I don't want to go into a 1000 word essay so I've tried to summarise this down into valid points and be as brief but detailed as possible.

On 24th December 2014, I visited Halfords and purchased engine oil 5L bottle and engine oil top up service.

When the gentlemen from the 'we fit' team came to my car he just had a orange pouring beaker and nothing else.

On pouring the engine oil into the vehicle and inspecting the dipstick I was slightly alarmed that the staff member wasn't using any measuring device

and was seeming freely pouring at his hearts content, I decided to take a photograph of the top op occurring.

My partner and her son where in the car whilst this was all on going.

I assumed being a Halfords 'we fit' member it was probably just my own paranoia that he wasn't using a measuring device or jug.

On completing the top up the staff member told me I was ready to go and it was complete and was about to shut the bonnet

when I quickly noticed and informed him that the engine oil cap had not been reapplied and closed to the engine oil unit.

The staff member apologised saying he had been at work since 6am and was very tired. So I left the store.

On driving approximately 1-2 miles from the store smoke started coming out of the exhaust of the vehicle which i noticed from my rear view mirror and wing mirror.

I immediately stopped the vehicle and as smoke was starting to appear from the exhaust and engine decided to check the engine oil top up.

I at this time read the engine oil dipstick and saw that it was 3 times past the maximum mark.

I took a photograph with it getting into the evening and at this point it became dark quite early and also for proof of the dipstick.

I then returned to the store.

On this point on returning to the store a 'engine malfunction' light appeared on my vehicle.

I informed them of what had occurred and 2 members of staff inspected the engine oil.

The supervisor told me she'd get equipment to drain the engine oil with the staff member.

When they got this equipment because of the size of my vehicle it would not fit.

Therefore the supervisor said she would ring halfords autocentre and see if an 'engine oil overfill' would cause any danger to drive.

After ringing them she came back and told me that a mechanic at Halfords autocentre said the vehicle would be safe to drive with engine oil overfilled.

I asked why the engine malfunction light was occurring and was told it was probably a false sensor alarm on the trip computer

because the car was just 'slightly' over on engine oil.

I asked what would happen if my vehicle was damaged or stopped working because of this

and was told by the supervisor that I would have to seek reimbursement after purchasing the repair from Halfords Autocentre by bringing the receipt in store.

To me this did not make logical sense and

after googling the dangers of 'engine oil overfills' on my phone I decided to go into the store and speak to the staff

to get some form of written liability and promise in writing.

On speaking to the original staff member in store and his colleague they would not provide me anything in writing.

I therefore decided to covertly record the conversation so I had some form of proof of the incident occurring and evidence.

On speaking to the staff instore the store manager was at a till behind them.

The staff told me to not worry and if anything did occur that 'Halfords would pay for it' as they had 'insurance in place for these kind of things'.

I was told that mistakes did happen and before staff had fitted batteries in wrong and Halfords had paid the repair.

The store manager then said that he drives his car which has 150k mileage on it with overfilled engine oil all the time and it does no damage.

With this recorded I left and drove my vehicle home.

I decided that something still did not seem right as I had been told 2-3 different things about reimbursement

(insurance being involved...paying it myself and being reimbursed..halfords paying the repair costs..).

These were three different things and to me it was not logical to drive a vehicle with a engine malfunction light.

I kept the vehicle parked up and switched off and did no further driving.

I rang my breakdown cover and asked them to send a mechanic out for an opinion.

When the mechanic arrived he told me the car was unsafe to drive and the advice Halfords gave me was wrong.

It was not safe to drive a car with overfilled engine oil as it was as bad as driving the vehicle with underfilled engine oil.

He put this into a report of the breakdown he emailed to customer services, which I later requested.

I therefore waited until Boxing Day and in the meanwhile i was left without a car because Halfords was not open during this period.

When I rang the customer services on 26/12/14 at 2pm I spoke to someone there and they promised me that my car would be repaired until I was 'happy'.

I asked them provide this in writing in which they did in the form of 'case notes' that were forwarded to me.

I was told this would be done ASAP and the store would be instructed on how to do this.

On being taken home by my mother at approximately 5pm I got a phonecall from someone claiming to work for Halfords claim team.

