Friday, January 27th, 2023
Alan King v Black Horse Limited & Park's (Ayr) Limited [2023] SAC (Civ) 4
David Adams acted for the successful defender/respondent in this action under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, both at first instance and on appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court. The pursuer had sought to reject his car under section 24 of the 2015 Act. He contended that it was of unsatisfactory quality and not fit for purpose. The defender moved for summary decree on the basis that the pursuer was barred from rejecting the car as he had driven it in excess of 6,200 miles since the purported rejection. The sheriff granted summary decree and absolved the defender at first instance. The pursuer appealed. The Sheriff Appeal Court refused the appeal. In so doing, the court noted that the common law rule preventing the post-rejection use of goods, while acting as a ‘bar’, is not governed by the general principles of the concept of personal bar. In addition, the court did not accept that the terms of section 24(8) and 24(9) of the 2015 Act precluded the common law rule that goods could not be used post-rejection.
A copy of the court’s opinion can be found here.