Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand

Contract / Property / Applicant purchased land from Respondent to provide access to property / Agreement was for Applicant to grant easement over land to allow Respondent continued access to their land / Respondent failed to sign required documents and no new certificate of title was issued or easement registered / Respondent later sold to third party who informed Applicant they did not have legal right to access their property / Applicant required to reach further agreement with new owners to grant an easement / Applicants claimed $30,000 from Respondents being price to obtain an easement in a previous claim / Applicants claimed further expenses totalling $29,858.00  for additional costs associated with obtaining the easement from the third party /  Held: Applicants have attempted to divide their cause of action into two claims contrary to s 15 of DT Act / Applicants cannot bring such a split claim in an attempt to obtain a figure greater than the $30,000 Disputes Tribunal limit / Cla…

Consumer law / Applicant purchased vehicle from Respondent advertised as having 17” tyres / Applicant later discovered spare tyre was 16” / Applicant claimed $610.22 to upgrade tyre / Held: advertisement did not exclude spare tyre / Reasonable consumer would expect spare to match other tyres / Manufacturer specification required same size type tyres to be used / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $610.22 and to collect 16” tyre within three weeks after payment / Claim allowed.

Negligence / Applicant’s car collided with Second Respondent’s forklift / Second Respondent was employed by First Respondent / Second Respondent reversed forklift onto wrong side of road near intersection / Applicant left with limited time to brake and car collided with forklift / Respondents’ denied liability / Applicant claimed $2,734.63 in repair costs / Held: Second Respondent failed to take reasonable care and was negligent / Second Respondent also contributed to collision / Failed to take reasonable care by not paying attention to the road and not giving way at intersection / Contributory negligence assessed at 65% for Applicant and 35% for Respondents / First Respondent to pay Applicant $957.12 / Claim allowed in part.

Contract / Respondents and Applicant farm neighbouring properties / Respondent swapped use of digger for various farm assistance from Applicant / Applicant claimed $14,033.87 for the value of grazing cattle / Dispute over whether value of digger use was greater than, equal too, or less than the value of assistance provided by Applicant / Held: Applicant did not have contractual right to fee sought / Applicant can claim quasi-contract for restitutionary compensation for value provided in the exchange / Values of services exchanged assessed in light of equitable consideration not market value / Applicant provided grazing services and animal health products to value of approximately $5,904.00 and $1,250.00 respectively / Respondent provided digger use to a value of $1,600.00 to be subtracted from the value owed to the Applicant / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $5,554.000 / Claim allowed in part. 

Negligence / Applicant’s vehicle was stationary at traffic lights when Respondent’s vehicle collided with it / Applicant claimed Respondent reversed into his vehicle while Respondent claimed Applicant drove into his vehicle / Applicant claimed $1,346.54 in damages / Held: on balance of probabilities more likely that Respondent either reversed or allowed his car to roll back into Applicant’s vehicle / Respondent failed to take reasonable care while driving and was negligent / Applicant’s repair costs reasonable / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $1,346.54 / Claim allowed.  

Consumer law / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant hired campervan from Respondent / First two vans supplied had defects but were promptly replaced by Respondent each time issues arose / Applicant used third van for about ten days without further issues although he believed wheel alignment was slightly off / Applicant sought $1,400, refund of campervan hire and phone costs / Held: although first two vans were not fit for purpose, Respondent remedied issue within reasonable timeframe by providing prompt replacements / Third van found fit for purpose / Wheel alignment issue diagnosed by mechanic as minor and vehicle was totally safe and driveable  / Applicant had already received partial refund for hire costs, further refund not available / Phone costs not recoverable because cheaper and free communication options had been available / Claim dismissed.

Aviation law / Civil Aviation Act 1990 / Montreal Convention / Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) / Applicant bought international airline tickets and checked in for flight operated by Respondent / Flight was delayed due to required maintenance causing missed connection and additional waiting time / Applicant incurred meal, transport and accommodation costs / Only some costs were covered by insurance / Applicant claimed compensation for delay losses including expenses and loss of opportunity / Held: Montreal Convention applied to international carriage and Respondent responsible for delay as within airline control / Respondent did not breach FTA and Applicant proved limited damages only / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $300 / Claim accepted in part.

