Tribunal orders refund for overweight caravan

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has ordered Melbourne's Roma Caravans to refund $83,000 to the owner of an overweight caravan that experienced sway at speeds under 90km/h.

Under the tribunal ruling, Roma will also have to pay $9277.80 in interest to Peter Cunningham, who bought the Roma Elegance Slide-Out in 2018 for trips around Australia.

The tribunal heard that the caravan’s weight was recorded on a weighbridge on two separate occasions at 3560kg and 3360kg, despite the VIN plate indicating a Tare (unloaded) weight of 2700kg.

VCAT member Jacquellyn Kefford said this amounted to "a major failure" of the Roma van under Australian Consumer Law.

“I am satisfied that no reasonable consumer, fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure would regard the caravan to be of acceptable quality,” Kefford said.

“While noting that two experts have recorded weights that differ by 200kg, the highest payload proposed of 160kg is entirely inadequate for the use and enjoyment of a reasonable consumer of the experience of caravanning,” she said.

“A reasonable caravanner would not risk the attention of police and a fine for overweight. A reasonable caravanner would require safety as a priority.”

During the hearing held in March, the VCAT panel heard that Peter Cunningham chose Roma Caravans, one of Australia’s oldest RV manufacturers, due to its “advertised 90 year experience”.

The tribunal was told he discussed his travel plans with the Roma salesperson including informing him that his ‘Mazda BH50’ tow vehicle had a towing capacity of 3500kg. After experiencing ‘wobble and sway” on his first trip with the caravan to Anglesea, Cunningham reported the issue to Roma who allegedly told him that his vehicle was the cause of the problems. He later had his vehicle mechanically checked and no fault was found.

Cunningham then researched online about sway before reporting the issue again to Roma, who allegedly told him they built hundreds of caravans like his and there was nothing wrong with it. However, the freshwater tank on the Roma van at the time was relocated.

On another trip to Wodonga, caravan sway was experienced at speeds up to 85km/h, after which the caravan was returned to Roma who allegedly repeated that the cause of the sway was not due to the caravan.

Engineer Terrence McNicol later towed the empty caravan with the same tow vehicle and found that it “swayed tremendously” at 80-90 km/h and “felt unsafe” at 90km/h.

Roma asked VCAT for permission to make the caravan compliant as to relevant design dimensions and to rectify the VIN plate.

However, Edward van den Berg from BTT Engineering Consulting told the tribunal that “it is our belief that the caravan is both overweight and also overlength at the rear, with the manufacturer being responsible for both of these issues.

“As it has been plated with a load carrying capacity of 800kg it is our belief that the caravan is not fit for purpose as it is impossible to safely and legally achieve what has been promised to the customer via the compliance plate without having to replace a significant portion of the caravan’s structural components."

In delivering her findings, Jacquellyn Kefford said that the failures cannot be remedied easily and within a reasonable time; that the caravan is unsafe and illegal if loaded over 160kg; and that the average owner of a tandem axle caravan requires a minimum load-carrying capacity of 400kg.

For a full copy of the VCAT report, click here.