Q: I got food poisoning when my wife and I went to an expensive restaurant in London for my birthday dinner. I became very unwell later that evening – my wife not so much – and we think it was due to a fish dish we shared. My wife paid with a credit card. Can we get our money back?
HV, by email.
The couple ate a seafood platter at a chic location in central London, and one of them became seriously unwell
A: Yes, you can get your money back. You may also be able to claim compensation, depending on the severity of the food poisoning and the impact it has had on you.
The first step is to file a complaint directly with the restaurant, providing all relevant details. Please include the date you went to eat, the name under which the booking was made, what you ordered and what you think caused you to have food poisoning.
You must also tell the restaurant when you started feeling unwell, what the symptoms were and how long they lasted.
Explain in your letter that you have identified the cause of the food poisoning as the fish dish and that it is a breach of the Consumer Rights Act, which states that services (such as food preparation) must be carried out with reasonable care and skill.
This means that you are entitled to a legal remedy, in this case a full refund. There is also a second law to help you with this, called the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Simply put, this law requires that a food retailer must sell a product that is free of harmful bacteria, i.e. you can prove that your food poisoning was caused by the restaurant is caused, the law stipulates that the restaurant will be held liable for your illness.
Furthermore, this law does not require it to be proven that a staff member (usually the chef) was negligent, but only that the cause of the food poisoning was due to unsafe food provided by the restaurant. This is called “strict liability,” and a trader does not want to find themselves on the end of a strict liability claim.
It is advisable to obtain a doctor’s note describing the symptoms to support your claim
If you wish to claim compensation and restitution, it is preferable to have evidence showing how this has affected you, such as a letter from your doctor’s practice if you have attended a GP appointment. Also, if this has caused you to miss work, or has caused you any other inconvenience, you should obtain evidence to prove this. You then claim compensation for ‘pain and suffering’ and the damage you suffer as a result.
Typically, restaurants take these claims seriously, especially if you say you will consult with a personal injury attorney if a satisfactory offer is not made. If the restaurant only offers you a refund initially in this regard, make sure you say that you will not accept this as compensation, otherwise the restaurant may say that you have ‘settled’ the matter.
Unless you are ill for a long period of time, the compensation is probably not significant.
You should also notify your local environmental health department, which will investigate whether the restaurant has violated the Food Safety Act of 1990.
I bought a new car and when the logbook arrived I discovered that I am the second owner. The dealer told me it was a brand new car. What can I do?
NB Leatherhead, Surrey.
A: It sounds like the dealer pre-registered the car in their own name, or the car was previously sold and the buyer rejected it and returned it, perhaps under their right of short notice rejection, because there was something wrong with the car. It.
Whatever the circumstances, as a potential buyer you had a right to know all the facts and this ‘important’ information should have been shared with you before you agreed to purchase the vehicle. One of the consequences of the car gaining an additional owner is that it can affect its future value.
Your next step is to make a written complaint to the dealer alleging a breach of the Consumer Rights Act, which says goods (including cars) must be ‘as described’.
The solution here is for the dealer to either give you some money back to reflect the depreciation of the vehicle (you can negotiate) or take the car back and give you the full refund.
The amount that the dealer deducts from the price of a car is usually linked to the kilometers driven by the consumer. So if the previous owner had driven ten miles, you wouldn’t expect a discount. But if it was hundreds of miles you’d expect something in the region of £500. This must be considered on a case by case basis.
If the dealer denies your claim and does not tell you who the original owner was, complete and submit a DVLA form V888. This is the form used to request information about a vehicle and its past and present registered keepers.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) wants you to have a good reason for making the request, and you will say that you are building a case against a car dealer. Armed with this information, you can make a section 75 claim if you paid in whole or in part by credit card, alleging that the dealer is in breach of contract.
You can also make a section 75 claim if you have paid through a lump sum loan agreement, or you can make a claim in the County Court (in the small claims court process, known as small claims court, if the car was bought for less than £10,000), or the full County Court if the purchase price was more than this.
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