Sale of goods / Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 / Applicant purchased a machine from a third-party commercial leasee of Respondent / Before third-party could recover the machine the Respondent had re-entered property changed locks and cancelled lease due to rent arrears / Respondent despite communication with Applicant refused to allow for collection of machine instead claiming they now owned it / Respondent onsold the machine despite notice of contested ownership / Applicant sought return of machine or payment of $5000 being purchase price of machine and an additional $1,650 for additional labour costs / Held: contract for sale of goods was made between Applicant and the original owner of the machine / Property in the machine passed to Applicant when purchased / Respondent unlawfully withheld machine from its rightful owner and unlawfully onsold the machine / Respondent ordered if able to retrieve machine and make it available to Applicant or alternatively to pay $5,000 to the Ap…

Contract / Trespass / Respondent parked in carpark managed by Applicant for less than two minutes / Respondent was not a customer / Applicant claimed Respondent had entered into a contract or trespassed / Applicant issued $95 fine and three $75 reminder notices / Applicant claimed $460.00 for unpaid fees, debt collection costs and interests / Held: no contract was formed but Respondent did trespass / Carpark signage did not constitute an offer and there was no consideration / Respondent's two minutes of unlawful use was insignificant / Other carpark spots available so Respondent did not prevent customers from entering the business / Applicant’s actions were unreasonable and punitive / Claim dismissed.

Negligence / Respondent rented storage unit from Applicant / When the Respondent was reversing a car through the entrance gate of the storage units the gate slid close damaging the gate / Applicant claimed Respondent was negligent in stopping for too long causing the damage / Applicant sought $7,887.97 to repair the gate and replace the electric motor / Held: Applicants failed to prove Respondent was negligent / Applicant failed to produce security evidence of the incident itself, any manufacturer evidence as to the sensor timeframes of the gate or evidence of any instructions given to customers on operating the gate / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Third party contracted Respondent to design development / Third party paid Respondent / Applicant purchased development from third party with Respondent's work included in purchase price / Applicant paid Respondent for development work which third party had already paid for / Respondent realised it was paid twice and contacted third party who wanted extra sum credited to account  / Applicant sold development and realised it had paid Respondent twice / Applicant claimed $12,184.25 as repayment / Held: Respondent covered by change of position defence as it relied in good faith on third party's instruction to credit duplicate sum / Crediting third party meant Respondent changed position and had no benefit of second payment / Requiring repayment inequitable and would cause Respondent unacceptable detriment / No restitution available for same reason / Claim dismissed.

Negligence / Respondent drove vehicle into garage of Applicant’s rental property / Damage to garage was extensive and took 18 weeks to repair / Applicant reduced weekly rent by $50 during repair period / Insurers for both parties covered repair costs but not rent-reduction loss / Applicant claimed $900 / Held: Respondent not liable for rent-related loss / While Respondent caused the damage, consequential loss of rent reduction was too remote / Not reasonably foreseeable that driving into garage would lead to rent reduction / Main dwelling was not been affected / Rent reduction was voluntary decision by Applicant / Claim dismissed.

Insurance / Contract / Applicant purchased travel insurance policy from Respondent / While abroad Applicant got sick and was diagnosed with medical condition / Applicant was advised to undergo surgery / Applicant sought pre-approval from Respondent who declined it as not an emergency and could wait until Applicant returned to New Zealand / Applicant proceeded with surgery at own expense / Applicant claimed $14,493.85 / Held: surgery was medically necessary and fell within policy’s coverage for “reasonable overseas emergency medical treatment” / No requirement in policy that only lifesaving surgery will be approved / Applicant’s symptoms were painful and prolonged so not reasonable for Applicant to suffer through long flight to receive care / Respondent did not appear to have all information when initially assessing necessity but subsequent reports should have alerted them that surgery was the only treatment available / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $14,493.85 / Claim allowed.