Garage service caused engine to seize

Sea_Shell

Buckbeak75 said:

m0bov said:

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance or car insurance? Try them. Otherwise, I'd get the details of the insurance PL cover from the garage to send the claim to.

Get a quote for a refurb engine/repair, that's what your claiming for. Put that value in the claim.

House insurance wont touch it because its a car.  Car insurance wont help because its not been in an accident.   Not very helpful.  
Garage I suspect does not have any insurance.
But im going to visit in person and ask to see their insurance documents.  They are today apprently.  Taking engine apart to assess the damage.

To help, in case they try and fob you off, if they have employees, they must LEGALLY have their employers liability insurance certificate on display*.

Usually, garages hold motor trade insurance that have various sections, of which EL is one, even though this isn't the relevant section in your circumstances.

So you might be able to tell who they're insured with, if you can spot their certificate.

It would give you an insurer and policy number as a starting point.


* It doesn't have to be "publicly" displayed, but it might be.

facade

The garage have offered to fix the problem.

You don't like that, based on "advice" from an AA man.

As far as I understand it, the garage should put you back in the same position you would have been in if they had done the sump plug up properly- a working engine with the correct oil level, or if they can't/don't want to then with a handful of cash equal to the value of your car seconds before the oil came out.

AFAIK, you don't get to chose.

What basis do you have for legal action? What are your quantifiable losses?- a taxi fare home? produce the receipt and the garage should pay it.

ontheroad1970

The courts service don't like cases going to court needlessly.  It's clear that the garage is guilty of negligence, they haven't refused that.  Risk will be yours to  take if you refuse to take what a court considers a reasonable resolution to the problem.  In this situation, you could find yourself winning the case but losing costs.  Now if the garage (or their agents) does a poor job at rectifying the situation, then you can escalate.  The weight of the case will be on your side as you have given them the rope to hang themselves with or tie up the loose ends.

macman

What's the context here? Is this garage a one-man band, operating out of a rented lockup as a sole trader? Or is it a ltd company on a proper site with at least one employee, in which case they must have some form of PLI.

m0bov

Buckbeak75 said:

m0bov said:

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance or car insurance? Try them. Otherwise, I'd get the details of the insurance PL cover from the garage to send the claim to.

Get a quote for a refurb engine/repair, that's what your claiming for. Put that value in the claim.

House insurance wont touch it because its a car.  Car insurance wont help because its not been in an accident.   Not very helpful.  
Garage I suspect does not have any insurance.
But im going to visit in person and ask to see their insurance documents.  They are today apprently.  Taking engine apart to assess the damage.

A lot of motor and home insurance offers legal protection, so helpful. I suggest a correction in your attitude when you come on the forum asking for others to volunteer help and for me, my own experience in dealing with a very similar issue.

droopsnoot

m0bov said:

Buckbeak75 said:

m0bov said:

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance or car insurance? Try them. Otherwise, I'd get the details of the insurance PL cover from the garage to send the claim to.

Get a quote for a refurb engine/repair, that's what your claiming for. Put that value in the claim.

House insurance wont touch it because its a car.  Car insurance wont help because its not been in an accident.   Not very helpful.  
Garage I suspect does not have any insurance.
But im going to visit in person and ask to see their insurance documents.  They are today apprently.  Taking engine apart to assess the damage.

A lot of motor and home insurance offers legal protection, so helpful. I suggest a correction in your attitude when you come on the forum asking for others to volunteer help and for me, my own experience in dealing with a very similar issue.

I read that as the OP suggesting that the insurance situation wasn't very helpful, rather than your advice not being very helpful. 

I sort-of agree with the earlier comment that I can't find a way to multi-quote - the AA man suggesting that a replacement or rebuilt engine would lead to future trouble seems overly pessimistic. A decent rebuild would put the engine back into an as-new condition, as long as it's done by a competent mechanic using good quality parts. The engine may be beyond repair, that won't be apparent until it's been taken to pieces and examined, if it is, then a replacement engine again may well be perfectly good. This used to be commonplace until someone decided that it's "easier" to just scrap an entire car for the sake of replacing one of the components.

The issue here will be whether or not the garage is competent to do the work, or will have the sense to outsource it to someone who is. And of course the general shift towards scrapping perfectly good things means that there are fewer and fewer decent engine reconditioners around. 

Ibrahim5

Makes sense to do your own servicing.

Desmond_Hume

Not really. But ok. 

Ibrahim5

I think unfortunately legally you have to give the incompetent garage the opportunity to incompetently try and fix your engine. As they are unable to service a car which is a very simple job, they are unlikely to be able to fix the engine which is quite complicated. You will then be left with a damaged car that will probably give you no end of problems.

Buckbeak75

So....  some 9 weeks later.
Still no car.
Im told it will be ready to collect tomorrow.
Second hand turbo installed.
Told the engine is fine other than that.
However, they are not prepared to offer a warranty against any other oil starvation issues that might arise.  Is that correct?  Does anyone know?