Cam Chain snapped on new van after 20 months / 114k miles

[WhiteVanMan5]

Good news that the inspector should be able to comply with court dates Did he give his opinion on the usefulness of an inspection and report on the engine being carried out so long after the breakdown?
You could phone the court to find out about progress regarding your email.

No I didn't get a response to the specific point on such a delayed inspection. I did prompt on that point, but he didn't address it specifically.

I will phone the court at the earliest opportunity. It can be difficult because I am on the road all day, during office hours, but I will try and find the opportunity.

[Frank1]

When you use N265 for your documents list, give each document a reference such as EM1, EM2 for emails followed by a short description of the document.
That way when you draft your witness statement you can refer to the documents list reference and there shouldn't be any need to enclose the document again

[WhiteVanMan5]

I have been away all week (left home Tuesday morning, got back tonight) so haven't had the opportunity to update you on what i feel is a significant development.

Out of the blue I got this email from Vauxhall:

"We are writing to you in relation to your recent contact with us regarding recall status.
After reviewing your vehicle details, we must inform you that a safety recall is currently active. We strongly recommend that you contact your nearest authorised Vauxhall dealership to arrange an appointment for the recall repair.
We sincerely regret that this information was not communicated to you earlier. Unfortunately, due to a technical issue, the recall was not visible in our system at the time of your initial enquiry. Please accept our heartfelt apologies for any inconvenience or concern this delay may have caused.
To locate nearby dealers, kindly use the following link and enter your postal code:
Vauxhall Retailer | Car Dealers | Vauxhall
Please be assured that the recall repair is carried out completely free of charge for all customers. Our priority is your safety and peace of mind, and we are confident that this action will provide the best resolution. "


I know there is an outstanding UREA recall so I sought clarity from the in what they were refering to, they responded with this:


"I would like to inform you that this is a camshaft‑related recall, so please proceed as instructed in our previous email.
It should also be visible on the official government recall website. Regrettably, due to GDPR regulations, we are unable to enter customer details on external websites. I hope this helps. "


I have now checked the Vauxhall Recall Database and it shows this:
KGU - High Urea Pressure Diagnostic Diesel Engines 6.3
Upload modified ECU (Engine Control Unit) calibration.
KUH - Cross carline: Timing chain
Some vehicles equipped with the Blue HDi 1.5 diesel engine may experience premature wear of the camshaft chain, resulting in abnormal noise or chain breakage. The manufacturer has therefore asked us to check your chain and, if necessary, re-enforce your vehicle


So this to me appears to blow out of the water the strongest part of the defence argument, and solves what i considered my biggest issue - proving that my vehicle was impacted by this specific issue. Combined with their incorrect mileage quote on the Stellantis Extended Special Coverage, the defence argument is looking to me unreliable.

How do I deal with this? I presume the options are to either look to introduce new evidence (the emails from Vauxhall and the recall information) or to point out the inaccuracy of the defence argument at the first opportunity (the hearing? Witness statement?)



With respect to chasing up the court - I finally had the opportunity to call them on Tuesday morning. The number I had routed through to London courts rather than Lewes Court. Went through quite a few options before eventually getting a recorded message that stated the court don't respond to emails for up to 20 weeks and call centre staff are unable to provide any further information. At that stage I gave up.



I'm off work all next week, so will get on top of the documents list.


I still haven't had any contact from the defence on the topic of the joint expert witness (or indeed anything else). I'm a bit concerned as to why we believe that the onus is on the defence to lead it and I don't share equal responsability for agreeing it?

[WhiteVanMan5]

Just to add - I suspect that the Vauxhall email might be a response to my enquiry to DVSA. I haven't heard anything else from DVSA, but am guessing that they might have contacted Vauxhall.

[Frank1]

My advice is to include this late correspondence as letters (L1, L2 etc) in your documents list.
Late evidence should be accepted provided it is relevant to the case. The judge did say it was important that you found out whether your van was subject to the recall.
Also include the inspection reports (R1, R2).

If the defendants haven't contacted you by early June you could put forward your proposal that your inspector be appointed the SJE stating why this engineer is best suited.

