I had the claim from the third party only recently, claiming an accident that the dealer has subsequently admitted to in December 2022, and was not told about when I purchased the car. Personal injury claims can be claimed up to 6 years after the event. I did question why it took so long for this claim to be made, but was told exactly that. Apparently people leave it later so that records are more hazy and even more frivolous claims can be paid out on as evidence could be lacking.

On inspection there is damage, whilst minor and not obvious unless you get on your hands and knees. Both lights are loose in the housing and were not picked up on routine basic servicing. The number plate was cracked on delivery but I did not think that he'd been involved in an accident on the way to deliver the car!

I would say that there is no case to answer 18 months down the line and you didn't even know there was accident damage when you took delivery of the car. Cracked rear number plate would have been a red flag to me. How else do you think it got cracked?

I'm not sure why you think this damage should have been picked up during regular servicing either, it's not something a garage would do whilst changing the oil and filter!

As to any personal injury claim from the third party, not your fault, bounce it back to the dealer's delivery driver.

Edited by 72 dudes on 19/06/2024 at 10:54

Quite apart from anything else I would expect the delivery driver to be responsible for any insurance claim, unless you specifically authorised him, by name, to drive the vehicle he was driving under the trader's insurance policy, so nothing to do with you or your insurer.

If he has his own personal insurance it will only cover third party claims while driving another, vehicle with the owner's consent