Taking a car dealer to fast track court under consumer law

hotchocolate1982

born_again said:

As is the norm, no mention of the age, cost, mileage or any other car details?

Its the first time I’ve posted so I don’t know what details are required for someone to answer the original question about a court process 

the car is a 2020 plate, mileage 27,0000 automatic cost over £10k

hotchocolate1982

Jenni_D said:

born_again said:

As is the norm, no mention of the age, cost, mileage or any other car details?

Exactly ... critical details which OP's never think to include.

What concerns me is the comment re. Fast Track ... @hotchocolate1982 needs to understand the county court process; Fast Track may lead to having to cover all the Defendant's costs if the Claimant loses?

This is all new to me I don’t know the processes or routes. I was looking for advice but I’ll try contacting some local solicitors for guidance 

born_again

hotchocolate1982 said:

Jenni_D said:

born_again said:

As is the norm, no mention of the age, cost, mileage or any other car details?

Exactly ... critical details which OP's never think to include.

What concerns me is the comment re. Fast Track ... @hotchocolate1982 needs to understand the county court process; Fast Track may lead to having to cover all the Defendant's costs if the Claimant loses?

This is all new to me I don’t know the processes or routes. I was looking for advice but I’ll try contacting some local solicitors for guidance 

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Okell

hotchocolate1982 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Undervalued said:

If the garage took excessive time and / or failed to repair the car with reasonable skill then you might have a claim for hiring a car (if essential) for the extra time it took to repair yours over and above a reasonable 

I'm not so sure about this, if a car doesn't conform to the contract and a replacement is disproportionate to a repair why should someone be without a car during the repair period?  

Sure if's a day or two most would let it slide but you start heading towards a week or weeks and IMO it's foreseeable that the average person needs their car to get about so I don't see why claiming car hire as damages isn't feasible.

I do agree about mitigating loses, where we are without a car we'd be stuffed, public transport is non-existent and there isn't really anyone we can rely upon to that extent for lifts, of course someone in a city centre may have easy access to public transport.

hotchocolate1982 said:They never gave a courtesy car even though I’m a key worker and have a disabled child

Undervalued said

Neither of which gives you any more legal right to a courtesy car than anybody else.

Generally I would agree but worth noting if the trader knew this before entering the contract (e.g a car was being specially adapted to meet the needs of a disability) that would make that situation foreseeable which then goes back to damages   

OP you might want to seek some professional advice, if the car is over £10k then I believe you get assigned to a track where each party can look at claiming (at least some of the) legal fees, you'd need make sure you are dotting the i's and crossing the t's when filing the claim. 

Also worth asking did you buy the car from a major dealer or back street garage (can't tell if you mean brand spanking new car or second hand but new to you )? If a major dealer try raising your complaint further up the chain, if a back street garage there is always the risk of them folding even if you win.

... i started the fast track claim in money claim online and I’ve applied for help with the fees it says the outcome can take up to 28 days.  I’m hoping I’ve find the right form. 

Are you sure it's fast track?

Nomally money claim online/small claims court doesn't put you at risk of paying your opponent's legal costs if you lose the case.

But if your case is allocated to fast track (usually because you are claiming over £10k or because it's a complicated case) you will lose that protection, and if you don't win your case you might end up paying the other side's legal costs - which might be a lot.  That's what @Jenni_D is concerned about

I'm not sure that you applying for help with your fees will cover your opponents costs - but I'm not sure

You might be able to buy insurance to cover that eventuality - but again I really don't know.

hotchocolate1982

Ok is there an alternative to fast track? 

Okell

hotchocolate1982 said:

Ok is there an alternative to fast track? 

I'm not an expert on the claims process, but my understanding is that you have no choice in the matter, rather that the court decides whether or not to allocate a particular claim to fast track depending on the value of the claim and the apparent complexity of the case.

Is your claim in excess of £10k?

Has the court already told you that it has been allocated to fast track? (You mention fast track in the thread title and presumably you had a reason for doing so?)

Small claims track, fast track and multi-track EX305 and EX306 - GOV.UK

Small claims court: Making a claim & fees involved – MoneySavingExpert

GDB2222

It’s such an important point that I would limit my claim so as to make it likely to be allocated to the small claims track.

You said you didn’t use a credit card. Did you get any credit at all? Or did you pay 100% cash? 

Okell

hotchocolate1982 said:

Jenni_D said:

born_again said:

As is the norm, no mention of the age, cost, mileage or any other car details?

Exactly ... critical details which OP's never think to include.

What concerns me is the comment re. Fast Track ... @hotchocolate1982 needs to understand the county court process; Fast Track may lead to having to cover all the Defendant's costs if the Claimant loses?

This is all new to me I don’t know the processes or routes. I was looking for advice but I’ll try contacting some local solicitors for guidance 

Or you should do what I suggested in the very first response to this thread - post on Legal Beagles.

Okell

GDB2222 said:

It’s such an important point that I would limit my claim so as to make it likely to be allocated to the small claims track...

I think that's what I would want to do.

I'm not sure if the OP knows for a fact that it's been allocated to the fast track or whether they may be under the misapprehension that all small claims are fast track.  I mean, fast track doesn't sound serious or risky, does it?

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm right saying the claimant could be liable for the other side's costs if the claimant loses in fast track...?

But @Jenni_D seems to agree.

A_Geordie

Okell said:

I think that's what I would want to do.

I'm not sure if the OP knows for a fact that it's been allocated to the fast track or whether they may be under the misapprehension that all small claims are fast track.  I mean, fast track doesn't sound serious or risky, does it?

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm right saying the claimant could be liable for the other side's costs if the claimant loses in fast track...?

But @Jenni_D seems to agree.

Costs are limited on the fast track at a sliding scale rate. The amount of costs awarded depends on the value of the claim and the complexity of the matter, band 1 being simple and band 4 being very complex. For a straightforward breach of statutory rights claim, I can't imagine the claim being anything other than band 1 or band 2 at worst. The idea of the sliding scale is that less complex and low value claims are encouraged to consider settlement to avoid the risk of recovering minimal legal costs. 

Table 12 of Practice Direction 45: PRACTICE DIRECTION 45 – TABLES OF FIXED COSTS (2024) – Justice UK

So if the OP issued a claim between £10k-£15k and lost their claim, they may be liable for fees up to £4k for a band 1 claim + advocacy fees of £1,342, and for a band 2 claim add 20% of the compensation claimed. 

Assuming the faults following repair still exist, there's no paperwork provided of what has been carried out, and the OP has given proper notice of rejection, then it sounds like the OP has a decent chance of success notwithstanding the potential for the claim to fall into fast track - as long as the OP follows the rules and sets out the claim properly.  If the OP is confident in their claim, the risk of legal costs shouldn't dissuade them from pursuing it or limiting the compensation amount.

If the value amount is slightly more than £10k I would be inclined to agree that limiting the claim to £10k might be the better option, but if the value is materially more, then limiting the claim might not be as worthwhile.