Types of claim
Claims heard by the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal come under the three Acts relating to the Tribunal. Here are some examples.
The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal can hear claims about motor vehicle sales that may have breached the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, or the Sale of Goods Act 1908.
Your claim must be against a motor vehicle trader, not a private seller. For disputes over private vehicle sales contact the Disputes Tribunal.
Claims under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
The Tribunal can hear claims for breaches of the guarantees in the Consumer Guarantees Act. These guarantees are:
- title - the trader's right to sell the goods or any undisclosed security
- quality - that the vehicle is of "acceptable quality" at the date of sale
- fitness for purpose - that the vehicle is reasonably fit for any purpose made known to the trader as the purpose for which it was being bought by the purchaser
- vehicle complies with description - that the vehicle corresponds to its description
- vehicle complies with sample or demonstration model
- price - that the purchaser isn’t liable to pay more than a reasonable price if the price isn’t determined by the contract
- availability of repairs and spare parts - that the manufacturer will ensure facilities exist to repair the vehicle and that spare parts are available for a reasonable period after the vehicle is supplied.
Claims under the Fair Trading Act 1986
The Tribunal can hear claims for a breach of the Fair Trading Act. The most common scenario is when the trader has misled the purchaser about the vehicle, or the trader has misled the purchaser about the terms of a vehicle’s sale.
There are also provisions under the Fair Trading Act for claims regarding misleading behaviour about the existence, exclusion or effect of any warranty or guarantee offered with a vehicle. For example, it would be a breach of the Fair Trading Act for a trader to tell you that no warranty or guarantee applies to a sale when in fact the Consumer Guarantees Act applies.
Claims under the Sale of Goods Act 1908
The Tribunal can hear claims that the vehicle sold was not in a fit state to be sold, or that the sale otherwise breached the Sale of Goods Act.
The Sale of Goods Act may however be excluded by the express agreement of the parties, and a number of its provisions are excluded if the Consumer Guarantees Act applies.
