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Car rental company, Disputing claims for damages
palasmy
post Fri, 2 Mar 2018 - 21:20
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Hi

The Green Motion car rental company is trying to charge me 2400 pounds for a burnt clutch on a vehicle that I rented from them in January. Basically I had only driven less than 100 miles in that vehicle when I alerted them of the smell. Without being given a chance for me to get an independent engineer to investigate the issue, GM had sent the vehicle to their preferred garage and got it fixed. Despite my constant efforts I was deprived of any chances to access the vehicle when it was being repaired and only got sent a couple of pictures showing the damaged clutch once they had completed the repair. Below is the explanation for their claim,

[i]Whilst I appreciate charging for items such as a clutch replacement is far from an ideal way to end of hire, we do on occasions need to do this. In order to avoid any non-expert opinion, I have asked a number of vehicle technicians for their view. You can obviously do the same. If a clutch was to fail due to general wear and tear, both sides of the clutch plate would wear away at the same or a similar rate. As you can see from the attachments this is not the case.

Once again, while I do appreciate that this is not an easy thing to accept, it is a reasonably simple thing for us to prove. In the opinion of the repair agents and other people that we have spoken to, the speed at which the failure occurred and the nature of the wear to the clutch parts suggests damage that occurred swiftly (i.e. not over thousands of miles) and as a result of the user at the time. Therefore based on this opinion, we are looking to you for the costs incurred for the damage to the clutch.
[/i]

On a separate account they have also already charged me 400 pounds for a windscreen damage on the vehicle that I took as a replacement for the clutch damaged vehicle. Again I'm disputing this claim as well, and my reasons for this are also fairly strong.

I have started a thread in MSE Motoring (link below) where I have fully described the case and also there are some good expert comments on the mechanical/technical aspects of the clutch.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showth..._term=27-Feb-18


I'm seeking some legal advice here as I foresee a legal dispute in the making. I haven't paid them for their claim yet and the deadline for the payment is next week. With such a bad reputation and history that this company has, I feel I shouldn't let them rip me off so easily. I would really appreciate some advice and some useful tips on how to argue my case.

Thanks

This post has been edited by southpaw82: Fri, 2 Mar 2018 - 21:41
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post Fri, 2 Mar 2018 - 21:20
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The Rookie
post Thu, 10 May 2018 - 15:12
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As long as they are confident you’ll get it, nothing wrong with email.

You should request all future communication by post.

You need to respond laying out your case (much as you have already) and also insisting (politely) on all their evidence in accordance with the pre-action protocols in order that both sides have a full understanding before litigation starts.

It’s hard to know if they are using the LBA (and possible a court claim) as a form of debt collection or are serious.


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Jlc
post Thu, 10 May 2018 - 15:59
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That LBA, to me, is still leaning towards a 'debt collection' style. However, it is not recommended to ignore a letter claiming to be a LBA, so respond as noted - post a draft here if you want.

The phrase 'all of the above can be avoided...' is a strange wording. Likewise, the 'Sir/Madam' - appears to be a template.

Who is stated as the solicitors?

I believe they should be using the updated PAP for debt claims - so worth querying this in the response. (It's no defence) Note 30 days for starters...

This post has been edited by Jlc: Thu, 10 May 2018 - 16:04


--------------------
RK=Registered Keeper, OP=Original Poster (You!), CoFP=Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty, NtK=Notice to Keeper, NtD=Notice to Driver
PoFA=Protection of Freedoms Act, SAC=Safety Awareness Course, NIP=Notice of Intended Prosecution, ADR=Alternative Dispute Resolution
PPC=Private Parking Company, LBCCC=Letter Before County Court Claim, PII=Personally Identifiable Information, SAR=Subject Access Request

Private Parking - remember, they just want your money and will say almost anything to get it.
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palasmy
post Thu, 10 May 2018 - 16:38
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Thanks for those pointers.

Strangely enough I have just received another email from the same person requesting to disregard their earlier LBA.. !!

"Dear Sirs



Please disregard the attached letter which was sent in error.



Kind regards.

Maria "



The letter head says, Warren's Law and advocacy apparently trading name for Rodney Warren & Co.
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palasmy
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 06:04
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I received the same letter by Royal Mail yesterday.

The letter says 14 days to respond. As Rookie suggest I will draft out a letter refering the PAP compliance.

I'm equally surprised that with so much against them to prove in the court, they seemed to be willing to take the legal route. Which kind of implies they are using the LBA as a threatening tool, but again can they hire a Solicitor just for this purpose??
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The Rookie
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 06:20
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QUOTE (palasmy @ Sat, 12 May 2018 - 07:04) *
can they hire a Solicitor just for this purpose??