[Frank1]

So item 6.1.2 in the second defendant's defence is now incorrect.
Item 6.1.3.Item " special coverage" needs to be explained in detail by this defendant.
In July 2025 Stellantis extended the warranty for affected vehicles to 10 years and 150k miles. For vehicle owners that paid out for repair work associated with the cam chain between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2025 they could claim expenses. (150k km does equate to just over 93k miles).
Your van broke down in early 2023 so had you paid out to have the engine repaired or replaced you would have been entitled to make a claim.

[Frank1]

I am now of the opinion that it can't do any harm to file and serve short replies to both defences.
First defence FOS decision based on out of date info.
Second defence as post 366

[WhiteVanMan5]

So item 6.1.2 in the second defendant's defence is now incorrect.
Item 6.1.3.Item " special coverage" needs to be explained in detail by this defendant.
In July 2025 Stellantis extended the warranty for affected vehicles to 10 years and 150k miles. For vehicle owners that paid out for repair work associated with the cam chain between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2025 they could claim expenses. (150k km does equate to just over 93k miles).
Your van broke down in early 2023 so had you paid out to have the engine repaired or replaced you would have been entitled to make a claim.

I feel like Stellantis are being quite craft with the "extended warranty" - I'm not sure they're as generous with it as promised.

They never call it an extended warranty, they call it "special coverage". It also comes with restrictions - which I read to mean so long as it has been fully serviced by main dealers (though they're not allowed to say that). I don't think they're that prepared to actually do much. When I went to my local Vauxhall dealership (not involved in my case at all) and had a chat with them - they said they kept doing all these sound checks, on their mobile phones, and they hadn't had one vehicle fail it yet.

It feels like a PR exercise - an attempt to say they've done something without actually doing anything/much.

[WhiteVanMan5]

I am now of the opinion that it can't do any harm to file and serve short replies to both defences.
First defence FOS decision based on out of date info.
Second defence as post 366

I will get something drafted up over the next couple of days.

[Frank1]

I've just realised:
Your documents list, documents and witness statement are not filed with the court but should be inserted in the trial bundle.
In case the solicitor, who is preparing the trial bundle, does not request copies of all your documents you should send copies of all your documents except your amended particulars of claim and replies to amended defences.

You could include the inspection reports in the list but hold them back. State in your covering email that you have sought court permission to rely on them at the trial and will forward the reports if permission is granted.

[Frank1]

You should also mark the copies of the documents (not the originals) with the reference in the bottom right corner so it is clear and stands out making the document easy to locate

[WhiteVanMan5]

Thanks for that - I will look into it (not something I had picked up on).

I've actually just got through to the court (took over an hour!!). The answers I got was that the email I sent on 28th March was appointed to a district judge on 28th April. It was then forwarded on to the specific Deputy District Judge that heard my preliminary hearing on 7th May. They expect a response usually within 2 to 11 weeks.

[Frank1]

11 weeks could mean the appointment of the SJE is before you receive the court decision.
A party making an application using N244 can seek an order in the alternative
Your priority should be your inspectors appointed the sje and the alternative, if the court declines, that the order grants you permission to rely on the reports already obtained at the trial.

You will need to expand box 3 on n244. Have you got Adobe acrobat? If not you will have to state see separate sheet.
When I asked Copilot to draft a specimen n244 providing brief details of the order wanted, I was astounded how quick the AI drafted the form. It ended by asking me if I wanted a draft order suitable for the court and a witness statement

[Frank1]

Before making your application you should Google "Clarion>Insights>Expert Evidence - can a party faced with an unfavourable single joint expert's report rely on alternative expert evidence?" and read the article
In the High Court the judge decided in favour of the claimant who wanted to rely on alternative Evidence and stated his reasons why he had decided so
Full details of the case referred to Bulic v Harwoods & Ors can be read at www.casemine.com
You may want to refer to this case, the decision and reasons if you end up having to include an alternative in your application.

[WhiteVanMan5]

I posted this morning, but it was blocked as potential spam and said it would be reviewed by an admin. (I tried multiple times as the posts weren't going through).

I've been working on the document list all morning. Still working on it.