Vehicle owners in payout battle over car park fault

Mark Lucas says his firm is owed about £50,000

Owners of vehicles that were trapped in a London car park say they are still tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket due to the ordeal that has lasted almost three years.

The vehicles were stuck at Rathbone Square, near Oxford Street, for 28 months after an automated stacker system broke down. Despite retrieving them in April, those affected say "not a penny" of compensation has been paid.

Mark Lucas said debts of £50,000 have left him living with a "daily fear" of losing his furniture business.

Multiple parties have denied responsibility for the mechanical failure, citing ongoing investigations and delays in sourcing specialist parts, and say they cannot comment on compensation claims.

Chris, who was visiting a relative when the stacker system broke down, is another who has been left out of pocket.

He said about 25 vehicles were trapped inside and said his own claim exceeded £100,000.

The former insurance professional estimated the total claims across all affected owners could exceed £1m.

"I understand there were very, very high end vehicles [trapped in the car park]," he said.

Chris racked up bills by striking a deal with a hire company to rent a vehicle that was "commensurate with" the value of his BMW 5 Series which was trapped in the stacker.

He paid for this replacement vehicle monthly, as he was never told when the stacker was likely to be fixed.

The insurers and other parties involved have been "massively lacking" in their "duty of care", Chris added.

Chris's BMW 5 Series was among vehicles trapped for more than two years

Mr Lucas said his Buckinghamshire-based company's £50,000 debt built up through months of van hire costs, the subsequent purchase of a replacement vehicle and ongoing loan repayments for the original van that became trapped inside the car park.

"Daily it's a fear that if we took another hit, that we might not be able to survive that," Mr Lucas said.

Chris called on the parties involved to "come and deal with us individually, go through our costs and settle it."

Despite repeated attempts by the BBC to contact AXA XL, the building's public liability insurer, the company has not responded to questions about the delays.

Documents seen by the BBC show that in January 2024, barrister Keith Wise contacted those affected, saying he was acting on behalf of AXA XL.

He told vehicle owners that forensic scientists had inspected the car stacker and advised them to collate any costs and expenses incurred as a result of the incident.

HCS Furniture's van was released from two years in the car park in April

However, both Mr Lucas and Chris said that despite regular attempts to reach Mr Wise, months often pass without any response.

Mr Lucas said he had been "kept in the dark", adding: "He doesn't always return our calls, and when he does it's the same story – we're still awaiting investigations."

"So six months on we still haven't received a penny in compensation for the costs that we endured over the last two and a half years," he said.

The BBC attempted to contact Mr Wise but he declined to comment.

When asked about the lack of updates, his employer Crawford & Company said: "We are not authorised to speak on behalf of our clients or discuss any aspects of their business, as all information regarding claims is confidential."

'Swift resolution'

Deka, the German investment fund that owns the Rathbone Square development, and CBRE, the managing agents for the building, both said they were not responsible for the failure of the parking system.

They said specialist parts had made repairs "very time-consuming" but added they regretted the delays and the impact on those affected.

Klaus Multiparking, the manufacturer of the mechanical stacker, said investigations were ongoing but its understanding was that a broken chain caused the breakdown.

Double Parking Systems, the UK company responsible for maintaining the equipment, said it had never been the owner, operator or insurer of the car park.

It said the time taken to resolve the situation was not down to them, and they had advised vehicles could have been retrieved seven months before they were finally released.

Mr Lucas said his small business was going up against "huge multinational companies" to get the compensation.

"These companies are worth billions," Chris added. "They're treating people disgracefully."