Garage responsible ?

elect70, Jun 27, 6:21pm
Next door took his mrs car to local garage was only running on 3 pots . Left it there tuesday & they rang him yesterday saying it was fixed but a problem , need to contact own insurer as seems it was left outside in yard waiting on parts & lowlifes broke into it & stole the CD player & seat covers . But he only has it insured for 3rd party , so believes its the garages responsibility to take care of the car while they have it & up to them to replace stolen gear ?
m16d, Jun 27, 7:23pm
Hmmm. most of them have a sign saying "stored at owners risk"
daz59, Jun 27, 7:31pm
I think the law says they are liable.
macgor, Jun 27, 7:38pm
So long as they have taken reasonable steps to secure your property then it's up to your own insurance (if you have any) just as if it was parked at your place. If they had caused the loss in some way through negligence or their fault accident then different story.
woki, Jun 27, 7:56pm
This one is right .
gazzat22, Jun 27, 8:46pm
I would speak to my insurance companyThe car should have been locked in the workshop.I dont know any Panelbeaters/garages who leave a customers car outside.what about public liability insurance or the disputes tribunal. I wouldnt let it rest there.!
cammey, Jun 27, 8:53pm
Its quite common.

Cars are left outside workshops regularly, very few workshops are large enough to store all vehicles that haven't been collected inside.

The garage in question won't be happy, but if the vehicle was locked, and especially if it was in a locked yard, they would have no liability.
jason_247, Jun 27, 9:01pm
Id say its on the owner of the car.

the garage should have terms and conditions either given to the owner when he signed over the car or at least out in the open to read.

if these said car will be stored inside then maybe claim.
but most likely it will say while on premises stored at owners risk.

personally what i would do it be reasonable and say to the garage owners to meet in the middle, if you mate buys a new cd player ~$120 will they install and fix any wiring for free. same for replacing window, say i will pay for glass can you fit

prob take them an hour tops and would fix up the relationship somewhat.

also WHO THE F*** STEALS SEAT COVERS?
elect70, Jun 27, 10:57pm
^^^ they were lambskins evidently probably why they broke into it they aint cheap ,ill pass the comments on to him personally i reckon 50 /50 unless it was in a secured yard then be his lookout as garage has taken all reasonable care .
gazzat22, Jun 29, 9:03pm
Not in my neck of the woods,i,ve seen panelbeaters and Garages push or drive up to 20 cars inside.Only exception would be a secure locked yard,,"duty of Care" A sign on the wall is not enough like "No dogs on the Grass." Dogs cant read.
mecanix, Jun 30, 2:40am
this is right.

i had a car stolen from outside my shop. it was locked and i had security lights. the owner tried to get me to pay so i made an insurance claim. the insurance company did not pay as i had taken al the right steps re securing it. the owner took it to court and the ruling was in my favour.
mopsy3, Apr 7, 8:33pm
We had similar, customer car in car park waiting to be picked up, someone else backed in to him, we put claim through as we accepted it was in our care. Insurance co said no, no, no. Car was in public car park at bottom of shared yard, not our problem.