Call to amend vehicle sale act
Members of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal (MVDT) have renewed their calls for amendments to be made to the Motor Vehicle Sale Act 2003.
The tribunal’s latest annual report, for the year to the end of June 2025, highlights a list of recommendations it has made in recent years to improve legislation.
These include amending section 54 of the act to require the email addresses of traders to be included in the publicly available contents of the Motor Vehicle Traders Register.
It also suggests changes to section 142(1)(b) to make it easier for notices and other documents to be served by email, and for section 88 to enable tribunal assessors to continue to hear matters until they are reappointed or replaced.
Other recommendations are reviewing provisions in the act, such as the definition of “sale” in section 6 and the provisions concerning the “meaning of motor vehicle trader” in sections 7 to 9, to ensure they adequately capture all modern methods of marketing and selling vehicles.
Also on the wish list is amending clause 5(2) of schedule 1 to require those responding to an application made to the MVDT to provide a summary of their response and supporting documentation.
“Early receipt of this information will promote more productive settlement discussions and enable the tribunal to more efficiently determine the application.”
The MVDT’s report, which was released in April, also urges a review of the definition of “motor vehicle” in section 6 of the act and to consider adding a specific exclusion at (b) such as “a vehicle with a gross vehicle mass, as determined by the manufacturer, of more than 3,500kg”.
It suggests revoking the Motor Vehicle Dealers (Exclusion of Heavy Vehicles) Order 1988, which currently defines heavy motor vehicles as having a gross vehicle mass of 3,500kg or more.
“The effect of the order is that the tribunal can only decide matters involving vehicles with a gross vehicle mass of less than 3,500kg,” the report says.
“The definition in the order is inconsistent with the Heavy Motor Vehicle Regulations 1974, which defines ‘heavy motor vehicles’ as vehicles with a gross vehicle mass of more than 3,500kg.
“The result is that the tribunal cannot determine claims in relation to vehicles weighing exactly 3,500kg in circumstances where those vehicles themselves are not considered to be ‘heavy motor vehicles’ under the regulations.”
Digital developments
The MVDT takes part in the Digital Strategy for Courts and Tribunals, which recognises that using technology wisely is essential to enable all people to participate in proceedings.
Digital technology use by the MVDT has increased in recent years and 96 per cent of its hearings in 2024/25 used audio-visual technology to allow a party, witness and/or a tribunal member to attend remotely. Most hearings are now held online.
The MVDT also reports increasing instances of parties using generative AI to assist them in preparing their claims.
“The tribunal wants to ensure it fully explores and understands the ramifications of AI use by parties and within the tribunal itself,” the annual report states.
It plans to consider developing and recommending policies for the effective integration and use of AI to assist the public and to enhance efficiency and improve decision-making processes.
It adds policies should also ensure any use of AI is ethical and unbiased in its application, “including being aware of pitfalls such as hallucinations and model collapse”.
“The tribunal is concerned that access to justice means parties should not be discouraged from using AI tools to assist them in researching and formulating their claims but at the same time recognising that open-source AI can sometimes increase the level of complexity, incorrect assumptions and the number of issues raised by parties.”
