STOLEN CARS AND "OWNER'S RISK" Your car is stolen after you leave it at a vehicle service centre for repair. "It's your fault my car was stolen", you tell the repairer, "So pay me out please". "No way!" replies the repairer. "Look over there at that notice on the wall: 'Vehicles Are Left At Owner's Risk'. The loss is yours." "But I didn't see that notice when I left the car with you, and no one drew my attention to it" you retort. "Tough" says the repairer. "Sue me". So you sue him - who's going to win? Unfortunately not you, as the Supreme Court of Appeal has recently confirmed, if the service centre "acted sufficiently reasonably in bringing to the attention of its customers in general, and to [you] in particular, the existence of the owner's risk notice". Whether or not you actually saw the notice is irrelevant, provided it wasn't "located in a misleading manner". The Court cleared the service centre of all liability after finding that notices had been "prominently displayed, in clear and unambiguous terms, on notice boards at the respondent's passenger vehicle office, at the entrance to the reception and at the cashier's window". Recent Articles for February 2010; Source: www.dotnews.co.za |
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