Auto Insurance Claims: faulty repair of diesel pipe, computer ties, faulty repair

Question
After many attempts at repairing an existing diesel pipe with computer ties (without telling me) on my Merc 320 Estate, Halfords Auto Centre finally accepted that it needed replacing, as the car would not start properly as it was sucking in air with the diesel.

They replaced the pipe and I was driving in the fast lane of the M5 when it came away completely, leaving me with no power and in an extremely dangerous and perilous situation. I managed to get to the hard shoulder narrowly missing several collisions.

Both the AA and Mercedes Wolverhampton have verified that Halfords had damaged the head of the pipe when fitting it.

Halfords have sent me a cheque for the cost of Mercedes Wolverhampton fitting another pipe and have accepted negligence.

This is not sufficient compensation as I and my children were left on a dangerous hard shoulder for an hour in freezing temperatures at night and then were stranded with the car for 4 hours until it was temporarily repaired. I missed £1500 of work as the car need to be towed and repaired in Wolverhampton and the incident was extremely distressing and frightening to all concerned.

Halfords are claiming that their terms and conditions state that they cannot give compensation for loss of earnings etc.

I feel that they have accepted negligence and that this type of dangerous repair should not be allowed to happen again as it could have caused many deaths and mayhem on the M5.

I would welcome any advice that you may be able to give.

Thank you.

Answer
Hi Hilary,

I'm sorry you have gone through this event.

Being in the USA, I am not familiar with the laws in the UK. If you were in the USA I would say that unfortunately you can not be compensated for what almost happened. There is generally only a law suit filed to obtain money damage compensation for actual injuries. If there was no actual injury that created medical expenses, then there is no money damage to sue for.

However, as I said, I am not familial with the laws of the UK. It may be better for you to pose this question to a licensed attorney in your area.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh