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

[Frank1]

Provided the defendants have checked their willingness and availability, that still leaves 12 days until 24 June for assessment and appointment.
If you can't agree on a suitable inspector, your application made on 25 June will create delays to the directions regarding the expert report, questions etc. July could be a busy time as the directions state witness statements should be exchanged in this month.

You should be aware that cpr states that emailed submissions to the court:
only one email per step (your application must be covered on one email)
a maximum of 50 single sides of A4 when printed.

I suspect that if you count up the pages including
the email or letter to the court
N244 application form
your witness statement
the inspectors reports
all emails concerning requests to obtain the reports, the email you are sending today and subsequent emails

you will have more than 50 pages. This would mean you have to send a hard copy to the court to arrive by 25 June.

'

[WhiteVanMan5]

Ok, understood.

[WhiteVanMan5]

I should still send the email today?

[WhiteVanMan5]

I have today received an N24 "General form of Judgement or Order" through post, dated 5th June 2026.
I have been through it line by line and it is virtually identical to the previous N157 "Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing)", dated 26th March 2026.

The only difference I can see is a correction to a typo in the numbering (7, 8, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 9, 10 has become 7, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9, 10).

No response yet from the defendants on my proposal for the SJE. No response yet from the court on my request to be able to rely on the report of my inspector.

With respect to my second vehicle which has had a very similar problem (but with the supposed fixed 8mm chain rather than the admitted faulty 7mm chain) - I have had a final response from Peugeot - my case has been "reviewed again at the highest possible level within Peugeot UK, and I am sorry to advise that our position will remain due to your vehicle being outside of warranty.". They go on to say "I have requested the details from the garage as to what condition your vehicle is in at this time, along with a quote for a rebuild if required so that I can review this for you as a goodwill gesture.". So the broken engine that they dismantled, they might put back together still broken, as a gesture of goodwill. Lol. I see this going to court now in the same way as the first vehicle - just weighing up my options about which complaints processes to go through. One big difference with vehicle 2 is that it was purchased through a Stellantis owned dealership rather than an independent dealership. Another big difference it is was fully over serviced with main dealers (9 services in 130k miles over 2 years 4 months). The deposit was paid with the same credit card as Vehicle 1. There seems no benefit to going down the Section 75 route this time though, given their seeming unwillingness to consider the matter on the facts and determination to defend, with lawyers, regardless. They can't settle on vehicle 2 whilst fighting the case on vehicle 1 I would imagine!

[AGreen8]

Hi, the defendants have spent considerable time and a lot of money fighting your obviously winnable case.
We ask ourselves why the defendants have fought this so hard.
You are obviously their "test case" and when you win, it will open the legal doorway to hundreds of other people in your situation claiming from Stellantis.
Stellantis will spend massive amounts in attempting to stop you.

I had a similar case against a high street bank for a claim of £706. I had right on my side, as you have.
The bank spent around £25,000 fighting me.
After 2 years fighting, 8 county court hearings and a high court writ of possession, I sent bailiffs into the bank and claimed my money.
The bank then spent another £10,000 trying to fault my process.
Within another two years, the bank eventually found a high court judge that would side with them (possibly a large brown envelope, a free car or an exotic holiday thrown in there).

My message is: Keep it up, you will win.

Your attention to detail is admirable. The defendants have scrutinised your claim and are looking for the slightest dot that you may have missed - that is because they know that you have a valid claim.

[WhiteVanMan5]

Thank you for your support AGreen8. It helps to hear that - sometimes this feels a long, hard, lonely and fruitless battle. Sorry to hear about your legal woes - they eventually found against you? TBH that opens up an interesting consideration for me. I had assumed that if I won at County Court, that was probably it - it was probably all over and was done - you raise the interesting thought of appeals!!

I don't know how much, if any, co-ordination there is between the bank and Stellantis. I think there is co ordination between the Bank and the Part 20 defendant (the independent retailer).

It's even stranger when you think about it - the bank are the ones spending a small fortune on lawyers, yet as I understand it, if they lose, then the bill just gets passed on to the Part 20 defendant. So the bank have nothing to gain if they win and nothing to lose if they lose - unless I'm misunderstanding something. It seems almost as if they're spending all of this money on defence for nothing.

Last week I had details forwarded to me of a French Class Action that is underway. Really interesting. It's all in french I'm afraid. Looks like they have recorded about 1,000 people impacted, of whom about 100 have joined the class action. All in French I'm afraid: https://www.victimesdumoteur15bluehd...-l-association

What I have learnt is that the legal process in the UK is not there for us, the "normal" people. It's there for the super wealthy and the corporations - it's totally inaccessible to most people. I've proceeded at times more out of stubbornness rather than common sense!

[AGreen8]

Hi, the bank and Stellantis are in close contact and Stellantis are instructing the bank.
Stellantis will be funding all of the bank's costs.
I wrote an objective report on my story of my Vauxhall Combo van with the same issue and how Stellantis/Vauxhalll refused to support me.
I posted the report into every Vauxhall advert on facebook.
Withing 8 hours, my facebook account was closed down for "inappropriate conduct".

Big businesses are there to make money.

Anyway, keep going, you know that you will win.