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Police & Courts
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A FOUR-WHEEL-drive hire company and two former directors from the Gold Coast have been ordered to pay more than $1.22m for consumer law breaches.
Smart Corporation Pty Ltd – which has been in liquidation and previously traded as Australian 4WD Hire – was ordered in the Federal Court to fork out $870,000 after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took action.
Ex-directors Vitali Roesch and Maryna Kosukhina were ordered to pay $179,000 and $174,000 in penalties, respectively, in a judgment by Justice Darren Jackson on April 15.
The court found Smart Corporation engaged in unconscionable conduct, made false or misleading representations in relation to insurance cover and included unfair contract terms in vehicle rental contracts.
It was also found Australian 4WD Hire’s former director and then-fleet manager Vitali Roesch and then-director Maryna Kosukhina were “knowingly concerned in this conduct”.
Roesch and Kosukhina have been barred from managing a company for three years, in addition to the monetary penalty.
Australian 4WD Hire’s standard form contracts included terms allowing it to charge customers up to $500 each time someone drove in a way prohibited by the contract, including driving at night outside built-up areas, above the speed limit, or when visibility was poor due to conditions like fog or heavy rain.
ACCC chair Rod Sims was straightforward in his assessment.
“Australian 4WD Hire acted unconscionably in its dealing with customers who hired four-wheel-drive vehicles around Australia,” he said.
Contracts gave the company discretion to decide whether to submit an insurance claim or hold the customer liable for damages.
Mr Sims said: “We took this action because Australian 4WD Hire’s treatment of some of its customers was particularly egregious.”
“The misrepresentations made about insurance cover gave customers a false sense of security that they would have the benefit of being covered by insurance, in particular for the off-road use of the vehicles, when this was not the case.”
The ACCC stated more than 60 complaints were made about Australian 4WD Hire between 2016 to April 2019, when the ACCC launched proceedings.
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