Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand

Consumer law / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant purchased a vehicle from Respondent for $10,000 / Applicant claimed the vehicle experienced technical issues after he bought it and the car was no longer road worthy / Applicant rejected the car and claimed $18,793.22 for the purchase price, consequential losses, and the filing fee / Held: car was not of acceptable quality due to its faults and above all was no longer drivable /  Applicant entitled to a refund as the goods have a failure of substantial character / Respondent ordered to pay $11,748.44 for cost of the car and consequential losses / Disputes Tribunal unable to award the filing fee / Claim granted in part.  

Negligence / Traffic Law / Applicant and Respondent’s vehicles were involved in a collision / Applicant and his insurer claimed that the Respondent caused the collision by failing to give way / Applicant sought damages of $10,829.57 / Held: Respondent had an obligation to give way to Applicant’s car and failed to do so, thereby causing the collision / Applicant’s driving did not cause the collision / Applicant and insurer proved that the amount claimed was reasonable for repair costs / Respondent must pay Applicant’s insurer $10,829.57 / Claim allowed.

Contract / Building Act 2004 (BA) / Applicant purchased newbuild from Respondent / Dispute over remedial work arose / Fault with kitchen tap caused water damage to flooring / Respondent delayed in repairing leaking shower hose / Applicant had items stolen allegedly due to improper security design and lighting / Applicant claims $23,992 for kitchen repairs, anxiety and stress, keys, replacement shower house, value of stolen items, plus work order to further secure property / Respondent counterclaimed $3815.56 / Held: Respondent breached contract by failing to remedy leaking kitchen tap in reasonable time and failing to provide Applicant with keys and Applicant breached contract by failing to pay balance of purchase price on settlement date / 16 day delay in arranging plumber for kitchen issues was unreasonable and Respondent liable for damaged flooring as consequential loss of leaking tap / Respondent not liable for shower hose as Respondent attempted to remedy issue / Compensation for …

Contract / Applicant provided immigration services to the Respondent and its clients / Terms of the agreement were detailed in a contract / After the relationship ended the Applicant invoiced Respondent for services she had provided for Visa applications that were not approved / Applicant stated she had not invoiced these throughout the relationship / The reason given was as Respondent had refused to pay for the first declined VISA application and she did not want to jeopardise the relationship / Applicant claimed $9,092.50 for unpaid invoices / Whether the parties agreed that Applicant was to be paid for all Visa applications that she made or only those that were approved / Held: likely that the Applicant was not to be paid for all Visa applications that she made, only those that were approved / If a visa was not approved then a client will not arrive in New Zealand / The provision that Applicant would be paid a commission when a client arrives in New Zealand was therefore likely cond…

Consumer law / Consumer Guarantees Act 1986 (CGA) / Fair Trading Act 1993 (FTA) / Applicant was customer of Respondent who provided gas bottle deliveries / Applicant believed they were overcharged for 31 deliveries and was not told signing a 12 month contract would reduce rate charged or about other discounts / Respondent terminated services to Applicant following Applicant making complaint / Applicant claimed $1318 as refund of overcharged amount / Held: unproven that services provided by Respondent to Applicant breached the CGA / Applicant engaged Respondent on ongoing basis meaning either party could terminate arrangement / Respondent's terms and condition allow changes in pricing with notification to customers which Applicant had received / Reasonable service and price obligations on Respondent did not require standardised pricing nor informing customers of promotions / Customer's responsibility to seek information on the best deal for services / No breach of FTA for same reasons /…

Negligence / Contributory Negligence Act 1947 / Applicant struck cattle beast owned by Respondent while driving his vehicle / Applicant and Respondent claimed damages / Held: both parties contributed to cause of crash / Respondent had a duty to warn drivers and exercise due care / Applicant failed his duty of care by not slowing significantly to ascertain what was happening ahead / Proportion of liability is 60% for Respondent and 40% for Applicant / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant's insurer $7,657.48 / Claim allowed in part.

