Advice: Not told car in crash before buying!

jaqian

Need some advice.

A crashed into the back of my car last month, causing €2500 worth of damage. Under the wheel sink was badly damaged.

When the car was assesed we were told that the car had been in a previous crash but we were insistant it wasn't. We were also told the other partys insurance company (AXA) would only pay us €900 as they reckon that was all the damage she did. We had to cought up the other €1600 to fix our car before receiving the nine hundred.

After complaining to AXA that our car hadn't been in another crash they said they would look into it and they discovered that before we bought the car from Merlin Motors it had been in two crashes: one in 2003 and another in July 2004. We bought our car in October 2004.

We were never told that our car had been in a crash before we bought it and I am wondering if we can get our money back.

We paid over the odds for it (€13,000) and had to pay €1600 to repair damages not caused by us.

cantdecide

that sux

bo-bo

are merlin motors simi members? did you get a carbon copy of the form the dealer filled out when you bought the car?

this form has a section on it, in which any previous accidents ,in which the vehicle was damaged are declared. if you have this form check it out and see if the damage was declared.

if not its possible merlin motors never noticed that the car was damaged (or am i showing my innocence;) ).


regardless id have a word with merlin either way.

Guy:Incognito

bo-bo wrote:

if not its possible merlin motors never noticed that the car was damaged (or am i showing my innocence;) )..

I'd say thats the most likely explanation. How many people do you reckon will own up to the fact that a car was crashe dwhen tradign it in and take a hit on value?

jaqian

bo-bo wrote:

if not its possible merlin motors never noticed that the car was damaged (or am i showing my innocence;) ).

They said that they bought it off "a reputable dealer" and didn't think to check it out.

colm_mcm

I wouldn't buy anything off Merlin. Heard too many stories.

junkyard

It it Merlin motors or Merlin car auctions? If you bought it at auction you don't have any comeback. If you were in the car at the time you can claim for personal injuries. I'm sick of insurance companies trying to wriggle out or their responsibilities tbh. if they screw you it's only fair to return the favour as far as I'm concerned.

colm_mcm

It'll be Merlin Motor City.

Churchy

Doesnt the insurance company have an obligation to return the vehicle to its "pre" accident condition? Afaik its irrelevant if the car has has a previous knock if repaired properly and went un-noticed for years. (In this case)

Looks like the insurance company is just trying to wriggle out of its responsibilities.

Was there a police report detailing the accident?
Did you get other quotes for the damage caused?

colm_mcm

If the pre accident condition was cosmetically ok but in a jock under the skin, then they can't realistically return it to that condition. they have to do it properly. It makes sense that the owner should contricute to making the car perfect. Only if they can prove that the car was not repaired properly the last time though.

MercMad

They obviously have a database of crash history, which means that each time that car was crashed an insurance company fixed it, via an authorised bodyshop, and the owner/customer of the car at that time would have had to sign a satisfaction notice upon collection.

Therefore IMO the car was in a damage free state prior to the crash, and assuming it had a valid NCT was roadworthy. The other persons insurer should have to pay out in full !

This is a "rear ender" you are not at fault !

Question: Have you informed your own insurance company, and why are they not arguing your case for you ?? I would get on and give them hell, and start moaning about your neck pain, loss of earnings etc...and if your own policy states you are allowed a replacement, then the OTHER insurance company must provide one !

Time to get tough...........good luck !

Fey!

Get your own insurance company involved to fight your corner; after all, that's what you pay them for.

If you're insured by the same company as the person who hit you, contact your local, friendly solicitor.

jaqian

I'm with Quinn Direct and the person who crashed into me is with AXA. The previous owner of my car was also with AXA, which is how they could tell us that the car had been crashed. The car should have been repaired properly from the previous crashes, might be something to check on.

Btw it is Merlin Motor City.

We contacted a solicitor but she was very wishy-washy and didn't know how to go about it. Going to contact someone with a spine and a pair of balls next.

Fey!

If AXA paid out for the previous crash, then by my logic they must assume that the car was repaired with their money and that this damage is all fresh.

Ask them for the assessors report from the previous crash (just to make sure that the damage from both accidents is in the same place).

And find a competent solicitor.

daedalus2097

Yup, I've found Axa to be absolute pr1cks to deal with like that and will do anything to get away from paying you. Fey is right, if Axa paid out previously then they should have it recorded as restored to pre-crash condition, and so shouldn't be able to say the work wasn't done to repair the previous damage.

Jumpy

daedalus2097 wrote:

Yup, I've found Axa to be absolute pr1cks to deal with like that and will do anything to get away from paying you. Fey is right, if Axa paid out previously then they should have it recorded as restored to pre-crash condition, and so shouldn't be able to say the work wasn't done to repair the previous damage.

Axa Broker is worse. Never go with Axa through a broker.

Fanboy

junkyard wrote:

It it Merlin motors or Merlin car auctions? If you bought it at auction you don't have any comeback. If you were in the car at the time you can claim for personal injuries. I'm sick of insurance companies trying to wriggle out or their responsibilities tbh. if they screw you it's only fair to return the favour as far as I'm concerned.

I'm failing to see your logic here. How are the insurance company screwing anyone?

It's not their responsibility to repair damage which can be proven was there pre-accident. They are not wriggling out of anything.

With your attitude, it's you who'd be doing the screwing with bogus personal injury claims.

Axa didnt tell you they paid to have the car fixed (if they did they're in serious breach of data protection), so perhaps the previous owner said he'd take care of repairs himself and just got the outside fixed up. Or possibly axa just gave him the money in lieu and he took a holiday instead.

Either way, its Merlin that have done the OP damage here, not the insurance company.

Most people on this thread are considerably mis-informed and giving advice that will get you no where.

For example, getting on and giving Quinn stick will get you no where. Quinn will only pay money to u, in these circumstances, that they know that they will get back. When u give them figure, they'll send to AXA, AXA will agree or disagree to the figure. If AXA send an engineers report that proves the damage was pre-accident, Quinn will only pay what AXA agree.

For alot of the time, solicitors won't be interested in damage-only claims. It doesn't pay them well. Injury is what they are most interested in.

It sounds like Merlin is the only way to recoup your money here. If there's proof the damage was pre-accident then the insurance co's simply wont pay for it.

Slutmonkey57b

The garage has to stand over the cars they sell - if the car was in 2 previous accidents, and they didn't bother checking its history before selling it on, then they're at fault for selling you a potentially dangerous car.