£10,000 repair bill for horrified Aylesbury couple after uninsured airport parking accident nightmare

MCP Gatwick Parking promised to safely store Sandra and Domenico Carnivale’s Vauxhall Zafira but wrote it off three and-half-hours after being handed the keys.

It has been reported that the company driver veered on to the wrong side of the road, according to the other driver involved in the crash, and was given a fixed penalty notice by police for driving without insurance.

Mr and Mrs Carnivale were four days into their holiday in Turkey when they learned their car had been involved in a serious road crash with another vehicle.

But their shock turned into disbelief and then anger when they discovered they won’t get a penny because of an insurance nightmare.

They were even forced to pay £550 to the police to scrap the car, worth around £8,500, and claim that MCP Gatwick Parking is ignoring their calls.

Mr Carnivale said: ‘It’s too late for us, but I just want to warn people not to use this company. I will never use a meet and greet company again. I want people to know what he’s done to us so no one will book with his company again’.

Mrs Carnivale, who relies on the vehicle for her work as a childminder, said: ‘My advice now to people thinking of using a meet and greet company would be to go to the airport’s approved list of companies. I’ve found out since all this that every airport has an approved list on their websites.

‘I would tell anyone using these companies to check with them that all their drivers are fully insured to drive other people’s vehicles.’

She added: ‘I am childminder and without a car my work suffered. I couldn’t sleep because of the worry. We would be getting up in the middle of the night so we could get on the computer to carry out research into MCP. It’s been so upsetting and the effect on us has been unbelievable.’

The couple’s nightmare began on July 2 this year at 5.30am when they pulled up in the Orange Car Park at Gatwick Airport having left their home earlier that morning in Aylesbury, Bucks.

They were flying out for an 11 day holiday in Turkey and with them was their teenage son and Sandra’s parents.

The couple had booked a meet and greet company who would take possession of their car and store it safely for the period they were away, before meeting them with the vehicle on their return.

Their own insurance company say they are not liable because the couple had handed over their car for someone else to drive.

Tesco Bank, who are the couple’s insurers, say they should take up the matter with the meet and greet company they left their car with.

But MCP have allegedly told Sandra and Domenico that the driver they employed at the time of the crash was only a part time worker who had the responsibility of insuring his own vehicle to drive other people’s cars.

According to the company’s website it employs professional, fully insured drivers and CCTV cameras watch over its compounds.

MPC have been approached for comment.