Australia’s leading automotive industry body is aiming to help repairers with the vexed issue of defective parts and where they stand with the customer in a new guide.
In the second of its resources for collision repairers, the Motor Trades Association of Australia has teamed up with the Motor Body Repairers Association (AMBRA) and legal firm, HWLE Lawyers with the intention of giving repairers a better understanding of where they stand on the issue of defective parts.
It follows a guide on the legal obligations of repairers to customers and insurers when they use non-genuine parts released last month .
The new guide outlines what rights and obligations collision repairers have when the parts they have used for a repair are found to be defective.
It follows several scenarios including when the customer is covered by insurance, has had a cash settlement or is not insured.
Who is liable?
In the first scenario under an insurance arrangement, the guide notes a repairer using a defective part may have breached the contract with the insurer and “most likely will need to make good any defective work”.
It recommends repairers study the warranties of parts suppliers carefully to ensure defects or failures are covered and redress in the form of costs or replacements can be recovered.
However, the guide notes the situation changes when an insurer directs a repairer to use parts form a specific supplier against the recommendations of the repairer.
But as outlined in the first guide, the ability to recover costs from the insurer relies in this scenario when something goes wrong, depends on the repairer having the written evidence of this arrangement.
“If an insurer directs you to source parts for a repair from a particular supplier, but you prefer to use your own supplier, you should attempt to come to an agreement with the insurer,” the MTAA guide recommends.
“If an agreement cannot be reached and you believe that using the insurer’s suggested supplier is not the course of action you would recommend, ensure you obtain the insurer’s requirements in writing.”
Obligations to the customer
If the repairer is dealing with an uninsured customer, then their obligations are directly to that customer under Australian Consumer Law and the action taken depends on whether the defect is a major or a minor failure. The repairer’s relations with the supplier of the defective part become a separate issue.
The guide also recommends that prevention is the best course of action to mitigate risks and to “source parts from reputable suppliers and ensure that the terms of your acquisition provide at least basic protections against defective goods.”
Read the full guide here.