Our client had purchased a Vauxhall Mokka from Drive Vauxhall. On test driving the car, he heard noises coming from the back of the car and informed Vauxhall of this however still wished to purchase the car. Vauxhall gave assurances that they would investigate the noise. Unfortunately, the noise was still present and our client notified Vauxhall of this on 4 further occasions after purchasing the car. Each time, Vauxhall informed that issue with the car causing the noise had been identified and repaired.

When our client was driving the car,  he heard a loud bang from the back of the car. Upon pushing the brake pedal, the car did not stop. To avoid hitting a car in front of him, our client instinctively turned and drove up a kerb, almost hitting trees. Eventually, the car came to a stop.

Our client reported the incident to Vauxhall straight away who arranged for the car to be collected. One of the rear brakes had fallen off the car. Vauxhall later informed that the mechanic did not position a pin to secure the brakes. The mechanic was later dismissed by Vauxhall. Our client hurt his shoulder in the process and suffered psychologically as the incident was extremely dangerous and could have been fatal.

Vauxhall denied responsibility for the accident via their insurers despite the mechanic being dismissed and inspection of the car identifying that he had failed to insert a pin.

How We Helped

We issued Court proceedings arguing breach of contract and that Vauxhall was responsible for the actions of their employee. Vauxhall took a robust stance to our client’s claim and did not believe our client suffered from genuine physical or psychological injuries despite us obtaining supportive expert evidence and witness evidence.

Outcome

The case was listed for trial. Vauxhall’s Solicitors invited our client to “walk away” from his case in the run-up to trial and informed they would not seek payment of their fees from him. On our advice, this was rejected. 2 working days before trial, the claim settled with Vauxhall paying our client £15,000.