We would like to take the opportunity to wish clients a very happy and prosperous 2011. To help you ease into the New Year here are some Lawgistics Top Tips to make your lives a little less stressful.
Tip 1 – When you see it, it seems obvious, but remember to get a full name and address of your customers and employees. These are the people that you may need to take legal action against eg abandoning a car without paying, not attending work etc.
Tip 2 – Be cautious when considering being helpful. If someone complains give it consideration before spending the earth in time and money trying to sort it out. You may not be liable to do so and once you start you can then make yourself liable!
Tip 3 – It is a clear offence to sell an unroadworthy car ie a car that would not pass an MOT test. Give some thought to putting an MOT on all the cars you sell. It makes for very good evidence of basic safety and roadworthiness when a complaint about tyres, lights etc is made. A vehicle will become defective when used through normal wear and tear and eventually components fail. This does not mean the vehicle was defective when sold and hence the MOT pass reduces your liability for selling an unroadworthy or unsatisfactory vehicle.
Tip 4 – Do not try and avoid Sale of Goods rights with the old chestnuts of ‘spares and repairs’, ‘sold for scrap’, etc. If you are selling a car for someone to drive around in then it has got to be ‘of satisfactory quality’ when you sell it. (See Tip 3 above to help you with this).
Tip 5 – Unfortunately people do not always tell the truth so check and double check. Has the coolant really not been topped up just before the car was brought in, will the technician really pay you next week for that part, does the partner really agree the car can be sold, does your business partner really plan on looking after the business the way you do? So it goes on. If it’s a business you are running be business-like in all that you do.
AND FINALLY – IT’S SELFISH BUT:-
Tip 6 – Help us to help you. Think ahead. If something needs dealing with in a certain timescale let us know straightaway. Don’t leave it in the in-tray and then expect an impossible service. You are not our only client and we are constantly juggling with deadlines. It’s not a moan – we just want to give you the best service we can.
On average 55 vulnerabilities are identified daily.
What can I do?
Review your organisations priorities and ask ‘can we afford a breach?’. What do I do during an incident? Who do I involve? When do I involve the ICO?
If you’re unable to answers these questions, you need help from the experts.
