Car A Previous Write Off

Charl__x

As a private buyer, it was your responsibility to pay for a HPI check in order to discover things like this.

My Ford Ka was a previous write off, but I knew this from the beginning as I had a HPI check done. This fact was reflected in the price though, and it's just passed it's MOT, so nothing to complain about.

Back to the issue though.. as far as Im aware, when you are selling a car privately, you are not legally obliged to inform the seller of previous accidents (even if you know so) as it's their responsibility to do the research. If you buy trade though, it's completely different.. they have to tell you by law.

Personally, I don't think you would have a leg to stand on, but good luck.

Hintza

What write off was it?

Cat D is hardly wotrth getting excited about once it rises to a Cat C then it is starting to get a bit more serious and the vehicle will have had to pass an inspection.

Many cars are Cat D with very little wrong with them. You should approach the insurance company and ask them to justify witholding part of your payout.

harveybobbles

jrrowleyws wrote: »

HPI wont neccessarily know, if its not on the log book, its likely to never have been declared.

If it's been written off they will...!

However if it's had a rub along the gatepost or bump in traffic then it wont...

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

supermonkey wrote: »

Thanks, I can prove he knew as the car was given to him by his mum and they were the only previous owners. Basically I had an accident and the cars value has been decreased because of this previous accident so I'm losing out because of his dishonesty.

Even a minimal amount would be useful, do you know how I would go about getting something back?

You've got 2 chances. No chance and zero chance.

Even if you could prove the seller knew it was a write-off, how would you prove he didn't tell you?

After all this time, put it down to experience.

supermonkey

Thanks everyone, some very useful response... i guess i'll just let it go.

Wish i'd got that HPI done!
Whilst you may not have to offer that a car was cat C, if asked directly i hoped it would be a different matter!

Thanks again

philhuff

It is realistically too late to do anything now, so put it down to experience and move on.

However, whilst it's true that a seller doesn't have to offer any information, they simply cannot lie when asked. Had a couple of years not passed, you'd have good grounds to argue for some money back.

supermonkey

thanks - its nearly 2 years ago...
would be hard to ask him to give us some money back now!