Yes. Of course the letter may not actually be from the solicitors but on supplied letterhead, or its text provided by GM and pasted, I suspect they've used a minimal cost route. They may even figure that it's worth the £105 online claim fee as an extra scare tactic.

GM seem to be well known for spurious efforts to rip off customers so I'm sure its a well trodden path with a fixed strategy and the actual merits of each claim probably don't figure highly in the decision making process, the hire car equivalent of a PPC claim if you like.


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
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Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
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palasmy
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 14:49
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QUOTE (The Rookie @ Sat, 12 May 2018 - 07:20) *
QUOTE (palasmy @ Sat, 12 May 2018 - 07:04) *
can they hire a Solicitor just for this purpose??

Yes. Of course the letter may not actually be from the solicitors but on supplied letterhead, or its text provided by GM and pasted, I suspect they've used a minimal cost route. They may even figure that it's worth the £105 online claim fee as an extra scare tactic.

GM seem to be well known for spurious efforts to rip off customers so I'm sure its a well trodden path with a fixed strategy and the actual merits of each claim probably don't figure highly in the decision making process, the hire car equivalent of a PPC claim if you like.


Interesting, looks like every business adopts some form of such strategies to make more money... real shame!!

Frankly I didn't know what to write apart from saying simply I dispute the claim. Have put together few words as below,

"I dispute this claim in its entirety.

And I still am waiting for the evidences to prove that the damage to clutch was caused by me. Until today I haven't received anything in this regard apart from either emails asking me to pay or legal threats.

On a separate note,
GM hasn't refunded the outstanding amount of 59.22 from the Windscreen damage claim (Please refer to the email dated 04/04/2018 from GM showing the refund breakdown in their invoice.
"

Appreciate your comments / thoughts
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Jlc
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 15:05
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Mention failure to comply with debt PAP...


--------------------
RK=Registered Keeper, OP=Original Poster (You!), CoFP=Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty, NtK=Notice to Keeper, NtD=Notice to Driver
PoFA=Protection of Freedoms Act, SAC=Safety Awareness Course, NIP=Notice of Intended Prosecution, ADR=Alternative Dispute Resolution
PPC=Private Parking Company, LBCCC=Letter Before County Court Claim, PII=Personally Identifiable Information, SAR=Subject Access Request

Private Parking - remember, they just want your money and will say almost anything to get it.
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The Rookie
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 17:48
Post #128


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Point out they have already agreed to provide the evidence (singular however much there may be) which you are still waiting for, for them to send an LBA during this period you consider to be unreasonable.


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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notmeatloaf
post Sat, 12 May 2018 - 19:17
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To look at it another way.

LBA is meant to be just that, the final letter before action.

It is put up or shut up time for GM.

The fact that their initial letter was "Dear Sir/Madam" says it all. These are template letters and they have simply bought some letterheads from an unscrupulous solicitor to pile on the heat.

If a firm is as notorious as GM they will be well aware the cheapest way to get money is through lots of letters. Final warning, another fonalwarning, final warning on different letterhead, etc.

They have no interest in providing you evidence because there is no need when you can just send more template letters.

You have a very strong case if it goes to court. You have been reasonable to date. So the worst case scenario is it goes to court on that basis.

More than likely it will just be more bluff and bluster exactly like a PPC.
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Tartarus
post Mon, 14 May 2018 - 10:42
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Having followed the entire thread since it began, I can only concur, there is so much smoke and mirrors here, it's hard to know which way to look. The failure to provide any of their arguments or evidence behind said assertions to date is telling.
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palasmy
post Sat, 29 Aug 2020 - 10:54
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Just realized that I did not do a closure on this case, partly I was waiting for a reply for my last letter to them and of course got carried away into other things. Thanks to one of the members who had PM me to know more as they are into something similar at the moment.

As suggested here, I did write a letter back to them with carefully chosen words as recommended by good souls here after I received a LBA on a "solicitor's" letter head, but never had a reply from them since and didn't pay a penny either!!

So as the most experienced here have clearly outlined the various steps that companies like Green Motion adopt to scare their customers, as long as you are clear about what has happened and with a bit of courage and confidence, there is no reason to be scared for or to pay anyone any money. However, like I said every situation can be different but don't hesitate to seek advice with an open mind providing all the evidence that you can so as not to mislead people who are trying to help.

Thanks all for your valuable time and advice.
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cp8759
post Sat, 29 Aug 2020 - 11:12
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The statute of limitations is six years, so I would not write this off just yet.


--------------------
If you would like assistance with a penalty charge notice, please post a thread on https://www.ftla.uk/index.php
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palasmy
post Sat, 29 Aug 2020 - 12:08
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Ok cp8759, that is interesting and good to know. So, have to sit tight for another 3 years then!!


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