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'Serious
time-wasting and frustrating hassles'
Caravan Council
helps owners of 'lemon' caravans cut legal fees
Have your say
THE Caravan Council of Australia is striving to help owners of "lemon"
caravans cut the legal costs of getting justice.
General manager Colin Young (pictured right) said some faced "serious time-wasting and
frustrating hassles" trying to get suppliers to honour their legal
obligations to fix defects.
"Quite often, caravanners have been bitterly disappointed after lodging a
complaint," he said.
They often faced an agonising 'Catch-22' situation, with solicitors often
quoting high and unaffordable fees merely for initiating a legal action.
A professional engineering report was often needed to justify the owner's
claims, with expert witness reports costing a few thousand dollars, Mr
Young said.
But the Caravan Council of Australia is now
endeavouring to slash the cost of having a "Letter of Demand" sent to the
caravan supplier by liaising with suitable highly-experienced solicitors
and professional engineers.
The idea is to provide an effective low-cost alternative procedure to the
current expensive litigation process.
"Rather than requiring a complete legally-acceptable Expert Witness
Report, the engineer will provide a signed and succinct Preliminary
Engineering Report to the solicitor that will be adequate to enable the
solicitor to compile and forward a Letter of Demand to the caravan
supplier," Mr Young explained.
"The Preliminary Engineering Report will be solely based on information
provided by the caravan owner who will be required to provide a statutory
declaration stating that all information and documentation supplied to the
engineer is true and correct and pertains to the subject caravan."
For more information, contact Mr Young at
caravancouncil@optusnet.com.au
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permission of Dennis Amor.
Copyright 2005
Dennis Amor All Rights Reserved
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