I have a swift challenger x 835. It was purchased in 2021 and has been used for 8 weeks spread over the 2 years. My wife was opening the kitchen window and it was not catching so she persisted and then the whole window fell out. I have been to the dealer and asked for it to be covered under its warranty as windows should not fall out. They claim it is not a warranty issue. I am not accepting this and have contacted Swift and made it clear I will enforce legal action through the small claims court as it must be defective. Has anyone lese had this issue.
WINDOW FALLING OUT.
- Thread starter Richard Pim
- Start date
I have not heard of that before. Your contract is with the Dealer and if normal precedent is followed you are unlikely to hear anything from Swift. The Small Claims Online court is an excellent approach to seeking redress. You may not be aware that on the Which website there is a "letter generator" that drafts quite a hard hitting letter for buyer to send to a seller, and it nicely quotes the specific sections of the Consumer rights Act 2015. I would send that as a staring point. You can modify it to exactly suit your circumstances. I used it to get redress on faulty domestic item. I suspect your dealer wants you to claim on your caravan insurance rather than their warranty. But of course that could affect your future premiums. If the "Which generated letter plus SCC doesn't bring any progress , recently a member got their insurer to examine a van with a body defect and the assessor was quite positive that the fault should not have arisen and was a makers defect. The matter then progressed to a satisfactory conclusion when the Dealer plus Maker recognised the issue was theirs.
Good luck and keep us updated please
Good luck and keep us updated please
Hello Richard,
It's not reasonable that window stay should fail to function, which was the original fault, and becasue of that failure it seems the window has also now detached.
Many caravan windows are designed to be removable (once opened) so perhaps your wife accidentally managed to do that in her struggle to make the faulty stay work. Without being able to see the actual problem or results I can't tell you if the window can simply be rehung or if it has suffered damage to its hinging system. Pictures can often be very helpful.
You don't tell us if you purchased the caravan new or secondhand, If it was second hand then the when was the caravan originally sold?
With regards to the manufacturer's warranty, legally the manufacturer does not have to give a warranty, so the fact they do means they can decide exactly what they will cover and for how long, It generally also includes certain stipulations about what the owner must do to retain the cover of the warranty, for example:- scheduled services, and inspections, and they must be carried out by approved service providers. Failure to comply is a breach with the warranties terms & conditions and can render the warranty void.
If a caravan with any remaining manufacturers warranty is sold, the warranty does not automatically transfer to the new owner. The T&C's will explain if and how any remaining warranty can be transferred or not.
However, every time a retail sale is made (new or secondhand) in the UK the Consumer Rights Act comes into play. This only affects you and who ever sold you the caravan (not the manufacturer) except where if you used finance then the finance house and the dealer has a joint liability.
For the Consumer Associations Which? web page about the CRA click here
It's not reasonable that window stay should fail to function, which was the original fault, and becasue of that failure it seems the window has also now detached.
Many caravan windows are designed to be removable (once opened) so perhaps your wife accidentally managed to do that in her struggle to make the faulty stay work. Without being able to see the actual problem or results I can't tell you if the window can simply be rehung or if it has suffered damage to its hinging system. Pictures can often be very helpful.
You don't tell us if you purchased the caravan new or secondhand, If it was second hand then the when was the caravan originally sold?
With regards to the manufacturer's warranty, legally the manufacturer does not have to give a warranty, so the fact they do means they can decide exactly what they will cover and for how long, It generally also includes certain stipulations about what the owner must do to retain the cover of the warranty, for example:- scheduled services, and inspections, and they must be carried out by approved service providers. Failure to comply is a breach with the warranties terms & conditions and can render the warranty void.
If a caravan with any remaining manufacturers warranty is sold, the warranty does not automatically transfer to the new owner. The T&C's will explain if and how any remaining warranty can be transferred or not.
However, every time a retail sale is made (new or secondhand) in the UK the Consumer Rights Act comes into play. This only affects you and who ever sold you the caravan (not the manufacturer) except where if you used finance then the finance house and the dealer has a joint liability.
For the Consumer Associations Which? web page about the CRA click here
Thank you for your reply. The caravan was purchased new in March 2021 and has had annual services. It has only been used for 8 weeks. The window was damaged from falling out and the plastic splintered down the right hand side thus ensuring a perfect seal can no longer be made which will make it vulnerable to water ingress. I was present when in attempting to get the window to stay open the window fell out. It has a 3 year warranty and windows are covered.
Thank you for replying. It is good advice and I think the dealer is trying to fob me off. I will be pursuing this and will take court action as a window should not be able to fall out through normal operational use.
Thank you for the extra detail.
As forum members can't see the actual failure, we can only base our comments on what you have told us. but assuming your report is fair, then it would appear the window stay has failed, and the breakage of the window is a secondary consequence of the failure. At face value it reads as thought it should be covered by the manufacturer's warranty.
If the manufacturer has declined to accept the claim, you need to get them to explain why its not covered. They should also have information in their warranty T&C's if they offer any sort of arbitration process when a claim is disputed, and you may decide to use it.
I'm not saying it's impossible to take action against the manufacture, but it would only be for breach of their warranty process, not for the fault itself as the law only recognises the person or business that sells the goods to you has a liability to you.
The Consumer Rights Act has no connection with the manufacturer's warranty scheme, and a refusal under the Manufacturer's warranty does not affect your rights under the CRA that is law.
If you were to consider court action, it would normally be against the seller with whom you had the contract.
Whilst I believe the advice we have given is sensible, because this is a anonymous forum, you should always seek to verify the advice we give from a traceable source (such as the Which? link I gave earlier) before acting on anything.
Dealer; as that is who your contract is with. CRA 2015 relates wholly to Buyer-Seller disputes. If the Dealer wishes to involve Swift that is their decision..
Parksy
Moderator
The members involved may notice that I've deleted several posts which appear to have stemmed from a misunderstanding.
I'm sure that the individuals affected added their views in good faith, but these slight differences of opinion which are basically making the same point add nothing to the forum and are likely to deter new forum member from continuing to use this forum.
Sorry guys, but the topic is back on track now. 🙂
I'm sure that the individuals affected added their views in good faith, but these slight differences of opinion which are basically making the same point add nothing to the forum and are likely to deter new forum member from continuing to use this forum.
Sorry guys, but the topic is back on track now. 🙂
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