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1JBS



Member Since: 30 Oct 2010
Location: Henley on Thames
Posts: 530

United Kingdom 2012 Range Rover Sport SDV6 SE Orkney Grey
Crankshaft Failure - Legal Documents

I've just seen this information on the D3 forum and thought it would be useful to post it here -

A suite of documents that may be of use in these circumstances

DRAFT FOR USE WHERE YOU PURCHASED THE VEHICLE FROM NEW AND HAVE A FULL SERVICE HISTORY – ALWAYS TAKE LEGAL ADVICE BEFORE COMMENCING PROCEEDINGS AS PROCEEDINGS CAN HAVE ADVERSE COST CONSEQUENCES

IN THE COUNTY COURT AT [Insert Local Court] Claim no:

[INSERT YOUR NAME: OWNER OF VEHICLE]
Claimant
- and -

[INSERT COMPANY NAME OF COMPANY THAT SOLD THE VEHICLE] LIMITED
Defendant



DRAFT PARTICULARS OF CLAIM


1. At all material times, the Defendant carried on business as a garage selling and servicing Land Rover vehicles, using the name “[Insert relevant trading name]”. The Defendant was an authorised Land Rover dealer and service centre.

2. On [ ], the Claimant purchased a new Land Rover Discovery 4 3.0 SdV6 (the “Vehicle”) from the Defendant for the price of £[ ](“the “Agreement”). The Vehicle was registered on [ ] with registration [ ]. The Defendant was acting in the course of its business in selling the Vehicle to the Claimant and providing repairs, maintenance and servicing as described below (the “Services”). The Claimant was at all times acting as a consumer. The Agreement included implied terms that:

a. The Vehicle would be of satisfactory quality, and free from latent defects; and

b. The Services provided from time to time would be provided in accordance with the standards to be expected of a reasonable competent service provider.

3. The Vehicle was subsequently repaired, maintained and serviced by the Defendant on an annual basis as set out in the table below:


Date
Mileage
Service fee paid


4. On [ ], the Vehicle suffered a severe mechanical failure, and catastrophic engine failure (the “Breakdown”) such as to necessitate a replacement engine and/or other repairs. The Defendant estimated the costs of such repairs to be £[ ] (the “Cost of Repair”).

5. The cause of the Breakdown was the incorrect location of the main crankshaft bearing shells during assembly of the Vehicle, and/or incorrect assembly of the Vehicle in a manner permitting undue rotation of the crankshaft bearing shells during normal use, leading to crankshaft and crankshaft bearing failure (the “Fault”).

6. During May 2014, Land Rover UK published a service bulletin SSM71816 “Crankshaft/Crankshaft Bearing Concerns” (the “Bulletin”), which informed Land Rover dealers (including the Defendant) of the existence of the Fault and/or the risk of crankshaft failure due to the existence of the Fault.

7. At no time did the Defendant inform the Claimant of the existence of the Fault and/or the Bulletin. In particular:

a. On each of the [ ] service visits following May 2014, the Defendant carried out repairs, maintenance and servicing of the Vehicle, and was paid by the Claimant for providing such services;

b. The Defendant confirmed on each occasion that it had checked for any applicable outstanding service actions or recalls, and that it had reported any unusual features of vehicle condition and additional work required;

c. The Defendant did not inform the Claimant of the existence of the Fault and/or the Bulletin. The Defendant should have done so either on the basis that the fault was an outstanding service action or recall, or an unusual feature of vehicle condition, alternatively because it was a matter that any reasonably competent provider of the Services would or should have drawn to the Claimant’s attention in circumstances in which it was aware of the Fault.

Breach of contract: defective Vehicle

8. In breach of the Agreement, the Vehicle was not of satisfactory quality and/or was subject to a latent defect by reason of the existence of the Fault.

9. By reason of the Defendant’s breach of the Agreement, the Claimant has suffered loss and damage in an amount equivalent to the lesser of the Cost of Repair or the value of the Vehicle (without the existence of the Fault) as at [ ]. The Claimant currently estimates the loss and damage to be fairly reflected by the Cost of Repair.

10. If and to the extent necessary, the Claimant will rely on the Defendant’s failure to inform [him/her] of the existence of the Fault and/or the Bulletin as amounting to deliberate concealment of a fact relevant to [his/her] cause of action in contract against the Defendant.

Breach of contract: negligent provision of Services

11. In the alternative, in breach of contract, the Services provided were provided negligently.
PARTICULARS OF NEGLIGENCE

a. The Defendant was aware of the Fault and/or Bulletin as from May 2014;

b. The Defendant failed to draw to the attention of the Claimant the Fault and/or Bulletin at any of the [ ] subsequent service visits;

c. Any reasonably competent provider of the Services would have drawn the Fault and/or Bulletin to the attention of the Claimant once aware of the same.

12. Had the Defendant done so, the Claimant could have either commenced proceedings for breach of contract (as set out above) at an earlier date, and/or required the Defect to be remedied and at a lesser cost than the Cost of Repair.

13. By reason of the Defendant’s negligence, the Claimant has therefore suffered damage and loss as set out in paragraph 9 above.

