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Neil saved me

A

Andy Childs

Active Member
I was the recipient of an amazing act of generosity the other night.

Fishing for tench on Hooks Marsh I packed up at around 10pm, barrowed my gear back to the truck, loaded it and drove to the gates to unlock the combination padlock that is usually fastened to one of the gates only to discover it was secured to the central pillar!
Oh dear I said to myself wonder how someone could have made that mistake……..Locked in I reached for my mobile [usually utterly reliable] to find it malfunctioning. John Cleese in the Fawlty Towers car sketch came into my head. In the light of my head torch I saw a sign attached to the gates’ IN AN EMERGANCY RING THIS NUMBER’ Fantasti ,no mobile and locked in.. I walked around only to find I was completely alone on the complex. I then walked to the Police pit car park –again empty.
In the distance down the lane, the light of an entry phone system glowed in the dark …… Apologizing for the lateness of the hour I related my dilemma and to my surprise a man his wife and son appeared with a mobile phone.. Ok I thought, might have a bit of a wait but the emergency people will get me out, After a few attempts [I’m a patient person] I got through to be told that ‘they had no one at this hour available to help’ But this is an emergency number and I’m locked in. I pleaded. Still no one she replied. What constitutes an emergency where you do respond I asked. She declined to answer.Is there anything else we can help you with she enquired?This was going nowhere and a glance at my watch told me it was 11.26. Head Bailiff I thought, rang him and it went straight to answer phone.[In bed asleep the lightweight] The helpful man sensing my disappointment offered to drive me back to my car, unload my gear onto their car and store it for the night. I thanked him for his generosity and I stood in the drive whist he backed out a new Lexus 4 x 4. I must admit feeling a little self conscious climbing onto the cream leather with walnut trim but these were desperate times… Back at the car park I loaded the valuables into the Lesus and we made the short journey back to the Ponderosa. By this time Neil and I were on first name terms and as we pulled up outside his sumptuous house he uttered those unforgettable words ‘TAKE MY CAR AND BRING IT BACK TOMORROW’ In all honesty I was surprised but quickly got over that and accepted his offer. As I drove home [carefully] with the smell of leather, walnut and halibut pellets I thought to myself there are still some staggeringly generous kind people out there.

Thanks to Neil his wife and his son for their help and generosity.
 
You must have a VERY trustworthy face, not many like that about nowadays.
 
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well a decent person indeed, but baring in mind, he did know your have ure car, and it would nt take the odd lot to get your details, but never the less, a decent man to lend you his nice car,
 
Sounds like the first third of a horror film ...... have you unknowingly made a pact with Satan:eek:
 
incredibly generous and trusting, there are good people around, they just don't make the press.
I believe there a fair few on here that would have helped in some way but lending the car was extremely generous, way above and beyond simply helping.
 
I think that Neil was on the foolhardy side. Was the car's insurance covered for any driver? Most policies are named drivers only. Both of you could have been committing a serious offence - driving without insurance and aiding and abetting the offence. Andy should have asked Neil to produce his certificate of insurance to check its status. Driving a vehicle without a valid MOT is a serious offence, but probably does not apply in this case as the vehicle was new. Secondly, Neil could be putting himself at risk for being liable for speeding offences, traffic light cameras, box junctions, bus lane and Olympic lane abuse, parking offences and too many other transgressions to mention here. Explaining away his act of generosity could mean Court appearances, and further investigations into the problems of insurance, see above. By the time this little lot is totted up, a lengthy driving ban could result, coupled with fines in the region of thousands of pounds - even a potential custodial sentence.

Apart from the above, Andy could have been accused of damaging the car with the possibility of subsequent civil action. Did Andy take photographs of the vehicle before driving it away and ask Neil to sign a waiver should any damage occur. On the car's return did Andy ask Neil to sign that the car had been returned in the condition that it was taken away with further photographic evidence.

I'm sorry to sound a bit of a damp squib, but these sorts of issues need to be considered. With many years of experience, these would be the questions that I would be asking. It would have been far more sensible for Neil to have called a taxi and paid for it rather than exposing both Andy and Neil to such issues.
 
