New vehicle damaged by estate agents

[Liv'n'Dai]

Hi all

It's a long time since I've had need of advice from this forum. You were amazing last time and stopped me losing my mind. Lets hope you can help again!

In May a local estate agent were removing a 'For Rent' sign from my neighbours house. The guy dropped the sign on my van causing a couple of dents, scratches and a big paint streak from the sign. I was laid up at the time with sciatica and was in my bedroom, adjacent to the sign location. I had looked out initially to see what the noise was. Then hobbled over quickly when I heard a big ,van'like clang and the guy swearing. My back went into spasm and it was a good ten minutes before I made it out to inspect the damage. I was so bothered about what looked like a big scratch that i quickly washed the paint streak to see if there was any permanent damage underneath. I should have taken photos there and then, but stupidly didnt.

The damage is not massive. The scratches can be repaired fairly easily. 2 dents can only be seen from certain angles, but are still really annoying on my brand new shiny 15 plate van! There is another dent where the sliding door handle has been pushed into the panel. This is the biggest and most noticeable dent. Initially I thought it might just pop out but now im not sure and want to get a body shop to sort it for me.

I left it a week before contacting the estate agents (at first I thought i'd just get it repaired myself, but the more i looked at it the more it annoyed me). They asked me to put everything in writing. I wrote to them 9 times asking for a discussion about what to do to get the repair sorted, several times towards the end I asked for their public liability insurance details.

This morning one of the directors has finally replied. He states that the contractor denies that any damage occurred and has no plans to do anything about it.

I have written back again demanding their public liability insurance details.

Can anyone advise me on what my next move should be?

p.s. there were no witnesses, but me and the contractor and stupidly i didn't take any photos on the day of the accident.

Thanks for reading this, I hope you can help.

[des8]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

Firstly the estate agents do not have to disclose their insurance details to you.
Assuming you have comprehensive insurance, you could make a claim under that policy, and after it has been settled claim your losses from the estate agents. It is possible that the insurers will instigate a claim against the estate agents.
If you don't want to go down that route you could write a "letter before action" to the estate agents, get the vehicle repaired and then start court proceedings against the estate agents.

[Liv'n'Dai]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

Thanks des8.
I do have comprehensive insurance do may go that way. However it was my insurance company who were adamant that it was the estate agents legal obligation to provide me with their PL details.
I've had a quote for £540 for the repair (shocked it could cost so much).
After originally denying that their contractor had caused any damage, they've suggested that they may be able to pay for the damage directly. This was before I sent the quote for repairs to them. I'm awaiting their response.
I'll investigate the 'letter before action' avenue, as I have no experience of this.

Thanks again for your response.

[des8]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

Wait and see what the estate agents come back with, before deciding your next move.
They should be paying or at least advising their insurers their is a claim in the offing.

Regarding the requirement to pass insurance details to a third party: a person is only required by law to give such details when such insurance is required by law eg Road Traffic Act insurance And employers liability are the insurances which immediately come to mind.

[Liv'n'Dai]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

Thanks again for your reply.

I do plan to see what they have to say first. I'm not expecting much though, but you never know...

[Liv'n'Dai]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

Hi

It has been 2 weeks since I sent the quote for the repairs to the estate agent. I have sent 2 polite emails asking for a reply with no response.

Should I now just pursue this through my insurers? Originally my insurance seemed to suggest that it is the estate agents PLI that would cover it but that they would have difficulty claiming against the estate agents PLI so it was for me to chase up.
I'm just a bit puzzled I suppose. If a company has insurance and has damaged my vehicle then surely they should pay and there should be some standard procedure to make that claim?

If I make a claim on my insurance won't my policy go up?

If the company is refusing to cooperate how do I make a claim against them?
I have very little experience with insurance.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer...

[des8]

Re: New vehicle damaged by estate agents

You can certainly make a claim against your insurers.
Whether or not this will affect your premiums in future will depend on a number of factors such as how many years No claims Bonus you have and if it is "protected", as well as your companies individual commercial policy.You can always look for a different insurer at renewal. The advantage to you is your car is repaired.
After your car is repaired you could then sue the estate agency for your non insured costs eg the excess you will have to pay, extra expense while the car is out of action, if your aren't provided with a courtesy car you can claim a daily rate for inconvenience, the loss of NCB (if it applies)

Or you could have the car repaired at your own expense and then make a claim against the agency for all your costs

Or you could get 3 quotes and make a claim on the basis of the estimate.

The easiest and least stressful is the first option (and is the reason for having comprehensive insurance) and if your cover includes legal expenses insurance you should get help from that source in suing the agency.

[Liv'n'Dai]

Hi All

Even though this was many moons ago there's now an update and I would be grateful for some advice.

In August 2015 I managed to find a back street bodyshop who agreed to do the repair for £350 (as opposed to the original quote for £540)
At this point I managed to get the estate agent to agree (in writing in an email) to pay for the repair. For a whole host of reasons I never got around to the repair - so never asked for the money.
Recently, some anonymous cretin dinged my bumper in a car park and I contacted the bodyshop guy who agreed to do the new ding for £200 and the old damage to the door for £300. I had the whole process photographed as proof and sent this to the estate agent.
I emailed the estate agent several times before and after the repairs (which I obviously paid for) to try and agree how and when to pay. He is ignoring all my emails.
Should I now approach the small claims court? Does his original agreement to pay, which was made in writing, make my case likely to win? Or does the woefully long gap in between the agreement and the repair make it tricky?

I hope some of your sharp minds will be able to give me some sound advice!

Thanks in advance

[paulajayne]

Letter before action (LBA) Lots of examples.

Looks like you next step - be prepared to action it though.

[des8]

As paulajayne send the agency a "Letter before Claim" detailing what happened, what they agreed in writing and what you required.
The incident may have been three years ago, but the statute of Limitations allows 6 years in which to make a claim.
Only thing to be careful about is who you are claiming from.
If the company is not a limited company you claim from the owner.
If ownership has changed you need to find the original owner.