My car was damaged at a recovery depot - but the company won't make good the damage? | Ask Honest John

My car was damaged at a recovery depot - but the company won't make good the damage?

My car was recovered from France to the UK after an automatic gearbox failure. The vehicle was "dropped off a forklift truck" at a storage depot run by Nationwide Assistance Group in the UK while waiting for transfer to a gearbox specialist. The front and sides of the car were severely damaged. Nationwide has told me that they will not pay more in compensation than the pre-accident value of the car (about £2K). The bodywork damage repair bill will be a great deal higher than that. I'm very fond of the car and want Nationwide or the RAC to make good the damage to it. I do not want to claim through my Motor insurance because 1) I shall incur a no-fault claim on my insurance record 2) the two insurers will not agree to paying for the repairs in excess of the pre-accident value. What other avenues are open to me? For example, should I claim through the Small Claims Court? I want the vehicle back in the same condition it was in before.

Asked on 10 July 2019 by chris nelson

Answered by Honest John

Firstly, if you claim for damage, it will automatically go on CUE the underwriting database. When making a claim, unless the vehicle is very special, the at-fault parties liability lies up to the market value. Though there is a case called O'Grady v Westminster that does allow a claim at more than the market value. I would be providing a proforma invoice at the cost of repairs and submitting a claim via the small claims court.

Tags: insurance recovery small claims court

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