Issue Date:  -  Thursday, 13 March 1997

REVS users given rock-solid guarantee

West Australian car-buyers are absolutely protected from loss if they purchase a $10 certificate through the Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVS), Acting Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Mark Bodycoat, said today.

Mr Bodycoat said that as long as car buyers had no knowledge of an encumbrance on a vehicle - whether it was registered with REVS or not - their financial outlay was protected under the Chattels Securities Act.

If a dispute arose and there was no encumbrance registered, then the buyer would have clear title over the vehicle. If an encumbrance was registered and this information was not contained in the REVS certificate, then the buyer could make a claim to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs for any loss suffered.

Mr Bodycoat was referring to the case of a Bayswater car dealer who alleged he bought a utility in October last year after obtaining a REVS certificate which did not reveal any encumbrance.

"If the dealer has obtained a clear certificate from REVS and can prove that he purchased the vehicle in good faith and without any notice of interest, he will either acquire the vehicle free of any encumbrance or be able to make claim for compensation from the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs," Mr Bodycoat said.

The buyer will have "notice" if he or she has been told about an encumbrance or failed to act on information which indicated the possibility of money owing on the vehicle.

"The Chattels Securities Act places the onus on the buyer to prove that he or she doesn't have knowledge of any encumbrance, whether registered on REVS or not," Mr Bodycoat said.

Claims that the dealer had been treated "with disdain" by REVS staff were completely untrue.

REVS staff had told the dealer that the issue was complex and a number of legal questions had to be addressed before the Ministry of Fair Trading would indicate what assistance it could provide.

"This matter only came to the attention of REVS on Tuesday of last week and, since then, considerable resources have been given over to investigating the dealer's legal position," Mr Bodycoat said.

"The Ministry has now received legal advice and will take the matter up with the finance company involved.

"So why do you need a REVS certificate? Well, unless you have one, you cannot obtain the full protection of the Act. It provides you as a car buyer with the best form of evidence to prove that you bought the vehicle without notice of any encumbrance," Mr Bodycoat said.

It also protects a buyer against a future claim to the vehicle by a financier who has failed to register an encumbrance with REVS.

"Potential buyers can make a simple phone check, but that information is not guaranteed under the Act," Mr Bodycoat said.

"REVS receives about 80,000 new registrations and deals with almost 190,000 queries a year, but this is the first time ever to our knowledge that a certificate showing an error has been issued by the register.

"No computerised system is infallible and that is why there are safeguards in the legislation to protect the public," Mr Bodycoat said.

Across Australia for more than a decade, REVS services like WA's had proven themselves as reliable safeguards for the interests of both consumers and traders.

Media contact:

Neil Stanbury
Tel: (08) 9282 0613