Where to go for help (1 Viewer)

[Wycherley]

One of my family hired a motorhome for 6 days during the summer. When they went to collect it. They was informed it had been in an accident. They went around the vehicle but decided that they would not chance using the vehicle as they thought it was illegal and not fit for the road.

So they had to walk away from their holiday. They did try to take their children on the holiday as they were so upset, but as it was the height of the season they could find no where to stay except for grotty b&b so had to cut their holiday short.

They were given their money back, but that did not compensate for their ruined holiday. Since then they have been fighting the motorhome for compensation, but they state through the solicitor that it was roadworthy and legal to drive.

Want to know what other people think of this ,

 

[MC 55 FUN]

One of my family hired a motorhome for 6 days during the summer. When they went to collect it. They was informed it had been in an accident. They went around the vehicle but decided that they would not chance using the vehicle as they thought it was illegal and not fit for the road.

So they had to walk away from their holiday. They did try to take their children on the holiday as they were so upset, but as it was the height of the season they could find no where to stay except for grotty b&b so had to cut their holiday short.

They were given their money back, but that did not compensate for their ruined holiday. Since then they have been fighting the motorhome for compensation, but they state through the solicitor that it was roadworthy and legal to drive.

Want to know what other people think of this ,

It's a wreck, there's no way we'd drive that.

 

[icantremember]

Not a lot to say really except they did the right thing walking away from that moho.

They got their money back which is good so I feel they should put it down to experience all being not a very pleasant one.

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[tonyidle]

I believe the photos would convince any Court otherwise. Apart from anything else it would fail an MoT on exposed sharp metal - and I can't imagine that anyone could be expected to use (or even be seen in) something that looks like that. The Small Claims system is probably the way to go.

 

[Wycherley]

I would not have minded that much if they had the decency to phone up when it happened and said. Sorry the motorhome has been in an accident and we are waiting on parts. At least they would have had time to try and sort out something else. But nothing. The children were so excited they were going to sleep in a motorhome.

 

[TerryL]

VOSA (or whatever they call themselves these days) might have an opinion - if they think it's roadworthy you've not got much chance. If not you've got a better hope; you don't say if it was a private hirer or hire company as that will affect your chances of actually getting compensation.

Hope it hasn't put them off motorhoming in the future.

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[Wycherley]

They have made a small claims which is due to be heard next year. But they are saying we should have got some mechanic in to prove it was not roadworthy . Yes you do that on a holiday have a mechanic on speed dial incase you need one. But it is up to us to prove it was illegal to drive and not roadworthy not them.

 

[Wycherley]

It was a company hire

 

[TerryL]

It was a company hire

Might be worth pursuing then, unless they conveniently go bust! Have your local VOSA office look at the photos, might help with the Small Claims Court case.
If it had been a private hire I would have just cut my losses and forgotten about it, you'd never actually receive anything without a long and expensive fight.
Best of luck!

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[rosalan]

I would have thought that the pictures alone, without the need for a mechanics report would 'prove' the vehicle was not roadworthy BUT it all depends on the wording of the contract which may limit the dealers responsibility to reimbursing the customers actual payments. I can imagine that any other payments would go down to goodwill. As it would seem unlikely that your friend is going to use the hire company again, the dealer has little to gain from any more donations of goodwill.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
The pictures do look bad,however,you would/would not,be surprised,how quickly those "Snags" could have been fettled,to make it fit for the road,perhaps the vehicle looking less than pristine, the step? They could have put a C/van step just inside the door to get you away. An old saying,"If you are to choosy in life,you could miss a lot of fun"

Not knowing if this was an option offered,i would hesitate to pass comment
Tea Bag

 

[Robert Clark]

Hmmm
The company agreed to rent you a MH
You rejected the MH and they gave you a full refund.

Claiming anything else may be considered by some as compensation culture

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[John745]

If stopped by the police you would get a fine for the front wing for "Dangerous Bodywork" as it has sharp sheared metal metal facing out. The other bits would be subjective and need a qualified engineer to state whether bits would fall off or not.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Pity @pyro currently in sin bin! I think I agree with @Robert Clark , unless they had a replacement MH available not much else they could do except refund money paid.

