A Claimant was recently successful in his claim against our member, the Defendant, for £1,600 of damages for repairs to a cracked cylinder, three months post-purchase and after 2500 miles of driving. The Claimant had taken the vehicle to a third-party garage due to coolant leaking and had incurred the cost of the repair.
The Defendant argued there had been an agreement that the Claimant would return the vehicle to the Defendant for inspection and potential repair, which the Claimant had reneged upon. The judge stated that s23 of the CRA2015 places the onus on the Defendant to recover the vehicle.
Section 23 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states:
23 Right to repair or replacement
(1)This section applies if the consumer has the right to repair or replacement (see section 19(3) and (4)).
(2)If the consumer requires the trader to repair or replace the goods, the trader must—
(a)do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and
(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).
In this case, our member did not accept they were liable for repairs as the Claimant was unclear whether there was a crack in the cylinder or a head gasket failure. Our member had offered to inspect, and potentially repair the issue, but had not accepted the consumer had the right to repair in accordance with s23, and had invited the consumer to bring the vehicle to them. In the event, the consumer declined to do so and had a repair carried out by a third party.
The judge determined our member was liable for the repair, despite the clear MOT and trouble-free driving over three months. The judge determined our client could not evidence they had carried out a pre-delivery inspection as they could not produce paperwork to prove there was no fault at the point of sale, and therefore, determined our member had not rebutted the legal presumption against them.
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The Claimant was subsequently justified in seeking a remedy elsewhere, which was a third-party repair, and our member was liable for damages.
