Abandonment of vehicles on
dealer’s site

There are a number of reasons why a customer may abandon their vehicle on a dealer’s premises. The most common reason is that there is a dispute over the amount of the bill. Very often there is a situation where the amount of the bill outweighs the value of the vehicle and therefore the customer will take a calculated decision to leave the vehicle on the dealer’s premises.

The other common reason for abandonment is that there is a dispute over the quality of the repairs carried out by the dealer. If a vehicle has been abandoned the first step that will need to be taken is to work out who the true owner of the vehicle is. It would probably be wise to carry out as many checks as you can to verify the customer’s address and details and also probably to carry out a HPI check to see if the vehicle is owned by a finance company or if there are any other details registered.

Once ownership has been established there are a number of steps that can be taken as follows:

1. If there is an outstanding bill for repairs (bizarrely repairs does not include maintenance works such as servicing or MOT) then you could take steps to proceed under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act. This provides a procedure whereby eventually the vehicle can be sold to meet the outstanding debt.
   
   The Act provides you with two powers, namely to make the owner take delivery of the vehicle and second, to take steps to sell the vehicleBoth these notices must be given in writing and in a specific format. They must be served by registered post or recorded delivery.
   
   If the owner disputes the sums claimed no notice of intention to sell can be served and neither can you sell the vehicle. Your remedy would be to issue a claim in the County Court to recover the sums due under the invoices. You should retain the vehicle under your lien to use for enforcement purposes once a judgement is obtained. (For specific details of the notices, and the details of the procedure please contact us).
   
2. If there is a dispute as to the ownership of the vehicle or if for any reason the Notices under the Tort (Interference with Goods) Act cannot be served, an application can be made to the Court to apply for the vehicle to be sold.
   
3. Some clients will simply take a commercial decision and just sell the vehicle. They have no legal right to do this and potentially if the customer resurfaces they would have a claim for conversion.

This article is not intended to be a full summary of the law and legal advice should be sought on individual cases.