I therefore spoke to them and they told me that they would require proof of the breakdown report

and that the car was unsafe to drive as a result of the store's misadvice and negligence.

I therefore asked them to put in writing this. Which they did in a email to me on 26/12/14 at 5.23pm

I sent them the breakdown report, dipstick reading and audio recording on 26/12/14 at 9.58pm

On the 29/12/14 I was contacted by the claims team via telephone on Monday throughout the day

who said they would get the car towed to an autocentre to be flushed.

This was done and I then awaited the car to be repaired.

I asked about what would happen to any charges such as taxi for transport because of Halford's error

and as since Xmas eve I had been without a car.

I was told to email any costs in form of receipts and they would be reimbursed.

On the 30/12/14 I was told the car would be repaired at 5pm.

I decided to ring the autocentre repairing the car and ask them to specifically look at the catalytic converter

and gasket and do a emissions test and thorough check of all components of the car as I was worried that from seeking advice these could be damaged.

I was told this would be done.

I picked the car up at 5pm and was given no receipt or invoice and was told that the car was done. Neither did I sign anything.

On picking the vehicle up I noticed that before the car had been towed it had 3/4 full of petrol.

It now only had below half so i took a photograph of this and asked for 25% of the petrol to be reimbursed to me,

as I would not have lost this petrol if the matter had not happened and I sent Halfords the original receipt.

The following day I noticed that the A/C was no longer working

and neither was the audio system/CD player and these components of the vehicle had been before.

I therefore tried to call Halfords but was told by the customer services team that the claims handler was busy

and so they would get him to ring me back.

I tried to call Halfords two more times within that week with the same response.

On the 6th January (6 days) later I sent Halfords a email to the email address they had been corresponding to me at

informing them of the problems with the vehicle and my concerns. I received no response and

when I called on the 7th January was told that the claims handler who was dealing with my case did not work weekends

and had been off so to allow a few days for a call back.

On driving to Nottingham on the 9/1/15 M1 the same engine malfunction light that appeared on the engine oil overfill

re-appeared on my car's trip computer and dashboard with a weird smell.

I decided to pull in and call Halfords customer service and demand to speak to a manager.

On calling them they put me through to the claims handler who told me to take the car to my nearest autocentre.

I did this and on the 10/1/15 the autocentre confirmed that the diagnosis was that the car had a 'emissions fault' and the 'catalytic converter' needed replacing.

Halfords claim team called me on the 10/1/15 and told me that the repair would be started on Monday.

On Monday 12/1/15 I was called by the claims handler and told the repair would take upto 1 working day

but as this autocentre was under staffed that they would require further time,

so a courtesy car in the form of car hire had been sorted for me with Enterprise locally to me.

I was told I had to pay the deposit amount on the vehicle but the rental fees would be covered by Halfords.

Therefore with no other choice I accepted the rental vehicle.

I did this and got the courtesy car.

On Wednesday 14/1/15 I was called by the claims handler to say that 'due to the cost of the catalytic converter'

an 'investigation' was going to take place to see how the catalytic converter had been damaged and not spotted before.

I accepted Halfords to do this as I knew nothing had been done.

On 23/1/15 I received an email from the claims handler saying that Halfords staff had given 3 witness statements

stating that only 1 litre of engine oil was entered to the vehicle which all staff witnessed

and the engine oil dipstick was seen by 3 members of staff who all said it was at minimum,

thus the autocentre found the engine oil amounts to be between 1.5-2 litres over therefore this did not match amounts.

The autocentre had raised no concerns at the time but the investigation concluded the engine oil amounts did not match

and thus Halfords stated that after Halfords topped up the oil i must have added more oil to the vehicle and damaged the vehicle myself,

therefore Halfords were no longer liable for the damage/s and expense/s and the car hire would be ended on 29/1/15.

On the 30/1/15 I rang the customer services and informed them I would like to speak to someone above the claims handler

as at the time of the incident occurring and the engine oil top up happening my partner who was a witness to it all was there

and could testify that 3 people did not check/supervise the top up.

I also informed Halfords that i had a photograph of the engine oil top up occurring which had a time/date linked to it which was further evidence.

I was promised that I would get a phonecall from a higher up member of the team on the Monday 26/1/15 as the claims team did not work on a Saturday.

I received no call on the 26/1/15 from anyone higher up and instead was greeted by this email from the claims handler:

Dear XXXXX,

I understand that you have contacted us over the weekend in regards our response dated the 23rd.

I can confirm that I have already discussed this case in detail with Halfords' High Level Complaints Manager,

XXXXXXXX, prior to sending the email on the 23rd and that she has confirmed our stance.

As previously advised if you do wish to take this further then I can only advise that you seek independent legal advice

and address any correspondence to Halfords Legal, as we will not be giving this further consideration at Customer Services.

Kind regards

XXXXX

Claims Consultant

I then decided to reply with a letter before action (LBA) and sent one via post to the address I was told to send further consideration to only

(the legal team at halfords) via recorded delivery and one via email to the address for Halfords I had.

I yesterday received the below response to my LBA.

Dear Mr XXXXXX,

I confirm receipt of your email.

Taking into account our prior correspondence, we are comfortable that this is our final position on this matter,

and we do not propose to respond to you further in this circumstance.

We refute your assertion that liability has been accepted at any point and recommend that you do seek legal advice should you wish to take this further.

We await service of your claims paperwork from your legal representative and would ask that your case number of XXXXXXX is on all paperwork submitted.

Yours Sincerely

XXXXXX

Claims Consultant

I am now fed up over the matter.

I am going to commence a MCOL.

But need help in writing the particulars section.

I have looked on the internet but found no examples of applicable use

and don't know if what I have done is good enough.

Can anyone help?

Oh and I forgot to mention have still not had my vehicle back..and car hire was cancelled 24 hours earlier than what I was told!

do you have legal cover with your insurance, it might be worth giving them a call, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be able to advise better, hope you get this shambles sorted

2,253 words actually.

You seem to be handling it very well. Congratulations especially on having recorded the event and also making a subsequent recording.

Just in case though, read our customer services guide and follow the instructions there in the event that you have any more dealings with on the telephone.

Your claim with MoneyClaim should be a relatively simple and general statement of the problem. However you will find that there is a checkbox which says that you are going to supply a more detailed particulars of claim later. You should make sure that checkbox is ticked and then you can prepare a full and detailed and better particulars of claim which you will send in hard copy by post.

Before you start this action, you need to know exactly what you're claiming for. This means that you need to make a full assessment of your losses.

Get independent reports and quotations to cover all of the repairs. Collect up all the bills for car hire and any other losses.

Sue for the lower of the repair quotes and also for all ancillary expenses such as car hire etc.

Also make a modest estimate for the time and inconvenience that you have suffered as a result of this.

Sent Halford's final letter and lay out the losses that you are seeking and tell them that you are going to be suing them if they don't satisfy your request for complete reimbursement.

Tell them also that you are inviting them now to carryout an inspection of the vehicle to corroborate the findings of independent reports. Tell them that if they do not accept the invitation to inspect the vehicle within seven days that in order to mitigate your losses, you will proceed to have the vehicle repaired and that the money that you will sue them for will be the amount needed to reimburse you for this outlay.

Your brief MoneyClaim particulars of claim would be something like: –

 

1. The claimant visited one of the defendants service centres in XXX location XXX on XXX date XXX in order to use their oil top up service. Receipt reference number XXX refers.
   
2. The work in topping up the oil was carried out negligently and consequently substantial damage was caused to the claimant's motorcar.
   
3. The claimant seeks reimbursement of all costs incurred in repairing the damage and also associated costs of car hire and inconvenience.
   
4. Cost of repairs £XXX
   
5. car hire £XXX
   
6. the claimant has spent at least XXX hours trying to deal with repairs, delays in travel, organising car – £XXX a modest figure XXX
   
7. total £XXX
   
8. Interest Pursuant to section 69 County Courts act 1984
   

You don't need much more than this – and you only have a limited number of characters available on MoneyClaim anyway.

Then after the claim has been issued and served, you would send a full properly structured particulars of claim to the defendant's. I have a feeling that you have to do it within 14 days of service of the original papers. You need to check this up.

We can help you formulate the full particulars of claim.

2281

OMG. Thank you all for the help so much!! May God bless you!