 

[treetops1]

Not fit for the road. I think the police would take a dim view .If you were unlucky enough to hit someone crossing the road that damage could cause a serious injury.But I doubt they will compensate you your best bet is to move on , maybe next time might be worth Holliday insurance which would have some cover for loss of holiday . With some of these companies you are lucky to get your money back without a fight

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[davidbaldam]

You've used your free 5 posts as a read only member, if you pay your subs, which are only 15 pounds per year you'll have loads more help which will more than pays back your subscription. Hope you haven't just come on here for 1 piece of advise from the members and never seen again.

 

[Baldeagle7470]

If stopped by the police you would get a fine for the front wing for "Dangerous Bodywork" as it has sharp sheared metal metal facing out. The other bits would be subjective and need a qualified engineer to state whether bits would fall off or not.

Totally agree as soon as I saw the first picture that was my opinion.
Even someone walking into that sharp edge would have a claim I suspect.
Maybe a half decent goodwill gesture for loss of holiday would have been appropriate.

 

[busby]

Hi.
The pictures do look bad,however,you would/would not,be surprised,how quickly those "Snags" could have been fettled,to make it fit for the road,perhaps the vehicle looking less than pristine, the step? They could have put a C/van step just inside the door to get you away. An old saying,"If you are to choosy in life,you could miss a lot of fun"

Not knowing if this was an option offered,i would hesitate to pass comment
Tea Bag

Agree with you T Bag,,i would have negotiated a large discount and enjoyed my holiday,,Drove my Autocruise home from Germany and it was a write off,,,No police anywhere now days to pull you any way,,BUSBY

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[Silver-Fox]

Agree with you T Bag,,i would have negotiated a large discount and enjoyed my holiday,,Drove my Autocruise home from Germany and it was a write off,,,No police anywhere now days to pull you any way,,BUSBY

Same as that.

I would have made sure no body work was sticking out and lots of gaffer tape to hold it all together, job done.

Makes for good conversation when you park up on site as well

 

[icantremember]

Same as that.

I would have made sure no body work was sticking out and lots of gaffer tape to hold it all together, job done.

Makes for good conversation when you park up on site as well

...... and you would get a large pitch .... 'cos nobody would want to park too close.

 

[Gromett]

My biggest concern would have been taking it then them claiming we did the damage. To be honest I wouldn't go through the compensation claim stuff. Life is too short. Unless it was a physical injury etc...

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[pyro]

Pity @pyro currently in sin bin! I think I agree with @Robert Clark , unless they had a replacement MH available not much else they could do except refund money paid.

Not totally so, just currently unable to see/respond to off topic threads as a result of responding inappropriately to a serial wind up merchant. I won't comment further, but I am always available to contribute where I can - that's what communities are for, after all.

.The vehicle is clearly unroadworthy, not much question about it passing an MOT with that damage and the risk of things falling off. If it were roadworthy, then the simple response would be "what prevented its use then?". However, there is always a clause (written or implied) in every contract regarding force majeure, defined as being unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling their part in a contract.The questions that need to be asked are:

a) Were the hire company negligent in passing on the information to the renter
b) Could the hire company have done more to help the renter
c) Could the renter have done more to mitigate the effect on their planned holiday?
d) Did the renter suffer a consequential financial loss?

Sadly I wouldn't rate the prospects of any great return if this went to court. However, there is always the mechanism of using a nuisance claim through the small claims procedure. For example, any additional costs arising, or the loss of a couple of day's paid leave from work (forfeited as a consequence of the breach of contract). As this amounts to a financial loss, the renter could then add on a claim for consequential damages to compensate for inconvenience and distress

The threat of such an action in a formal"Letter Before Action" may well evoke an offer of a discounted future rental, which is all I think likely to come out of this. If the renter is being vindictive, then they could issue a modest claim under the small claim procedure and their case would be strengthened by the photographic evidence, but I couldn't suggest an outcome without a lot more detail. Is it worth all the hassle, I have to ask

But I see from the OP that solicitors are already involved. Perhaps best if the OP check their home insurance policy for consumer protection legal cover, to fund this?

 

[suavecarve]

If you make the (imho) ill informed judgement of going after the extra compensation then getting hold of a PG9 trained local traffic officer (or retired one) who could say that he would take that vehicle off the road until it passed an MOT would assist you. Plenty are available on the net (look for how to get off a speeding fine and contact them) but what extra do you expect to get for the hassle