My vehicle was recently hit by a third party which caused visible panel damage and unseen suspension damage. The 3rd party insurance (Saga) has been exemplary in arranging a hire car and to have the bodywork repaired at the local Volvo dealership in Warrington. However, the body shop allowed me to drive the car away without repairing the damaged suspension. As soon as I approached motorway speeds, the vehicle began swerving violently and cork-screwing after hitting road undulations and proved difficult to control under braking.

Needless to say, the car is back at the body shop. They claim to have performed a wheel alignment check and to have driven the vehicle on a test run. After my motorway experience I drove into a branch of ATS and asked them to look at the shock absorbers. They put the car on a ramp and immediately declared that the offside rear suspension area had been damaged enough to put the wheel visibly out of alignment.

I want to know why the repairers did not spot this and I also know that they did not drive the vehicle on a test run because I left it with with them with no fuel and that they did not put any fuel in. What redress do I have against the repairers? I feel that they have endangered my life through negligence. Would I be able to sue and if so, how should I go about this?