자동차 리콜 전의 시정에 대한 보상제도

Abstract

This article deals with issues on the reimbursement for repairs prior to recall for motor vehicle safety. The reimbursement system was introduced by enacting Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation(TREAD) Act in U. S. in 2000. The Act provides at Section 6(b) that motor vehicle and motor vehicle equipment manufacturers are required to include in their recall programs to remedy a safety-related defect or a noncompliance with a federal motor vehicle safety standard, a plan for reimbursing owners for the cost of a remedy incurred within a reasonable time before the manufacturer's notification of the defect or noncompliance. The rule for implementing the Act was adopted in 2003. According to the rule, manufacturers are required to take certain actions to assure that owners or purchasers are appropriately aware of the possibility of reimbursement. In recalls where there is a reasonable likelihood that some persons may have made expenditures that are eligible for reimbursement, the manufacturer would have to include language in each owner notification that refers to such possible eligibility and that advises how to obtain the details on eligibility for reimbursement and how to obtain reimbursement. And the rule identifies the conditions that manufacturers may impose upon reimbursement. The reimbursement plan may, with some limitations, exclude reimbursement for costs incurred within the period during which the manufacturer's warranty would have provided for a free repair of the problem addressed by the recall. The rule also permits manufacturers to exclude reimbursement if the pre-notification remedy was not the same type of remedy as the one used in the recall, did not address the defect or noncompliance that led to the recall or a manifestation of the defect or noncompliance, or was not reasonably necessary to correct the defect or noncompliance. In Korea, the reimbursement system for repairs prior to recall for motor vehicle safety was introduced on the model of the U. S. system by the amendment of Automobile Management Act. The Korean system plays an important role in motor vehicle consumer protection, but it seems to have some problems, such as reimbursement period, the method for calculating the cost, and so forth. In this article, the Korean reimbursement system for repairs prior to recall for motor vehicle safety is analyzed, and its problems are indicated and the improvement schemes are proposed.