I adopted a cat from an animal welfare organization a month ago, which is housebroken but does not have a chip. I have fallen in love with him, but what are my rights if his previous owner tracks him down?
JJ, via email
DEAN DUNHAM RESPONDS: It depends on the circumstances that led to the cat being adopted. If the previous owner abandoned the cat or gave it away to charity, he or she has essentially waived his or her rights and therefore has no legal grounds to reclaim the cat.
There is a legal obligation for cat owners to keep their contact details up to date in a Defra-approved microchip database, writes Dean Dunham
However, things become difficult if the cat is ‘lost’, as the law considers animals as ‘property’. This means that if the previous owner can prove that he actually owns the cat and has not abandoned or given it away, he has the right to reclaim it.
It is unlikely that you will encounter an ownership issue and in any case, regardless of the potential risk, you are now legally required to have your cat microchipped. In this regard, the law in England states that cats must be microchipped before they reach 20 weeks of age, with the exception of cats without an owner, such as feral cats and community cats. The default position if you fail to do this is that you have 21 days to have your cat microchipped or you risk a fine of up to £500. You will find that most vets require you to have your cat microchipped before they will carry out any treatment.
The other point to consider when adopting a cat is that there is also a legal obligation for cat owners to keep their contact details up to date in a Defra approved microchip database. So even if you adopt a cat that is microchipped, you will still need to take some action to get the data associated with the chip updated.
Finally, I would like to point out that these laws currently only apply to England.
The dealer did not tell me that the warranty on my car is void because it has never been serviced. Does it have to pay?
I bought a two year old Ford with 34,400 miles on it from a dealer. There is now a problem with the gearbox, so I have contacted Ford. However, Ford says the car has never been maintained and this voids the manufacturer’s warranty. The dealer did not inform me about this when I bought the car. What can I do?
Richard Graham, via email
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that goods sold, including cars, must be ‘as described’
DEAN DUNHAM RESPONDS: Ford’s manufacturer’s warranty provides coverage for three years or 57,000 miles from new, whichever comes first. However, the warranty also contains a number of exclusions that mean you are not covered by the warranty. One of these is ‘failure to properly maintain the vehicle in accordance with Ford maintenance schedules and service instructions’.
So, prima facie, Ford has the right to refuse to fix the problem for free under the manufacturer’s warranty.
Now let’s look at the dealer who sold you the car. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that goods sold, including cars, must be ‘as described’. This means that traders may not lie or mislead consumers with descriptions of goods. If the dealer has told you that the car has a full service history, you are now entitled to redress as this constitutes a breach of contract.
Under English law, the remedy for breach of contract is to put the innocent party – you in this case – back in the position you would have been in if the breach had not occurred.
In this case, this means that the dealer must pay for the repair and update the maintenance schedule to ensure that you benefit from the remaining warranty period. If the dealer didn’t mention the service history or manufacturer’s warranty when selling the car to you, the law is still on your side.
Unless you were informed otherwise, you should have assumed that the car was sold using the remainder of the factory warranty and this will clearly have formed part of your ‘purchase decision’.
If the dealer does not tell you that the car does not have a full service history, meaning the warranty is therefore void, this becomes a breach of contract, giving rise to the rights and remedies I have outlined above. Finally, since this appears to be a manufacturer’s fault, you can also claim that the car was not of ‘satisfactory quality’ at the time of purchase and be entitled to free repairs under the Consumer Rights Act. This would be a different route to the same result.
Do you have a question for Dean? Write to Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email d.dunham@ dailymail.co.uk.
The Ny Breaking cannot accept any legal liability for any answers given.
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