I sold my caravan a 1994 swift in august 08 two mouths later the guy rings me up , To say his insurance compamy ask him to have the van serivced.the who sericed the van it was un roadwothy , so he was asking me to pay for the repairs ,i told him the van was serivced in july 08 which he knew when he bought the van , I refused saying my serivce report had not said that the van was unroadworthy, some damp it was 16 years old. Now he as sent me 30 days notice of court action also saying its is going to cost £ 2,100 to repair the van , i only sold it for £2,650 .I would wecome anyones comments thanks stuart
selling a caravan privetly
- Thread starter stuart_374330338
- Start date
sorry for any mistakes my heads in bites , it was my first caravn , i have not got that sort of money
sorry stuart
sorry stuart
Hi Stuart,
It depends what assurances you gave him or didn't give him at the point of sale I think.
More to the point, what does his report say that is un-roadworthy?
It depends what assurances you gave him or didn't give him at the point of sale I think.
More to the point, what does his report say that is un-roadworthy?
To come back after 2 months to say the van is unworthy is pushing it a bit.Anything could have happened in that time.
As long as the van is sold as seen there is nothing he can do,On private sale you have no protection unless he could prove you knew the van was un road worthy.Up to the buyr to check it throughly.
I have never heard of an Insurance company asking to have a van serviced before.
You say you had it serviced in July and there was no mention of problems then i take it?
Show this report in court i wouldnt worry i know easy to say ,dont even come to an agreement.
As i said 2 months is a long time to find out you have a problem
Get JohnL on the case he knows his stuff.
As long as the van is sold as seen there is nothing he can do,On private sale you have no protection unless he could prove you knew the van was un road worthy.Up to the buyr to check it throughly.
I have never heard of an Insurance company asking to have a van serviced before.
You say you had it serviced in July and there was no mention of problems then i take it?
Show this report in court i wouldnt worry i know easy to say ,dont even come to an agreement.
As i said 2 months is a long time to find out you have a problem
Get JohnL on the case he knows his stuff.
Hold out, do not payup,if he has sent you notice of court action then wait for "offical" notification. Which I very much doubt will follow.
I have spoken to my serivce engineer , he says no way the van was un roadworthy there was some damp
Thank you for your recommendations, though I feel you confidence in me is actually misguided, I do not have legal training, so my advice is purely how I interpret what I (think) I know.
However from my perspective, the rules about sale of goods do have some bearing on private sales. Underlying virtually all private sales is the Latin phrase caveat emptor or buyer beware.
This fundamentally means that the buyer must satisfy them selves that the product is suitable for their needs. They must do this by putting all relevant questions to the seller before the transaction is completed.
The seller is obliged to answer all questions honestly, to falsify an answer could be construed as fraud, however the seller is not obliged to offer information that the potential purchased does not specifically ask for. So for example, if the caravan had only one wheel but the buyer did not ask 'how many wheels does it have? The seller is not obliged to offer the information. The buyer should inspect the goods, and ask about anything they are not sure of.
When the purchaser is satisfied with the answers they receive and have agreed the price, on completion of the transaction, the original seller is relinquished of all responsibilities to the sale, unless the buyer can show that the seller deliberately gave an untrue statement about the product.
Now the test of the situation is governed by civil law, and as such the judgement is based on the balance of probabilities of how the disputed action was conducted. As a rough guideline, if the transaction was completed in such a way that if a third party had observed the transaction, and was satisfied it was conducted honestly then it is likely the transaction will stand and the seller not held responsible for any subsequent issues.
However in this case, as you have been made aware of the buyer's dissatisfaction, I think it would be prudent to gather as much information as you can about how you conducted the sale. Copies of any documents that you may have used, and your service reports etc. Construct a log of the events as your recall they happened, and any of the questions your buyer actually asked, along with the answers you gave and keep this ready.
As others have already written, don't do anything else, until the buyer actually issues the summons. If you do receive a summons, then that is the time to seek professional legal advice such as the CAB or a solicitor.
Based on the information you have supplied, I doubt that you will be deemed responsible for the cost of repairs, mainly because the caravan is of a substantial age, and any purchaser should be aware of the natural deterioration that does occur, and also the buyer has waited a substantial time before bringing the issue to your attention. But it very much depends on the details of how you conducted the sale.
However from my perspective, the rules about sale of goods do have some bearing on private sales. Underlying virtually all private sales is the Latin phrase caveat emptor or buyer beware.
This fundamentally means that the buyer must satisfy them selves that the product is suitable for their needs. They must do this by putting all relevant questions to the seller before the transaction is completed.
The seller is obliged to answer all questions honestly, to falsify an answer could be construed as fraud, however the seller is not obliged to offer information that the potential purchased does not specifically ask for. So for example, if the caravan had only one wheel but the buyer did not ask 'how many wheels does it have? The seller is not obliged to offer the information. The buyer should inspect the goods, and ask about anything they are not sure of.
When the purchaser is satisfied with the answers they receive and have agreed the price, on completion of the transaction, the original seller is relinquished of all responsibilities to the sale, unless the buyer can show that the seller deliberately gave an untrue statement about the product.
Now the test of the situation is governed by civil law, and as such the judgement is based on the balance of probabilities of how the disputed action was conducted. As a rough guideline, if the transaction was completed in such a way that if a third party had observed the transaction, and was satisfied it was conducted honestly then it is likely the transaction will stand and the seller not held responsible for any subsequent issues.
However in this case, as you have been made aware of the buyer's dissatisfaction, I think it would be prudent to gather as much information as you can about how you conducted the sale. Copies of any documents that you may have used, and your service reports etc. Construct a log of the events as your recall they happened, and any of the questions your buyer actually asked, along with the answers you gave and keep this ready.
As others have already written, don't do anything else, until the buyer actually issues the summons. If you do receive a summons, then that is the time to seek professional legal advice such as the CAB or a solicitor.
Based on the information you have supplied, I doubt that you will be deemed responsible for the cost of repairs, mainly because the caravan is of a substantial age, and any purchaser should be aware of the natural deterioration that does occur, and also the buyer has waited a substantial time before bringing the issue to your attention. But it very much depends on the details of how you conducted the sale.
Thank you for your comment,
I have just realised that if you made it clear to the buyer that the caravan was 'SOLD AS SEEN' then he definitely cannot have any come back unless you gave false information.
If you did state sold as seen, the you could write back to the buyer pointing this out, and declining outright to accept any responsibility for condition and cost of subsequent repairs after the date of sale.
I hope this helps.
I have just realised that if you made it clear to the buyer that the caravan was 'SOLD AS SEEN' then he definitely cannot have any come back unless you gave false information.
If you did state sold as seen, the you could write back to the buyer pointing this out, and declining outright to accept any responsibility for condition and cost of subsequent repairs after the date of sale.
I hope this helps.
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