Any chance we could have some cones put out around this thread and could anyone posting please wear a high vis safety boots gauntlets and glasses please.
 
Robert Richbell said:
incredibly generous and trusting, there are good people around, they just don't make the press.
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Agreed.

It reminds me of someone's kindness around this time last year. I have an ageing Mondeo and the battery had been getting a little tired. I really should have heeded the warning signs but lack of funds caused me to put it off.

Anyhow, I was camping with the family and the little un had been enjoying himself putting on the wipers and stuff. Before I knew it, the battery was flat unable to start the car. On searching for willing volunteers I soon found a helpful soul who was also an electrical engineer for the national grid. Car electrics being small change for him so he soon found two dry cells, topped them up distilled water and added a couple of acid tablets. He then brought his BMW Z3 round to charge up the car for a half hour whist he invited my family round to his Winnebago for cold drinks.

The car still wasn't playing ball after charging for a half hour so feeling slightly guilty I asked him it there was any chance he could run me round to the local Halfords to get a new battery? He said he had had a drink so he couldn't but told me to take the BMW myself. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I jumped in and managed to get to the local Halford that Sunday afternoon with about 15 minutes to spare and came back with the top of the range battery!

I shall not forget his helpfulness, generosity or indeed his philosophy on breaking down for a long time "it's all part of the joys of motoring"!

Regarding trusting fellow mankind, I think wisdom is obviously required but to mistrust everyone can become a curse in itself.

Stephen
 
Jim Foxall said:
I think that Neil was on the foolhardy side. Was the car's insurance covered for any driver? Most policies are named drivers only. Both of you could have been committing a serious offence - driving without insurance and aiding and abetting the offence. Andy should have asked Neil to produce his certificate of insurance to check its status. Driving a vehicle without a valid MOT is a serious offence, but probably does not apply in this case as the vehicle was new. Secondly, Neil could be putting himself at risk for being liable for speeding offences, traffic light cameras, box junctions, bus lane and Olympic lane abuse, parking offences and too many other transgressions to mention here. Explaining away his act of generosity could mean Court appearances, and further investigations into the problems of insurance, see above. By the time this little lot is totted up, a lengthy driving ban could result, coupled with fines in the region of thousands of pounds - even a potential custodial sentence.

Apart from the above, Andy could have been accused of damaging the car with the possibility of subsequent civil action. Did Andy take photographs of the vehicle before driving it away and ask Neil to sign a waiver should any damage occur. On the car's return did Andy ask Neil to sign that the car had been returned in the condition that it was taken away with further photographic evidence.

I'm sorry to sound a bit of a damp squib, but these sorts of issues need to be considered. With many years of experience, these would be the questions that I would be asking. It would have been far more sensible for Neil to have called a taxi and paid for it rather than exposing both Andy and Neil to such issues.
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Bleeding hell Jim, your hardly going to ask him to delve into his documents to produce all these things at 11:30pm at night.

I'm sure Neil wouldn't have lent him the car if he knew that Andy wasn't going to be insured!

I am insured on my policy to drive anybody's car as long as they are fully comp.

Good on Neil I say, shame this sort of act is a rarity in modern society.

bw
 
I had an opposite experience once which may, sadly, be more common. It was a wet, miserable day and I was at Windsor races, even more miserable than the weather due to a succession of losers. It was a typical end to that sort of day when I returned to the car park and found I had left my lights on and so the battery was dead. The first 3 cars of fellow race goers refused point blank to help even though I had jump leads. The fourth one was a more sympathetic person. Maybe he'd found a winner or two!
 
Alex, with modern cars, using your car to jump another car can potentially damage the engine management systems unless you follow the right procedure — and few seem to know the right procedure! Personally, I probably wouldn't have let you use my car, but I'd have happily lent you my phone to call your breakdown people who can do it properly.
 
Andy Millichamp said:
Alex, with modern cars, using your car to jump another car can potentially damage the engine management systems unless you follow the right procedure — and few seem to know the right procedure! Personally, I probably wouldn't have let you use my car, but I'd have happily lent you my phone to call your breakdown people who can do it properly.
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Andy- this happened in 1983! And I very much doubt you would have had a mobile phone to lend me..
 
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