Unfortunately not you, as the Supreme Court of Appeal has recently confirmed, if the service centre “acted sufficiently reasonably in bringing to the attention of its customers in general, and to [you] in particular, the existence of the owner’s risk notice”. Whether or not you actually saw the notice is irrelevant, provided it wasn’t “located in a misleading manner”.
The Court cleared the service centre of all liability after finding that notices had been “prominently displayed, in clear and unambiguous terms, on notice boards at the respondent’s passenger vehicle office, at the entrance to the reception and at the cashier’s window”.
Compromising a claim? Don’t rely on a “Full and final settlement” cheque
You dispute the amount of a claim made against you, and hand the creditor a cheque (for the lesser amount which you are prepared to pay), endorsed “in full and final settlement”. You may think that, if the creditor accepts and deposits your cheque, the matter is now settled, and that there is no further claim against you.
But a recent High Court judgment illustrates the danger of trying to compromise a claim in this way – in that case, there were two disputed contracts between the parties, and the debtor was unable to prove that his offer of compromise was in respect of both contracts.
Our law requires that an offer of compromise be “strictly interpreted”. It must be “clear and unambiguous” to be valid. As a result, making a compromise offer in “full and final settlement” may not be enough - the only truly safe option is to have your attorney make or deliver the payment for you, under cover of a properly-worded letter.