Warranty or Statutory Rights

We regularly find there is a lot of confusion regarding how warranties and consumer rights interact.

First of all, I will state it is not a legal requirement to provide a warranty, although the opposite  is incorrectly quoted more times than I care to remember.

Our members are well aware of the three timeframes of a claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA):

1. If a fault occurs within 30 days post purchase, and the fault was developing when sold, the vehicle may be deemed of unsatisfactory quality. In this scenario, the consumer is entitled to  reject the vehicle without having a repair done first.
2. If a fault occurs after 30 days post purchase, the CRA presumes the fault was developing when the vehicle was sold, unless the trader can prove otherwise. If the trader cannot prove the fault was not developing when sold, then they have the right to repair.
3. If a fault occurs after six months post purchase, the CRA presumes the fault was not developing when sold, and the onus switches to the consumer to prove it was.

The above is a very basic summary of the timeframes the CRA 2015 works to.

We all regularly hear comments that a warranty covers consumer rights and there is a cut off of those rights once the warranty expires. Unfortunately, this is not true.

A warranty is the equivalent of an insurance policy. Just as insurance policies have different terms and conditions, so do warranties. Some are very comprehensive, covering a range of issues with a large claim limit, and others cover just a few main items on the vehicle, with a low claim limit.

Here are some scenarios to illustrate how warranties and consumer rights interact:

1. A fault occurs which would be the trader’s responsibility under the CRA, but there is a warranty which will cover the entirety of the claim. In this scenario, the trader isn’t required to make any payment and the customer gets their vehicle repaired.
2. A fault occurs which would not be the trader’s responsibility under the CRA, but there is a warranty which will cover the entirety of the claim. In this scenario, the trader isn’t required to make any payment and the consumer gets their vehicle repaired.
3. A fault occurs which would be the trader’s responsibility under the CRA, and the warranty has expired, does not cover the fault, or the claims limit is exceeded by the repair. In this scenario, the trader needs to pay for the repair or pay the amount of the repair over and above the warranty claim limit.
4. A fault occurs which would not be the trader’s responsibility under the CRA, and the warranty has expired, does not cover the fault, or the claims limit is exceeded by the repair. In this scenario, the consumer needs to pay for the repair, or pay the amount of the repair over and above the warranty claim limit. 

So, when such a scenario arises, you need to assess the consumer rights and the warranty positions, before you can decide how best to deal with the claim as a whole.

Warranties are a great tool in offsetting cash flow issues and can be as beneficial to the trader as they are to the consumer, but they are not the silver bullet to consumer complaints, and a consumer’s rights must always be borne in mind.

Lawgistics are here to advise you on exactly those situations as and when they arise, so get early advice and nip any claims in the bud with our expert knowledge.

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Darren FletcherLegal AdvisorRead More by this author