Many caravan and camper-trailer owners, who have majorproblems with their vehicle - and cannot get their Supplier (Dealer) to rectify them (as is legally required under the Provisions of the Australian Consumer Law) - have serious time-wasting and frustrating hassles, trying to have the Supplierforced to honour their legal obligations to fix the defects.
Quite often, 'vanners have been bitterly disappointed after they lodged a complaint with the ACCC, or their State Consumer Affairs / Fair Trading, realising that it was not a simple and fast matter of getting the Supplier to rectify "Defects", even apparent "Major Failures".
Many 'vanners then clearly appreciate that they would be hopelessly "pushing water uphill" without taking legal action action against the Supplier to compel them to live up to their obligations, and to rectify the problems.
Without having any Court / Tribunal experience - and without having sufficient knowledge of the VSB1 and ACL Requirements and Provisions - most 'vanners quickly realise that they need to engage a solicitor to handle their case. They well appreciate that they would hopelessly "have their backs to the wall", as no doubt the Supplier will have had their solicitor prepare their Defence documentation, and even if not permitted to have legal representation in a Hearing, they will have been well-versed on what to say, and what not to say.
For a lot of 'vanners, they face an agonising "Catch-22" situation, as solicitors often quote fees - just for initiating a legal action - that are extremely high and often unaffordable, and needless to say, require a professional Engineering Report in order to justify their Claims. Expert Witness Reports may well cost a few thousand dollars.
The Caravan Council of Australia is endeavouring to slash the cost of having a "Letter of Demand" sent to the caravan Supplier, by liaising with a number of suitable highly-experienced solicitors and professional engineers, to provide an effective low-cost alternative procedure to the current expensive litigation process.
Rather than requiring a complete legally-acceptable Expert WitnessReport, the engineer will provide a signed 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.
The Preliminary Engineering Report will be solely based on information provided by the caravan owner. The caravan owner 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.
