.

MoreSnowPlease

During mediation they have agreed to cover diagnosis and fix costs. But will not accept the return.

MoreSnowPlease

Oh, I forgot that I also got proof from the main dealer that the fault which needed fixing had occurred first 1,000 miles before I bought the car

waamo

You've had the car fixed but now want to return it? You may struggle with that.

You would appear to have a solid claim for the cost of repairs and some incidental expenses, they are unavoidable but insisting on returning a repaired vehicle on a matter of principle will give you an uphill struggle.

You may also struggle on recovering your pay unless you can give a very good reason as to why you couldn't offset this by taking leave or working half days.

Courts expect you to claim the bare minimum and to attempt to limit your losses. It doesn't always feel fair but that's how it is.

MoreSnowPlease

I was forced to fix the vehicle in order to keep it functioning and prevent further issues

I wanted to return it at the time, not just as a matter of principle, but because I bought it confident it didn't have any issues, it had supposedly had a full RAC check. If I had known that the problem was a bigger deal than just having been sat on the forecourt then I never would have bought it. I expect cars to get issues, but not that I would have to put so much time and effort into fixing ones that were there before I even bought it.

MoreSnowPlease

Also, the way the garage has dealt with us and hidden an issue makes me worry about what else they might have hidden and feel that the car is just not the one that I bought. I bought specifically from a chain dealer in order to avoid all this.