The new bike was absolutely faultless for the first seven months, but unfortunately I dropped it whilst turning out of my drive and damaged the fairing and mudguard, etc. Since then, I have had an absolute nightmare with my insurer being slow to authorise the repairs and then their recommended garage doing the actual work (who was also the dealer who sold me the bike).

The bike has now gone back for the second time because I was not happy as the new mudguard they fitted had a slight scratch/scuff. Therefore, I am currently once again without a bike. The knock-on from that is I have told the dealer I want to reject the bike and get all my money back because it is not fit for purpose as per The Consumer Rights Act 2015.

I have also told the finance company (that the dealer organised) that I am not paying the finance installments anymore and they can take it up with my insurer and the dealer. I don’t see why I should pay for a bike I cannot use. I am also thinking of suing my insurer and dealer for the mental stress they will cause if I do not have a bike for spring. Do you agree with my approach?

Answer

In short order, no, I do not agree with your approach. Firstly, you need to put The Consumer Rights Act 2015 out of your head completely. It has absolutely nothing to do with this scenario.

When the bike was sold to you it was fine. Therefore, you cannot reject it now and get all your money back because the repairs authorised by your insurer, after you fell off it, are not currently up to scratch (no pun intended).

As for the finance instalments, you will have a binding agreement to pay them. Therefore, if you don’t pay them what you agreed, expect to get sued by the finance company; to lose, and to owe even more money. If you flip it another way, it’s not their fault if the insurer and dealer have not got the repairs sorted yet after you damaged the bike.

Whilst I get you are not happy, in my opinion your best path of recourse at this stage is to liaise with your insurer and dealer to try and get this sorted ASAP and for the bike to be repaired and returned to you. I suspect it can be sorted pretty quickly.

Lastly, whilst you can start court proceedings for the ‘mental stress’ you will go down in a ball of flames at Trial as it is not a viable claim in these circumstances. Therefore, my advice is don’t do it.

Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast

More Bikes – February 2024