9:24 am, November 14, 2025
A used car dealer whose business was left devastated when a collapsed wall caused an eye-watering £120,000 of damage to stock says he has been left in limbo, four months on from the incident.
Car Dealer reported back in July how T Bowles Vehicle Sales in Sittingbourne saw 12 vehicles crushed by falling rubble when a boundary wall on the site gave way.
A total of 20 cars and vans were damaged in the incident, with a dozen completely written off as a result.
Now, more than 17 weeks on from that story being published, owner Tom Bowles is still no clearer on when, or even if, his business will be able to reopen.
The months since the collapse have seen the dealer locked in talks after insurers said they could only offer him £40,000 at present.
According to KentOnline, Bowles rejected the offer, believing he should be compensated fully, and has now returned to his old job as a mechanic in order to make ends meet.
The father-of-one is also still paying rent and business rates on his dealership, despite being unable to sell cars there since the summer.
He now estimates that the incident has cost him around £250,000, including the damage to the cars.
Reflecting on a difficult period, he said: ‘I just want my business back and my happiness back.
‘I built it up from virtually nothing, from a couple of cars up to having 60 cars, and overnight, it’s been pretty much squashed.
‘I had to get my old job back as a mechanic, and I’m not doing what I want to do. I got out of that so I could provide for my family and have my own business.
‘Trying to be a parent to my little boy as well, it’s been tough because I’m still trying to provide for him as well as keep myself afloat – to keep my house paid for, keep the business floating.
‘My insurance says they can only pay out a fraction of the cost of the damage until liability is accepted.’
The wall which collapsed separated the dealership from a nearby branch of Lidl, which was forced to close part of its car park as a result.
CCTV footage from the supermarket confirmed that the wall had given way without any obvious trigger.
Speaking to KentOnline, Bowles added: ‘Lidl had a monitoring assessment last week, but that’s the last I have heard of what it is doing.
‘But hopefully we can move back to where we were, if not bigger, better and have as much stock as we did and build the reputation that we did have.’