Yeah I'm getting into the POC now.

.just took out the 'dummies guide to small claims court'.

it has helped me somewhat in the retrospect that I now realise i can't reclaim costs such as 'insurance loss'

because I'd have been insured anyway and same with road tax and its opened my eyes to the fact that the small claims court is exactly that 'small claims'.

I wasn't after a huge amount of money as I'm not greedy and for me this was the principle of the matter.

.Halfords damage car and they should fix it!

I gave them the option to in the last 37 days..AND I gave it them again in the LBA.

I also when they were investigating offered them to keep my costs low

- simple things such as just reimbursement for loss of transport

as I am actually disabled and as a graduate I was a disabled student.

I can see that they have tried 'scaremonger' tactics with me such as 'we await your legal assistance papers'

and rubbish But i won't be scared off or intimidated.

I am going to MCOL..but I want to get the POC right as I'm doing alot of research.

do you have legal cover with your insurance, it might be worth giving them a call, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be able to advise better, hope you get this shambles sorted

Hi Thank you kindly for your considerate words! I appreciate the help.

Yes I do with my car insurance.

But after thinking this myself and ringing them they told me it doesn't cover 'civil matters'

and this is not included as its a civil dispute and not criminally and not a accident (the words of swift cover.)

I have suffered alot of losses from them including the fact that I don't have a car now

and haven't had mine returned to me by halfords neither have they attempted to contact me.

The most important thing is to calculate your losses properly and be able to itemise them. You must have all of this prepared before you start firing off court claims.

If you are really only litigating as a matter of principle then don't bother. The whole thing is a moneymaking exercise simply to get your losses back.

Don't start becoming esoteric or godly about it.

Stay businesslike

Just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who has posted.

I have been in contact with the media and sent the story minus the evidence obviously to newspapers.

.and BBC Watchdog.

Hopefully they may help me.

I could really do with more help on writing the POC..but i'll use what someone put above so thanks..

Hmmm another issue..

I've been gathering evidence in a zip folder today (reciepts, emails etc) whilst writing the POC and wanted a second opinion on this..

I put above in the original story and track of events that 1st call to customer services they said that they would 'repair the car till i was happy'

and I requested this in writing from the CS at the time.

.but seems the same day claims handler at halfrauds (yes halFRAUDS) demanded BREAKDOWN report 3 hours later.

Now i was looking at the email and all he wrote was forwarded case notes..which says this:

----- Forwarded by /Customer Services/HO/Halfords on 26/12/2014

From: XXXXXXXX/Customer Services/HO/Halfords

To: XXXXXXXX

Date: 26/12/2014 XXXXX

Subject: halfords case XXXXXXX car engine oil overfill

XXXX,

Please find below, as requested, information from case file regarding repair of car

car engine oil overfill by Halfords

cm on xmas eve took car to store for an engine oil top up and was informed after that tank was 3/4 full.

However on driving car home, smoke was coming from exhaust,

he checked levels himself and found it to be majorly overfilled.

He was informed by store that they cant drain it and cm has photos of staff involved

and audio recording of conversation along with original receipt.

XXXXX (manager) called autocentre who said it wasnt dangerous to continue to drive the car

and could have car repaired at autocentre and they would foot the bill.

He called his breakdown cover, Auto National who advised that it was NOT safe to drive.

He is not seeking compensation,

he just wants the car returned to original condition.

he said it had caused problems with his partner

and his son was very upset all day as he was supposed to visit mother xmas day and was unable to do so

Created By: XXXXXX (26/12/2014 14:14)

spoke to XXXX and XXXX (SM) who confirmed that autocentre to repair and cover cost.

Called store back to advise that they need to book cm in at earliest opportunity and call him to inform of this.

XXXXX said she would get it sorted and i gave her case number with cm contact details

Regards

XXXXX

Customer Services Advisor Please consider whether it is necessary to print this email.

Now is it me being silly here but..if they are refuting liability does that not contradict their 'final investigation' where they say 'store would foot the bill' ? And repairs given for them to now contradict that? I think an internal investigation is bias too

The most important thing is to calculate your losses properly and be able to itemise them. You must have all of this prepared before you start firing off court claims.

