I have just discovered that the car I bought three years ago was actually written off previously - what can I do?

I have just found out that a car I bought from a dealer three years ago was actually written off as a Class D insurance claim in 2006. I wasn't told and wouldn't have bought it. What can I do?

Asked on 27 November 2018 by Peter Robins

Answered by Honest John
I think it's probably a bit late to avail yourself of your rights under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations May 2008 (CPRs), which incorporate The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 and contain a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and, in particular prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. The Regulations are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts. The CPRs create an offence of misleading omissions which would not previously have been an offence if the consumer had not asked the right questions. So if a salesman knows a car has, for example, been badly damaged and repaired and does not tell the customer, he could later be held liable if the customer subsequently discovered that the car had been damaged and repaired. Though you should have been told, a Class D is not a serious write off. It could mean the car was stolen and recovered intact, but that the insurer paid out before it was recovered.
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