Woman claims fumes from car caused ill health

A woman has claimed she suffered chronic carbon monoxide poisoning due to an alleged oil leak from the turbo charger of her BMW Mini Clubman car.

Helen Noble, a solicitor and mother-of-two, claims she suffered for about a year and a half and underwent medical treatment, including procedures resulting in her being unable to have more children, before the alleged carbon monoxide poisoning was detected. The car was bought new in 2008 for about €45,000 under a hire purchase agreement.

Ms Noble, aged 40, of Killballyowem, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, has sued Motor Import Ltd (MIL), trading as Frank Keane (Naas Road), BMW, with registered offices at Munich, Germany, and Permanent TSB. The defendants deny any liability.

The proceedings were before the High Court yesterday to deal with discovery issues and the court heard Motor Import Ltd had agreed to make discovery of service records related to the car.

In her action, Ms Noble claims damages for personal injuries allegedly suffered due to alleged negligence, breach of duty, breach of contract, breach of warranty of the defendants, or one or other of them, or their agents.

In her action against Motor Import Ltd and BMW, Ms Noble claims she was acting as a consumer when she bought the car from the Frank Keane premises at Naas Road, Dublin, on Aug 14, 2008. The cash price was €37,406, the initial payment was €7,693 and total payment was €45,362 via 48 monthly instalments of €588 and a final payment of €9,320, on Sep 19, 2012, she claims.

She also alleges she validly rescinded her hire purchase agreement with Permanent TSB for the car, under which she had paid €22,932, plus the initial payment of €7,693.

After the sale, she claims she took the car for regular servicing to MIL, services were carried out in Jul 2009 and Aug 2010, and work was carried out under warranty in Nov 2009 to replace an allegedly defective sump gasket.

Between Nov 2009 and Aug 2011, Ms Noble claims she suffered significant illness, including severe headaches, dizzy spells, exhaustion, blackouts, slurred speech, heart palpitations and anaemia.

About Jul 2011, her husband decided to have the car serviced because the area around the engine was filthy and it was discovered there was “a serious leak of diesel fumes” and Ms Noble was advised the turbo charger was leaking, it is claimed.

Ms Noble claims she was advised the car had been leaking noxious and dangerous exhaust gases for a considerable period from the engine into the passenger area via the ventilation system. She claims she suffered personal injuries and the car was not adequately serviced or inspected.

After becoming extremely unwell in Nov 2009, she attended hospital with dizziness and other symptoms. She also suffered headaches and initially believed her symptoms were due to her workload, but her symptoms persisted, she claims.

Tests by her GP demonstrated she had acute anaemia. She was out of work for a month from mid-Mar 2011 and was referred for gynaecological assessment. She underwent a hysteroscopy, which meant she could have no more children, and other procedures in the hope it would cure her anaemia.

Due to her sickness, she claims she and her husband abandoned their plan to have a third child. In May 2011, she was again unwell.

On discovering the alleged leak, Ms Noble claims she was shocked but relieved to have an explanation for her illness. She stopped driving the car in Aug 2011 and a respiratory consultant who assessed her in Oct 2011 expressed the opinion her presentation was consistent with chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. While her symptoms had largely resolved, Ms Noble claims she remains concerned about the effect of carbon monoxide on her health.