 

If you are really only litigating as a matter of principle then don't bother. The whole thing is a moneymaking exercise simply to get your losses back.

 

Don't start becoming esoteric or godly about it.

 

Stay businesslike

I like your point! I'm just a nice guy but my niceness got taken advantage of here now it's about recovering my losses and the principle.

well this is what am reclaiming. Maybe if you give me your opinion you could tell me if you think it's okay? I would value your opinion.

(1) Car Value (Pre Valuation Certifcate) (Due to write off as repair cost/s from 2 quotes being higher than original value of car and prevaluation done in Nov 14)

(2) (a) Taxi cost during repair & (b) Transport cost due to loss of vehicle and © cut of car hire early and non return of vehicle replacement transport costs- £192 (excluding car hire dates of which no taxis were used). I did not take out car hire as from what I understand a judge will say I am overzealous and although disabled it could be argued that I shouldn't have a hire car and also that I could get a bus or taxi which is cheaper in the long run. So I felt it was more reasonable to do these costs.

(3)Loss of earnings from freelance work for 6 days

(These dates are 24/12/14-30/12/14)

Car hire took place after this period.. so will not be able to claim loss of income during these dates - (12th January-28th January 2015 which is when I had work)

(4) Stress & Inconvenience due to being disabled backed by a GP Report & Sick Note (although I read I may have to remove this as its debated if you can include it.)

(5) Loss in petrol by Halfords during first repair

(6) Postage costs

(7)Telephone calls

(8) interest- (set at 8% standard bank rate)

HOWEVER:

I have also lost:

- Road Tax (espicially as the car is not guaranteed to be repaired by the repairs quoted and no mechanic is guaranteeing they can repair it even after the quoted prices which exceed the original value.)

- Car Insurance

- Loss of 25% discount for having no claims on breakdown insurance.

-Petrol costs that friend incurred for picking me up on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. (she didn't keep the reciept only has a bank statement, which I don't think is suitable.)

1. Cost of repairs £XXX - in this section will I just refer to all costs incurred
   
2. the claimant has spent at least XXX hours trying to deal with repairs, delays in travel, organising car – £XXX a modest figure XXX
   
3. total ..just total amount seeked?
   

IN THE XXXXXX COUNTY COURT

BETWEEN

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM

1. The claimant visited one of the defendants stores in XXXX to purchase engine oil and to use their oil top up service. Receipt reference number 1 refers.

2. The work in topping up the oil was carried out negligently and consequently substantial damage was caused to the claimant's car.

3. The claimant's car damage was caused by defendant's negligence and/or breach of statutory duty under the Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982.

4. The claimant seeks reimbursement of all costs incurred including the pre-evaluation value of the car due to the repair quotes exceeding the original value with associated costs of alternative transport and inconvenience.

PARTICULARS OF NEGLIGENCE AND/OR BREACH OF STATUTORY DUTY

4. The defendant was negligent/in breach of the Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982:

a. Did not conduct the work to a reasonable standard with a reasonable duty of care.

b. Did not check that the service offered was to a satisfactory quality

c. Failed to give any or adequate warning to the Claimant of staff lacking knowledge and training to conduct with a reasonable standard of duty of care

6. Repair Costs - Nissan Dealership- £XXXX.Kwik Fit have quoted £XXXX. Car Pre-Valuation dated November 2014 quotes £XXXX car value.

7. Alternative Transport Cost- £XXX

8. The claimant has spent at least XXXX hours trying to deal with repairs, loss of income, delays in travel, organizing alternative transport, telephone calls and pre-mediation - £XXXX

9. Total - £XXXXX

10. Interest Pursuant to section 69 County Courts act 1984

is this ok? I think its over the character limit? I take it that I don't go into the details about the repair they attempted etc yet because of the character limit?

any help appreciated!

Hi

I don't have a great deal to add to the excellent advice you have already received from Bankfodder. I think the way you have been treated by Halfords is absolutely outrageous. You should definitely be proceeding with legal action.

I think you should be claiming all of your financial losses. This includes the petrol costs for which you don't have a receipt. Just provide the proof that you have - the judge can still award explained losses even without a receipt.

You can't really claim for general stress. I would bundle it into a general claim for loss of earnings and inconvenience.