Contract / Applicants contracted Respondent to photograph their wedding / Contract provided for album, online gallery, video highlight, physical prints / Applicants received online gallery containing duplicate photos from only part of wedding / Applicants did not receive video or other physical items in contract / Applicants claimed $3800 as refund / Held: Respondent breached contract by failing to provide agreed albums, prints, video highlight and other items outlined in contract / Respondent also breached term relating to online gallery as photos did not accurately represent entirety of day / Applicants entitled to be put back into position they would have been in if contract was performed / Respondent to provide Applicants all unedited photos and video footage and pay $1500 refund / Claim allowed.  

Consumer law / Acceptable quality / Consumer Guarantees Act 1986 / Applicant purchased  mattress online for $549 plus $109 delivery / Applicant claimed $658 refund as mattress sagged on both sides after 3 months causing back pain and provided photos showing sagging / Respondent argued sagging due to expected foam compression, and said there was no defect as mattress low-priced, firmness subjective / Held: mattress not proven defective or below acceptable quality / Applicant’s photos unconvincing and price paid relevant to expectation of good’s performance / Applicant did not disclose mattress’ specific purpose or back condition to Respondent / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Consumers Guarantee Act 1993 “CGA” / Applicant hired Respondent to install steel roof, repair tiles on roof, supply and install new mains power supply, and the installation and ducting of new rangehood / Applicant claims refund for defects for all areas of work / Held: Goods are to be provided with reasonable skill and care / Respondent not liable for any issues regarding internal gutter and pitch /  Respondent to remove roof and refund Applicant / Concrete tiles are in reasonable condition and Applicant’s tile claim not made / Drip tray to be replaced / Claim allowed / Respondent to pay Applicant $8057.56.

Contract / Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017/ Applicant claimed for work completed on Respondent’s behalf in relation to an employment issue / Respondent disputed that the Applicant was ever instructed / Respondent stated there was no contractual relationship between the parties / Held: evidence indicated that the Respondent did not accept the Applicant’s offer/ Respondent did not form a contract with the Applicant for their services / An individual not communicating that they do not want a business to act for them cannot be construed as acceptance / No valid contract between the Applicant and Respondent / Applicant had not been engaged / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Misrepresentation / Contracts and Commercial Law Act 2017 / Applicants purchased property from Respondents / Just prior to settlement, central heating unit developed a fault which could not be repaired prior to settlement / Applicants moved in and raised the issue with the selling agent who organised for it to be repaired / Applicant was advised that the unit was not sufficiently powerful to heat the lounge downstairs / Applicant claimed the lounge downstairs was cold and he had to install a gas heating unit worth $19,081.72 / Applicant believed he was misled as the property was sold as being a “lovely warm home” / Respondent stated he found the heating to be sufficient / Respondent submitted the house had been built to code / Held: evidence did not show the property was misrepresented / Whether the unit sufficiently heated the lounge was a subjective matter / At the time of sale, no specific representation about the effectiveness of the central heating unit / Claim not prov…

Consumer law / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant purchased computer components from Respondent / Applicant discovered a small amount of damage on the motherboard but proceeded to install it only to discover that it could not contact the processor chip / Applicant then contacted Respondent who declined to replace the motherboard as it had been installed and so it could not rule out that the damage had been caused by installation, rather than being present on delivery / Applicant claimed $299.00, being the price he paid for the motherboard / Held: was more likely than not that the Applicant received the motherboard in a damaged state / Failure was of substantial character / Applicant entitled to receive a full refund of the purchase price of $299.00 / Claim allowed.

Tort /  Disputes Tribunal Act 1988 / Parties were in a romantic relationship for 80 months / Applicant claimed the Respondent took money from a joint bank account without his knowledge / All funds deposited in the account came from the Applicant / Respondent counterclaimed for compensation for lost income and other costs related to stress and harassment from the breakdown of the relationship / Respondent also claimed $28,350 for the work she did looking after the Respondent during their relationship after he suffered an injury / Held: Tribunal only had jurisdiction of the claim based in tort related to property / Taking of money from a bank account a form of economic loss / Money not defined as property in the legislation / Lack of jurisdiction to hear the claim / Respondent did not counterclaim for damage or loss of property in stress and harassment related compensation so unsuccessful claim / Respondent unsuccessful in claim for payment for looking after Applicant after he suffered a…