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Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

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  • Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

    Hello!

    I have a question about serving notices by fax: My car insurance provider failed to register my vehicle with MID who sent me an enforcement letter warning me that I must insure the car or be fined.

    Now, I checked my records and the policy runs until 2016 which means I have a valid policy. Time to give the insurance company notice that they are in breach of contract. I guess another reason is to protect myself should the case go to court! But how does one serve a legally valid notice on the other party? I suspect the Magistrates' Court will need to be convinced that the notice was validly served. s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978 means that a letter with proof of posting is of course one option.

    Still, I wonder how English law deals with notices sent by fax. A key benefit of fax over e-mail is of course that the fax journal provides a picture of the first page of the transmitted documents. Is there any case law making use of the postal system mandatory? I am aware that various courts on the Continent take drastically different views on the legal value of fax journal reports. It is constant jurisprudence of Germany's Federal Court of Justice that a fax journal showing "Result OK" to be a mere indication that a fax connection was successfully established and not of successful transmission of the documents. In contrast, the courts of the Netherlands treat a fax journal with "Result OK" as evidence of successful transmission on par with recorded delivery.

    My reason for asking is to understand the risks and benefits of using the fax vis-à-vis the postal system now that there are also convenience and financial aspects considering that sending a fax costs about £0.10 while the cheapest form of recorded delivery cost about £2.70..


    Thanks!
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

    Interesting as i am aware that the Judicial system now accept electronic communications to service Documents.

    To offer a fax report as persuasion would need the recipient to record the time and date received

    The Interpretatons Act only applies to postal documentation as to the Postal Services Act so trying to use the interpretations Act for a Fax Transmission will not apply

    Where an Act authorises or requires any document to be served by post


    Who uses a Fax now??

    It is normally a word document sent by email attachment?
    Last edited by judgemental24; 15th November 2015, 12:37:PM.

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    • #3
      Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

      I agree that the Interpretation Act solely applies to letters sent by post, thus my question about case law as it relates to fax!

      I am using the fax since it offers much greater legal protection than e-mail: Proof of successful transmission, date and time of transmission, as well as a copy of the first page of the fax. These are all benefits e-mail cannot offer. How do you prove that a company actually received a Word document? You can't!

      Why would the insurance company not be in breach of contract when they evidently failed to register the vehicle with MID?

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      • #4
        Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

        How does a fax offer greater legal protection over email??

        You simply request they send you an email by return that they have received and are able to open up your email transmisson.?
        Or even a read receipt

        I do it every day
        Last edited by judgemental24; 15th November 2015, 12:37:PM.

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        • #5
          Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

          And what if the company won't respond or on purpose disabled sending read receipts? Then one still has to send a letter! Also, the read receipt (aside from the fact that it can be manipulated) only shows that an e-mail was read by the recipient, it does not show the content or attachments of the e-mail. I already listed the benefits of using the fax over e-mail:
          I am using the fax since it offers much greater legal protection than e-mail: Proof of successful transmission, date and time of transmission, as well as a copy of the first page of the fax. These are all benefits e-mail cannot offer. How do you prove that a company actually received a Word document? You can't!
          I continue to believe that the insurance company is in breach of contract (Source: MIB):
          Q5: Can I request that my information isn’t held on the MID?
          It is a legal requirement that all motor insurers must provide the information to the MID.
          Last edited by VGkK; 15th November 2015, 12:56:PM.

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          • #6
            Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

            error

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            • #7
              Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

              Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE)

              Insurance providers/Brokers are required by law to submit all vehicle insurance details to the MID within 14 days of the effective date. In order to meet these regulations all brokers and Motor Trade policyholders to submit policy information within 24 hours, but no later than 5 calendar days after the effective date of any renewal, new business, or policy change.

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              • #8
                Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

                Why not just phone your insurers?
                Somewhere down the line (if you have a valid insurance) there has been a glitch.
                Possibly the insurers have failed to notify the MID. Possibly they did but it hasn't registered.
                It is not a breach of contract, but a possible failure to comply with the regulations.
                If you were to receive a FPN you could dispute it.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

                  Yes of course I could phone them. This would (except in case of me recording the call) not leave me with any evidence of having notified the insurer, leaving aside whether that recording would be admissible as evidence in the magistrates' court.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Contract notice - Fax & s. 7 Interpretation Act 1978

                    But if it comes to a FPN your defence will be possession of a valid policy/certificate of insurance.
                    You won't be getting a FPN for not prompting your insurer to investigate.
                    Prompting them will hopefully save you the stress, and as it may save their skins (they are the ones in breach of the regulations by not informing MID)
                    they will investigate.
                    When you phone, make a note of the time and the person you speak to and confirm by letter (cert of posting .. free) or email if you want to save cost of a stamp.

                    Comment

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