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Loss of use claim
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The other driver is at fault and their insurance has accepted liability. The insurance has named a partner in Germany as the first point of contact to deal with the case due to the foreign registration and insurance. He is happy with this as he can deal with it in local language.
I read that as the other driver’s insurance have delegated s German partner to deal with the claim on their behalf.
It is not the OP’s friend’s insurance that is dealing with it.0 -
DullGreyGuy said:pecunianonolet said:
I don't know the exact detail but based on what I was told by him is that he made an appointment with the garage of his choice in Germany and the surveyor travelled to the garage to examine the car. He then got his annual service done and picked up the car again after.
A week later when the report was available the garage told him to bring in the car. They then ordered the parts, after the repair contract was signed and arranged a date with the body shop and started to take things apart. He needed one full side painted including 2 doors, a complete new mirror, new alloys, etc. done. He told me that it is totally normal that a garage starts working on a car while parts are on order so things can happen in parallel, however, if the parts are delivered late from the manufacturers warehouse this isn't something the garage is liable for as it is out of their control.
I am surprised that LuU is not better regulated in the UK and that such small sums are paid and that there doesn't seem to be a transparent calculation procedure. (Never been in such a situation myself so no clue really).
Anyhow, I'll pass the info on to him. He already said he might get a solicitor on the case anyhow. I feel sorry for him that he's got so much trouble now after what was supposed to be a nice holiday and visit.
Civil Law has the advantage that you can go to a book and read up exactly how the matter should be dealt with but it also has the disadvantage that the book needs to go through a lengthy parliamentary process for the book to be updated. Likewise if you go to the book and the book doesn't say anything about the matter you've got a problem.
Common law adapts organically, there is no book you can go to but principles are well established on many things. The courts can apply the logic and either apply it, evolve it or differentiate from it which means things can move on without politicians having to write/rewrite laws and there is no circumstance the courts can't deal with because there is no book for a situation not to be in.
There is a few exceptions to the above where the parliament have decided to pass a law which then overrides common law. Most recently we had the Whiplash Reforms which changed injuries being valued at an inflation adjusted version of previous settlements as seen fit by the judge to a fixed table that you can look up and have a set value.
There is no regulations on LoU, we simply have previous court cases on what judges then considered reasonable adjusted for inflation. LoU can be different for different people too, in one case I had the person required a highly modified vehicle for their disability. We tried to source a hire car for them but none had the mods they required. As there was no other option and because they basically became housebound for the duration of the repairs we did pay them notably more. For anyone else if they needed a car, licensed taxi, refrigerated van we can get all of those easily, and so not having a replacement vehicle is a choice and is why the settlement is fairly low.
Their claim is under the £10,000 limit for Small Track so where they to instruct a solicitor it would be at their own expense. Given the differences in monies being talked about the legal advice would cost them more than the amount they are claiming for and I doubt they'd get that anyway.
It used to be the norm to book the car in and get the parts in parallel but then Covid happened and perfectly drivable cars were being held in garages for months whilst everyone was struggling to get parts. Even before covid increasing the duration by 150% because of parts delay wouldn't have been acceptable, it's even more so now that we know of supply problems.
If LoU is so codified in Germany may be the additional days should be paid by his choice of garage as its was them that was wrong about being able to do things in parallel and caused additional his loss.
He has legal claims insurance, according to him a bread an butter insurance literally everyone has as people take other people to court for all and everything. Involving a solicitor seems to be almost as normal as going to the supermarket (literally his words). He told me the garage told him that the car manufacturer, Mazda, has changed their distribution network, making sourcing parts a gamble, apparently. He has told me that he will inquire at the garage to provide a detailed statement explaining the duration and details of the length of repair. He thinks that this may help with his claim.
Anyhow, I'll pass it all on and it's his decision in the end and maybe all ends up in his favour. Not much is going to happen for the next 3 weeks anyway.0 -
pecunianonolet said:
He has legal claims insurance, according to him a bread an butter insurance literally everyone has as people take other people to court for all and everything. Involving a solicitor seems to be almost as normal as going to the supermarket (literally his words). He told me the garage told him that the car manufacturer, Mazda, has changed their distribution network, making sourcing parts a gamble, apparently. He has told me that he will inquire at the garage to provide a detailed statement explaining the duration and details of the length of repair. He thinks that this may help with his claim.
LE cover is common in the UK and if you have any form of injury a solicitor firm will be appointed but for non-injury cases lawyers arent too commonly involved here. Insurers generally prefer to avoid lawyer costs, avoid the gamble that court inevitably is and come to a negotiated settlement. Better to give a few extra days LoU than pay £2k in legal expenses.
If the garage told him there was uncertainty on parts supply that reinforces the fact it shouldn't have gone in until the parts are there. There is a legal requirement to mitigate your losses in the UK, its not strongly applied but it will be part of their rebuttal of the excess LoU1
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