You may wish to read the relevant rules at http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part07/pd_part07e#6.1 and http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part07. As you can see, you are allowed to serve the claim form and tick the box for particulars to follow later. On MCOL it is enough to just write 'particulars to follow separately'. You then serve your longer, detailed particulars of claim within 14 days and must also file a certificate of service (form N215).

The draft Particulars of Claim you have posted is a good start, but if I was a judge reading that I would not know what your claim is actually about. You should not focus so much on the legalese, it is more important to explain clearly what actually happened. In the first few paragraphs you need to give a clear explanation of what Halfords have done wrong, just like you did in your first post - i.e. that their employee negligently overfilled the oil. In the later paragraphs you need to give a clear explanation of exactly what losses you have suffered as a result.

Hi

 

I don't have a great deal to add to the excellent advice you have already received from Bankfodder. I think the way you have been treated by Halfords is absolutely outrageous. You should definitely be proceeding with legal action.

 

I think you should be claiming all of your financial losses. This includes the petrol costs for which you don't have a receipt. Just provide the proof that you have - the judge can still award explained losses even without a receipt.

 

You can't really claim for general stress. I would bundle it into a general claim for loss of earnings and inconvenience.

 

You may wish to read the relevant rules at http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part07/pd_part07e#6.1 and http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part07. As you can see, you are allowed to serve the claim form and tick the box for particulars to follow later. On MCOL it is enough to just write 'particulars to follow separately'. You then serve your longer, detailed particulars of claim within 14 days and must also file a certificate of service (form N215).

 

The draft Particulars of Claim you have posted is a good start, but if I was a judge reading that I would not know what your claim is actually about. You should not focus so much on the legalese, it is more important to explain clearly what actually happened. In the first few paragraphs you need to give a clear explanation of what Halfords have done wrong, just like you did in your first post - i.e. that their employee negligently overfilled the oil. In the later paragraphs you need to give a clear explanation of exactly what losses you have suffered as a result.

Thanks Steam. Well as its such a complex matterr I'm unsure how to write that because of my concern etc I recorded them as this is evidence etc..because Halfords were trying to tell me on the telephone when I sent them the audio it was a breach of data as I didn't have permission and I'm not a journalist for the BBC or anyone so I have no right to covertly record audio.

But I did this because of the inkling feeling i had about it and really just as i described in the first post because of the contradicting information staff were giving me at the time and because nothing would be put in writing.

TBH this is the first time I have ever written a POC, i'm really struggling with the character limit and explaining it all. If anyone could help reword it and as i've posted what I'm claiming for back above could help me I'd appreciate it. Just the general Idea I got was to summarise it in this POC and for the other later i can go into more detail.

I don't understand why you are embellishing the model that I suggested to you with all sorts of headings and subheadings etc.

Get rid of all of that and see how many characters you have.

You can do all the formal starting staff when you supply a further and better particulars of claim in hardcopy after you have issued the initial claim online.

Keep it simple. Don't be verbose. Your a litigant in person – you have a lot of licence.

As far as Halford saying that you have broken any laws in recording conversations, their talking rubbish.

However, if you need to present them in court then you will properly have to have them transcribed although you should have the recordings with you at the same time. Make sure that you have looked after any recordings in any photographs carefully and that they are not sitting on the telephone or recording device where they might be overwritten or the device lost.

Keep on recording things. Everybody should do it. There will be a lot less problems with companies that think they can get away with shabby or unfair treatment of their customers if more people do that

I don't understand why you are embellishing the model that I suggested to you with all sorts of headings and subheadings etc.

 

Get rid of all of that and see how many characters you have.

 

You can do all the formal starting staff when you supply a further and better particulars of claim in hardcopy after you have issued the initial claim online.

 

Keep it simple. Don't be verbose. Your a litigant in person – you have a lot of licence.

 

As far as Halford saying that you have broken any laws in recording conversations, their talking rubbish.

 

However, if you need to present them in court then you will properly have to have them transcribed although you should have the recordings with you at the same time. Make sure that you have looked after any recordings in any photographs carefully and that they are not sitting on the telephone or recording device where they might be overwritten or the device lost.