14. Further, the Claimant claims interest pursuant to Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from [ ] and continuing at the rate of £3.85 per day. Alternatively, the Claimant claims interest at such rate and for such period as the court thinks fit.


AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS:

(1) Damages in the sum of £[ ]or such other sun as the court thinks fit; and

(2) Interest as set out in paragraph 14 above.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in these Particulars of Claim are true.


_______________________
[ ]
Claimant

Address for receiving documents:
[ ]

ADDRESS

DATE

CEO OF GARAGE



Dear Mr [ ]

Land Rover Discovery 4 [Registration] (the “Vehicle”)
Letter before commencing proceedings

I have been in discussion with your [ ] Branch in connection with the above vehicle which has suffered a catastrophic engine failure.

I wanted you to be able to understand my position before I am forced to commence proceedings in this regard.

My position is conveniently summarised in the attached Draft Particulars of Claim.

You will see that the Draft Particulars of Claim provide that –

• the Vehicle was not of satisfactory quality and/or was subject to a latent defect;
• to the extent necessary, I will rely on [ ] failure to inform me of the existence of the latent defect as amounting to deliberate concealment of a fact relevant to my cause of action; and
• In the alternative, in breach of contract, [ ] services of the Vehicle were provided negligently.

I have made all the necessary arrangements to commence proceedings but I recognise that, under the relevant court protocols, litigation is a last resort. Accordingly –

• If you require any more information from me in order to properly understand my position please let me know;
• If you have any relevant information in order for me to properly understand your position please let me know; and
• I would be content to seek to negotiate a settlement of my claim through discussion, or through mediation or in some other way you may care to suggest particularly if there is a relevant ombudsman scheme.

I need to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. In the circumstances, I look forward to hearing from you in 21 days. If there are any other steps that will help us manage this matter efficiently or reduce the cost of the dispute please let me know.

Yours sincerely


ADDRESS

DATE

CEO OF GARAGE



Dear [ ]

Land Rover Discovery 4 [Registration] (the “Vehicle”)

I refer to my letter of [ ] sent in accordance with the Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols.

You will understand that resolving this matter as soon as possible is of particular importance. I am therefore continuing to make preparations should proceedings become necessary.

I look forward to receiving your key documents in accordance with the Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols. For the avoidance of doubt, these should include (but not be limited to) all documents within your control relating to –

1. The precise frequency of the crankshaft bearing failure (the “Fault”) as described in Land Rover Service Bulletin SSM71816 (or any related bulletin) in relevant vehicles;
2. [Garage name] decision not to inform customers of the Fault or of the content of the Bulletin (either generally or in connection with any service) including any instructions, correspondence or guidance provided by the manufacturer in that regard.

Provision of these documents may assist the dispute to be resolved without proceedings and save costs.

If these documents are not provided it appears to me my next step will be to make an application for disclosure before proceedings start under Rule 31.16 of the Civil Procedure Rules. Again, this should help reduce unnecessary costs. I have taken the trouble to prepare the application, witness statement and draft order should these be necessary. [As [ ] have indicated they would join the manufacturer in any proceedings, I may make a similar application against them. You may care to bring this to their attention].

Yours sincerely,





ADRESS


DATE

CEO OF GARAGE
/ CEO OF JAGUAR LAND ROVER


Dear [ ]

Subject Access Request Made Under the Data Protection Act 1988
[Name and Address] Vehicle [Registration] (the “Vehicle”)

I should be most grateful if you would supply me with copies of all personal data that [ ] holds relating to me wherever held (including at Head Office and in its branches in[ ] and [ ]). That should include (but not be limited to) –

• all information relating to me held on any database;
• all electronic documents;
• all emails and other messages (including messages relating to me sent by [ ] to Jaguar Land Rover) particularly as they may relate to the crankshaft failure on the Vehicle; and
• all paper records held in any filing system;

I enclose a £10 fee. Kindly acknowledge receipt.

It may be helpful for you to know that a request for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 should be responded to within 40 days.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you and can be contacted on 0303 123 1113 or at ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

Post #550789 Thu Mar 08 2018 2:58pm
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Lindab



Member Since: 20 Nov 2017
Location: Dundee
Posts: 864

United Kingdom 

This is what is needed, spells it out in legal terms, puts the onus on JLR to answer properly rather than some half truths or emails dismissing a claim out of hand. Whistle
Will be interesting if someone follows this through & the outcome
Opens up a whole can of worms

Post #550793 Thu Mar 08 2018 3:40pm
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JCow17



Member Since: 01 Mar 2018
Location: Kent
Posts: 14

United Kingdom 

Do you know which solicitor firm drafted this?

Post #550858 Fri Mar 09 2018 2:34pm
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1JBS



Member Since: 30 Oct 2010
Location: Henley on Thames
Posts: 530

United Kingdom 2012 Range Rover Sport SDV6 SE Orkney Grey

Sorry I don't it was posted on the Discovery Forum..

Post #551086 Mon Mar 12 2018 9:39am
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jim4244



Member Since: 16 Feb 2012
Location: No
Posts: 1210

England 2013 Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE Santorini Black

What a very sad state of affairs it is when owners of a premium worldwide brand have to resort to legal action to put things right........

Jim

Post #551095 Mon Mar 12 2018 12:23pm
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