Taxi driver wins £1,400 from Volkswagen after “fix” problems leaves him out of work

Taxi driver John Denholm was reportedly unable to work for 11 days when his VW Passat broke down after having the so-called “fix” applied to correct emissions irregularities. The software update was carried out on his vehicle to lower the excessive NOx emissions his VW car was casting out. Unfortunately, we have found that the “fix” also carries risk of problems, including cars suddenly breaking down.

In this instance, Mr Denholm suffered problems after the “fix” had been carried out and was able to claim for lost earnings directly attributed to him being unable to use his vehicle.

When his taxi cab broke down, Denholm was given a courtesy car but couldn’t use it as a taxi. Denholm complained to Volkswagen and claimed compensation for the lost earnings he suffered as a result of the breakdown. He claimed for £1,300 for the 11 days he was unable to use his car, but the German motor giant refused to compensate him.

Volkswagen later explained their refusal:

“We do not consider the changes Mr Denholm reported are related to the technical measures and as such did not consider it appropriate to reimburse him for a loss of profits.”

The repairs for the broken down VW Passat came to an eye-watering £3,200.00; a cost that likely perhaps may not have existed if the vehicle didn’t need its software updating because of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating (although VW dispute such assertions). Volkswagen agreed to lower the cost of repairs to £750.00 but still refused to pay Denholm compensation for the loss of earnings.

Regional newspaper the Newcastle Chronicle got wind of the situation and pressured Volkswagen to take responsibility. It was only then VW admitted that Denholm should have been offered a “pay and claim” scheme so he would have been able to carry on working as a taxi driver.

Volkswagen sent the taxi driver a letter saying a mistake was made in not offering the scheme. The giant German car manufacturer addressed the fault in not offering it, but did not admit any fault in the vehicle losing power as a result of the emissions software update.

In terms of the £1,400.00 compensation sum, a company spokesperson said:

“To be clear, this offer of goodwill is not based on the NOx issue nor the technical measures, neither of which caused the issues Mr Denholm reported, but rather due to an apparent failure to follow the proper process.”

In the same statement, they again robustly denied links between the software update and the car breaking down. However, they do appear to pat themselves on the back for what they see as going out of their way to compensate Denholm. They reminded everyone that they had no obligation to discuss his case and that the compensation was apparently completely voluntary and backed by its aim to “maintain our high levels of customer satisfaction.”

Still no compensation for the U.K. victims claiming in the VW Emissions Action

It’s incredible how a company can be on the end of wrongdoing to over a million U.K. customers by installing emissions-cheating devices in their cars, and still maintain they’ve done nothing wrong and that they’re “fixing” the issue and meeting a high level of customer satisfaction. Volkswagen has paid out billions of U.S. dollars to our neighbours across the pond to compensate them for selling vehicles fitted with so-called “defeat devices”, but have turned their backs on us and won’t admit liability.

They continue to deny their customers the right to any sort of compensation.

This is why the Car Emissions Lawyers are helping thousands of VW customers as part of what is set to be the U.K.’s biggest ever Group Action claim. We believe our clients deserve compensation as victims of the VW emissions scandal, and we intend to fight them all the way.