 

Keep on recording things. Everybody should do it. There will be a lot less problems with companies that think they can get away with shabby or unfair treatment of their customers if more people do that

Right I used that model because it made sense and to be honest although I have some study of legal writing it is very niche and small to my particular industry. I seeked advice from a friend who has studied law and he says technically its contract law as when I purchased this item I went into a contract with Halfords, as they have no disclaimer about these things they are liable and he said to accuse me of overfilling the engine oil is just a clutch of straws and the only way they probably could get out of it. And he made a good point my friend, he said that the real reason Halfords probably didn't want to pay was that 'negligence' is not covered by most indenmity insurances.

In terms of the POC am not rushing it , i assume the more time i leave anyway the more time it arises to the promised 7 days from the original Royal mail recorded letter going to legal department and CS it shows more reasonably I didnt rush into legal action.

I see what you mean about being verbose yes thats a very good note to be fair. I shall have to think about how to word this without losing my point.

Do you think that I should mention in this POC about the fact that obv I went back etc and how should I word the evidence audio/pics etc?

Yes Halfords said to me that audio recordings are 'inadmissable' and would be 'struck from the record'. I told them that I don't think I did anything wrong as if Halfords wouldn't put anything in writing then I needed some proof. They kept yapping on about it being un useable but I read exact what you said, that it is ONLY illegal if i shared it with the whole population. And I can use a written transcript.

Thanks for the comments. My partners thinks am a right weirdo for recording people..but you know i've beaten 4 PCNs by the council by recording things and it is very handy just to use that phone. Oh and as per the pics and stuff, don't worry I have all of the lot backed up. I have made a zip on my PC + email back up + have it on my iPhone still with icloud back up.

Theres no way am going to be a silly sausage who loses the evidence.

Right think I've got it down now..I got 1079 with spaces and 913 without:

1. The claimant visited one of the defendants stores in X to purchase engine oil and their oil top up service. Receipt reference number 1 refers.

2. The work topping up the oil was carried out negligently thus consequently substantial damage was caused to the claimant's car.

3. The claimant's car damage caused by defendant's negligence and breach of statutory duty under the Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982.

4.Claimant seeks reimbursement of all costs incurred including the pre-evaluation value of the car due to the repair exceeding the original value with associated costs.

4. The defendant was negligent/in breach of the Supply of Goods Act 1982.

6. Repair Costs 1-X. 2- X. Car Pre-Valuation quotes X car value.

7. Alternative Transport Cost- X

8. Claimant spent at least X hours trying to deal with repairs, loss of income, delays in travel, organizing alternative transport, telephone calls and postage costs - £X

9. Total - £X

10. Interest Pursuant to section 69 County Courts act 1984

what you think?

odd sorry steam and bankfodder wasnt ignoring your advice..some posts seem to have gone to my email but not here :s. ill spend a bit more time on this...thank you for the help

Why don't you have a go at putting some of the factual details into the template you have in post number 13. We can then take a look and help you finalise it.

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STEAM

Thats a good idea..illl do that thanks

There is no statutory duty in SOGSA.

Please do yourself a favour, stop trying to be lawyerish. Just cut to the chase.

If you try to get to technical you will lose credibility. Your para.4 makes no sense at all.

You have two paras.4

Para. 4b is basically a duplication of para.3 - expect that it is better worded.

Para. 1 - don't include or refer to receipts at this stage.

As far as your friend goes, he is wrong because even if there was a disclaimer, it would be unenforceable.

You aren't a wierdo in recording people but you aren't helping yourself in the rather obsessive way you are dealing with this.

The POC at this point is entirely straightforward but you are turning it into a mountain. If you want tto have fun and be verbose and over-complicated and pretend you are a lawyer then save it for the full POC. However you won't do yourself any favours there either.

I think that you should follow our advice - or else I don't really know why you have come to us.

odd sorry steam and bankfodder wasnt ignoring your advice..some posts seem to have gone to my email but not here :s. ill spend a bit more time on this...thank you for the help

No!!! don't spend more time. Spend less time.

I understand! I think i was trying to overcomplicate it as i read some cases got thrown out for not having enough legality. If you see my further post I removed it when I took your last posts advice.

I'm going to take steams advice now and post some facts in that model