Sold a Cat A/B car - dealer will not refund

Jojorich

reg was a typo  (stressed and didn't realise) - dvla thinks that car is scrapped already, but this only came through to me after applying for tax and V5, so we had a gap of over a week before we heard back from them. 

Checks were all on auto trader with the car advert.
.
Paid by bank transfer.

Know we messed up on the checks - we had urgent circumstances  that meant we needed a car asap, so rushed and wasn't as vigilant as we should be, but the car is a Cat a/b and he sold it as a cat s, not looking to be told all of my mistakes ( trust me, I've done that to myself multiple times! ), just some advice please on what I can do next . 

I have reported to action fraud, DVSA, police and in the process of trading standards. Getting evidence of his long list of unhappy customers that I have found though forums, who have been ripped off by him too, as evidence of this not just being a one off mistake. 

Is there anything else I can do? 
Still not sure what to do with the actual car while this is all going through (its off the road, on private land), I'd like to never see it again, but it will probably be needed as evidence. 

Thanks everyone for your help so far  

born_again

All you can do is start a money claim online to try & get the money back
So letter before action to dealer, giving them 14 days. If that does not prompt a refund then on to court (not quick) & hope that they do not shut down in the mean time & still have funds if they stay open.
There is not 100% guarantee of getting money back.

Grumpy_chap

The Dealer either made a mistake when advising the status of the car, or knew and misled you.  The later seems more likely, especially given the reports from others that you have also located.  I suspect your chances of recovering anything are zero.

Notwithstanding the above, your only route is to follow the process set out by @born_again

GDB2222

Just to expand on what’s been said above, I think that you would probably win any court case. I doubt that the dealer will bother to defend, and there doesn’t appear to be any possibility of defending it successfully.

But, a win in court doesn’t mean that you will get paid. If it is a limited company, these people just let it go bust and open another. If you dealt with a sole trader in person, you will just find that he’s impossible to track down. 

The court fees are several hundred pounds, so I’m not sure it’s worth bothering, as you have little chance of getting even that amount back. Having said that, some people on benefits are exempt from paying court fees. 

That’s all in the civil court. Trading standards may be persuaded to make a criminal prosecution, but that is mostly centred on getting a conviction, and reimbursing the victims is way down the list of priorities, even if the trader has any assets. 

GDB2222

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

born_again

GDB2222 said:

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

Banking payment has no comeback. Even in cases such as this.

What duty has the bank got when no due diligence was done in the 1st place?

eskbanker

born_again said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

Banking payment has no comeback. Even in cases such as this.

What duty has the bank got when no due diligence was done in the 1st place?

Presumably the suggestion is that It might be viable to construct a case under the APP scam provisions, rather than chargeback/s75, etc?

GDB2222

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

Banking payment has no comeback. Even in cases such as this.

What duty has the bank got when no due diligence was done in the 1st place?

Presumably the suggestion is that It might be viable to construct a case under the APP scam provisions, rather than chargeback/s75, etc?

Yes. This is not just the case of a faulty product, where the new regs would not apply. This was a car that could not legally be sold to a retail buyer, so it was a fraud, and the push fraud regs may apply. I am not expert enough to be at all certain, but I think it is a possibility. 

Given the likely futility of suing the dealer, I suggest that the OP follows this up.with his bank. 

born_again

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

Banking payment has no comeback. Even in cases such as this.

What duty has the bank got when no due diligence was done in the 1st place?

Presumably the suggestion is that It might be viable to construct a case under the APP scam provisions, rather than chargeback/s75, etc?

APP scams happen when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee.

https://www.psr.org.uk/our-work/app-scams/#:~:text=APP scams happen when someone,devastating impact on people's lives.

Which clearly is not the case here.

As to other option. If garage has no funds in their account, then if it was possible to claim back via bank. Then it would fail.

eskbanker

born_again said:

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s a long shot, but it might be worth complaining to your bank on the basis that you have been defrauded, and they have a duty to protect you. The point is that the car the dealer handed over was not just a dud, but it was unsaleable to a retail customer. It was illegal to sell it. It does appear that this trader has a history of defrauding people, so you might be able to put together a case for the bank to compensate you based on that. 

When you paid the deposit, how was that paid?

Banking payment has no comeback. Even in cases such as this.

What duty has the bank got when no due diligence was done in the 1st place?

Presumably the suggestion is that It might be viable to construct a case under the APP scam provisions, rather than chargeback/s75, etc?

APP scams happen when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee.

https://www.psr.org.uk/our-work/app-scams/#:~:text=APP scams happen when someone,devastating impact on people's lives.

Which clearly is not the case here.

I don't think it's as clear as you suggest - the APP scam provisions are undoubtedly not aimed at resolving civil disputes, but if it can be demonstrated that there was an intent to defraud (i.e. that OP was tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee) then it may be possible to make a case, although it was caveatted as being a long shot.

APP fraud is also different to civil disputes, when you might pay a legitimate supplier for goods or services that are not received or are defective, where there is no intent to defraud.

https://www.psr.org.uk/information-for-consumers/app-fraud-reimbursement-protections/