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A number of facts omitted from your post and which may be of relevance to your case.

No point in complaining about a warranty contract that you have, apparently, failed to comply with. The Bailey warranty, same as all others, is subject to conditions about having the van serviced within very specific time parameters. Fail to do that and the warranty is void due to a breach of contract.

What you need to consider is whether you have any case against the original seller of the van. If you bought it from a dealer then the Sale of Goods Act may assist you. If you bought the van privately then you are probably stuck with the problem for you to resolve.

So, who did you buy the van from?

Did you buy it new or secondhand?

What representations were made to you about the condition of the van?

Who carried the repair to the back end? Was this by a dealer/caravan repairer or self help? You may have a claim against the repairer if that person was running a business under the Supply of Goods and Services Act.

Answer the above points and I may be able to give you a few pointers to fight your cause.

Phil 

If the rotting is in the area where the panel was fitted then it suggests that the fitting was done in a poor manner. Under the Supply of Goods and Services Act they are required to use reasonable skill and care in undertaking that work. If Leisure Sales are able to confirm that the work was to a poor standard, resulting in water ingress, then you may have a cause of action against Duncans for breach of contract such that they are obliged to remedy the problem

Phil

It would be helpful for you to have the views of Leisure Sales for that meeting

Phil

Interesting issue raised in this thread about warranties where part of your caravan is replaced. In this case a new back end.

You get your new caravan and it has the usual 6 year water ingress warranty from the manufacturer. One year after you have bought it a defect is discovered and that is repaired. At that point you have a five year warranty on the van including that new part. Why not 6 years for that new part?

In such a case, if the work is being done by the manufacturer under warranty then ask them if they will provide a six year warranty for the new part/work. If the dealer is doing the work, otherwise than under warranty instructions from the manufacturer (i.e. Sale of Goods Act obligation) always ask the dealer waht kind of warranty it will provide in relation to the work. If you can get a nicely worded warranty, in addition to your Supply of Goods and Services Act rights (see my earlier post) that is an added bonus. Saves hassle if the works go wrong. The Dealer could cover its position by the purchase of warranty insurance and probably pass the cost on, but that is a small price to pay for the avoidance of the hassle the OP is experiencing.

How many of you have ever though of asking for warranty for work undertaken (in addition to your statutory rights) and how many just assume that everything will be hunkydory and there will never be any need to have that repair revisited?

Then, (another issue) when you buy your van from a dealer, your statutory rights run for six years from the date of purchase, but your rights in respect of defective repairs during that six year period run for a different period of six years from the date of that repair.

Just a point to bear in mind - don't just look at the entire van when you have a problem, you may need to consider different time limits for different parts of the van.

So, for example, your van needs a new window after two years due to the polyplastic panels touching each other and scratching and the dealer replaces it under the three year parts warranty. One year later that three year warranty expires but six months later the new window goes the way of the old one. The dealer then claims that your three year warranty has expired. You still have your Sale of Goods Act remedy as the window is only 18 months old, but if you also had a three year warranty on that new window your Dealer has a problem avoiding the issue

Phil

When having the last service of the warranty better to have it in the six weeks BEFORE the anniversary of the perchase date, then there can be no quibble.

It tends to be a condition of the warranty that your last service before the warranty expires is before that anniversary date

Phil

We have a 2006 Swift and had damp repair to the rear end of the van last year under the 6 year ingress warranty.  We bought the van in 2009 and had the warranty transferred.

We now find damp again in the rear of the van due to ingress, investigations ongoing as to where and how, but of course last years warranty work is suspected.

Firstly, I did ask at the time about warranty for the repairs, I was told that these were included in the original warranty and there would be no separate one for these, nor did they offer to sell me one.  And secondly, we now find out that the warranty runs from the date of first registration of the van which in our case was actually 2005, even though all our paperwork states we have a 2006 model.  So our warranty ran out sooner than we thought it would!  Another thing to bear in mind when buying a new van off the forecourt.

We are now facing a hefty repair bill, and our caravanning future is in doubt.

Quote: Originally posted by Anniemacxx on 27/6/2012

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 for the repairs, I was told that these were included in the original to warranty

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Quote: Originally posted by andyjack on 27/6/2012

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Quote: Originally posted by Anniemacxx on 27/6/2012

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 for the repairs, I was told that these were included in the original to warranty

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this is how it is with a ca,r if you have a new part fitted under warranty and car has only 6mth left to run new part is only covered for remainder of the 6mth NOT the 12mth the part bought alone would have had

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With respect to Jas and andyjack, I think that you are missing an important point here and that is that warranties do not replace your statutory rights. You all need to recognise that when you have a warranty you have two contracts that you can enforce – the warranty and your statutory rights. The warranty runs for as long as it says and is subject only to the terms of that warranty. Your statutory rights run for six years from the date of your contract.

I have mentioned the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and which implies certain conditions into your contract for the supply of goods (e.g. the new parts fitted to your van) or services (e.g the actual fitting of the parts).  The early sections of this Act replicate the provisions in the Sale of Goods Act in relation to the fact that the goods (or parts) must be of satisfactory quality etc. As regards the contract for services it is implied into that by the 1982 Act that the person undertaking the work, in the course of its business, will use reasonable skill and care. A “contract” includes any agreement for the supply of services even if there is no money paid for those services, as is the case when you have work done under warranty.

So, work under your warranty may be done in year five of a six year warranty giving you one year to make a further claim, but time to bring an action for breach of contract for the repair starts to run for six years from the date of that repair and that can be beyond the term of your warranty. In this case, where the repairs are defective then your statutory rights for compensation, or a new repair, are against the person doing the work, if that person is doing it in the course of its business. So, your defective repair may give you a cause of action against the Dealer or, if the manufacturer did the repair, then against that manufacturer. The time period for bringing, six years, is set out in the Limitation Acts.

It is too easy for a Dealer to say that you are out of time for seeking compensation because your warranty has run out, because most consumers are not fully conversant with their rights, and they can get away with fobbing folk off. It is also the case that, perhaps, some Dealers are not aware of the law and are giving what they think is an honest response to your claim for damages. It is up to cocnsumers to be aware of their rights otherwise they lose out. This is where message boards are invaluable.

So, if the repair has not been undertaken using reasonable skill and care, which could be the case where water still comes in (see my post above 24/6/2012 at 6:59pm) then they are in breach of the statutorily implied terms in your contract for that repair.

Difference between a warranty claim and a statutory claim is that they (generally) just get on with it under warranty but for your statutory claim you have to proove that they are in breach. So it helps your cause if you get a specific warranty for the repair rather than to have to rely on the statutory procedure if that repair goes wrong.

So, Anniemac when you say "We are now facing a hefty repair bill, and our caravanning future is in doubt." There is merit in getting an independent expert to look at the van to provide you with ammunition against the company that did the repair. Then a letter from a Solicitor outlining a breach of your statutory rights, if the company doing the work will not deal with it once you have explained their obligations. 

Phil 

Phil,

This is very interesting regarding your position under the SOG Act. Could I ask you to explain if the same rights exist if the van was secondhand, and would the same rights exist if you bought a secondhand car from a dealer, as most just give a 3 or 6 month warranty and I am certain folks get caught out and stump up for repairs.

Thanks for your help on here it is invaluable to many, you are a good man !!