Most road traffic claims turn, in the end, on money: what it cost to repair the vehicle, whether it should have been repaired at all, and how long the claimant was without it. Those are engineering questions before they are legal ones, and they are answered best from the documents, methodically, with the sources shown.

Repair and total loss

  • Repair method and cost. Whether the estimate or invoice reflects the damage shown, whether the method chosen was the industry-standard one, whether parts and labour rates are within the reasonable range, and whether anything has been charged twice.
  • Repair or write-off. The repair-cost-against-value comparison on the figures in the papers, the salvage category applied, and whether the decision taken was a reasonable one on the information available at the time.
  • Repair quality. Whether the repair record and photographs show the work was carried out to the method and standard claimed.

Credit hire

Credit hire disputes have a legal framework of their own, but inside it sit factual engineering questions that an independent report can settle quickly:

  • Was the damaged vehicle roadworthy or safe to drive while awaiting repair?
  • Was the repair period reasonable for the damage sustained, allowing for parts supply and authorisation?
  • Was the hire vehicle equivalent to the damaged one in the respects that matter, and were any specialist features genuinely needed?

The report answers these from the engineering evidence and leaves the legal consequences to the parties and the court.

Also instructed on

  • Pre-accident valuation, diminution and salvage categorisation, from published market data and the papers, with the method and the comparables shown so the figure can be tested.
  • Vehicle rejection and satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act 2015: whether the fault claimed is present on the evidence, whether it was present at delivery, and what a repair would involve.
  • Specialist, classic and motorsport vehicles, where the engineering background in motorsport and the trade is directly relevant.
  • What a detection device measures and what it is taken to have proved: the distinction between the two, set out so a court can see it.

Proportionate reports

These claims are mostly small claims and fast-track matters, and the report is sized accordingly: short, sourced, desktop-based, and written so that a district judge can follow every step. Where the papers do not support a conclusion, the report says so rather than guessing.