Legal Advice: Faulty goods

White Dalton’s specialist motoring solicitor Andrew Prendergast guides readers through their legal trials and troubles…

Question: 

I have recently purchased an old Ducati 748 having wanted one since I was a teenager when they first came out!  It is fair to say I am a product of the 90’s!-  Whilst it all looked generally ok, the previous owner dropped it in his garage breaking off part of the front brake lever.  The motorbike shop asked if I wanted to replace both levers with aftermarket anodised gold versions when they were doing a belt service etc.  I thought that would look good.  After a week or so, the mechanic called me to say the bike was ready. I duly paid my bill and set off down the road.  That lasted for all of about 10 minutes until I put the brakes on to slow for a roundabout.  And with that, the front wheel locked up and I lost the front end and went down like a fat kid on a seesaw.  And there I remained in pain until the ambulance took me away with a shattered elbow and dislocated shoulder.  Thankfully, my mate who was behind me and caught the whole thing on dashcam (He had kindly dropped me off at the shop to pick up the Duke).  My mate also kindly got the Duke recovered to my house where it has sat for about the past six weeks.  As for what happened, my mate said he had to take the new front brake lever off to be able to push the bike up a ramp into his van.  He reckons he read about this online in the past.  In short, it looks like the new aftermarket lever may not have fitted properly and effectively made the front brake stick on.  I have raised this with the shop who said I was talking rubbish, but if that was the case, I would have to sue the manufacture of the levers, as it would be their fault.  Are they correct?  I am in serious problems with work as I am a carpenter.  I am very worried I may never be able to do that again.

Answer:   

I am gutted to hear you and the Duke have taken such a clattering.  As for you and your injuries, this is way more important than the bike (to state the obvious).  If I were a betting man, I suspect those types of injuries may seriously affect your career or may result in you having to change it.  As such, you need a solicitor who is used to dealing with serious orthopaedic injuries that have career changing results to make sure you get the correct compensation i.e. there may be a large future loss of earning claim.  Do not leave this to some unqualified “claims handler” that may come “free” with an insurance policy.  Your solicitor is going to need to instruct an engineer to come and look at the bike and provide a report that hopefully proves what your mate says i.e. a faulty brake lever has caused this.  As for the shop, they have got it 100% wrong.  They charged you for the levers and for fitting them etc.  If the lever is faulty, you can sue the shop as your contract is with them (The shop may then decide to sue the manufacturer, but that’s up to them).  I would just add that I had a load of these types of cases about 10 years ago.  It turned out that the aftermarket lever casting effectively pushed the front brake master cylinder in too far, even when released, causing the brakes to ultimately stick on.  Lastly, download and save your mates dashcam footage and make sure your solicitor has that evidence as well.