Garage won't return vehicle and closed for "foreseeable future"

photome

I think the key point is the OP asked for it back on Monday but the garage refused so it’s a problem of their own making.  OP Have you got hold of the owner of the garage

i also don’t understand the part where they say won’t be insured , unless the staff have been furloughed, in which case they are not permitted to do any work at all

m0bov

Hire a van and bill them for it.

[Deleted User]

m0bov said:

Hire a van and bill them for it.

Yes, that is the correct action. They are liable for not returning the car when they said they would, and now you have the additional expense of having to hire a replacement vehicle until they can return it to you.

If they don't pay up then you can use Small Claims Court to recover it. Hire something sensible at a sensible rate, you are responsible for minimizing their costs.

Jumblebumble

MissMaisy237 said:

Hi.
 I would really appreciate if anyone is able to offer any guidance to help me secure the return of my brand new vehicle from a garage.

Long story short: Last Friday, I dropped off my company's new vehicle to a garage to have it sign written for my company. Pre-empting the 'lockdown' and affect that this could have, I asked for it to be returned on Monday 23rd without any work being done. The garage said no but that they would return it on Tuesday completed. However, on Tuesday I was sent an email stating that they had "closed for the foreseeable future" as a result of the government announcement. Since then I have repeatedly asked for it to be returned but have been told that this will not happen as they "would not be insured" to return to the workplace following the government announcement, Obviously, there have been unprecendented changes to life for everyone this week and I understand that protection of employees and the public are paramount however, the garage has not closed due to a lack of staff through illness but have stated that "As per the government restrictions that came into effect, we are not able to open, travel or ask staff to travel into work as we are non essential." They trade as a garage under "maintenance and repair of motor vehicles" which I understand is an "essential service". Please could anyone clarify if motor garages are able to work and if so, how I can get my vehicle back?
I understand that people are all having a difficult time and appreciate that safety comes first. I am certainly not trying to trivialise the pandemic. I am asking respectfully and would be understanding with the garage if they had taken this action due to staff needing to self isolate and hadn't said that they will keep it for the "foreseeable future". (It is also my only vehicle, I have a child and it is used to carry out emergency safety related construction works, which could be called upon even now....and what if they go out of business in the foreseeable future?!).
Thank you.

They have made up the fact that they would not be insured
If they deny it then ask  for some proof from their insurance company
Any refusal to provide this will tell you everything you need to know

Dr_Crypto

You need to ask them nicely, rather than making threats about small claims courts. If you want to go down that road all that they will say is that they were in self-isolation following government orders (yeah I was going to get the van but my girlfriend got a cough so I had to isolate for 14 days then on day 13 I felt unwell so I had to isolate for another 7). 

brianposter

Write to them saying that unless you can recover the car within the next three days you will hire a car and expect to recover the costs from the garage. The self isolation excuse does not work if they have employees, and, even if they had no employees, the court may not believe them. You can precede the letter with a text message.

They are just being deliberately stupid.

Dr_Crypto

No, they are not. The government has told all non-essential businesses to close. A sign writing business is not essential. 

Forget all these threats about small
claims courts. Ask nicely and explain why you need the van (why do you need it?) and make some suggestions about how it can be retrieved safely. 

Manxman_in_exile

Dr_Crypto said:

No, they are not. The government has told all non-essential businesses to close. A sign writing business is not essential. 

Forget all these threats about small
claims courts. Ask nicely and explain why you need the van (why do you need it?) and make some suggestions about how it can be retrieved safely. 

That's pretty much what I said two days ago but everybody else what's to go down the threatening/legal route.

The OP simply needs to talk to the garage, ask nicely and arrange a suitable way to handover the vehicle and keys.  But if, say, it's a only a two-man business and they both may have symptoms (who knows?) and are self-isolating, then there's no way that is going to happen.  But never mind - let's sue 'em!

The only way the OP is going to get this sorted is by talking to the garage and reasoning with them.

A_Lert

It is permissible for people to go out to meet their legal obligations. My opinion is arranging to return a vehicle to its rightful owner would qualify as such.

It's also permissible to travel to work, any work, that cannot be done from home. Moving your vehicle out of their garage and giving you the keys would definitely qualify.

Seems to be like they're hiding behind the restrictions. I reckon they don't want to have someone do the job because if they do, they can't get the government to pay that worker's wage.

Dr_Crypto

Just because they can go out doesn’t mean they have to. Aside from work (my username gives that away) I’m
not leaving the house at all. 

And as I said all they would have to do is say they or someone they lived with had symptoms and thus they went into isolation. 

This is most certainly a carrot and not a stick job.