Goods Act 1958

If an owner takes possession of goods comprised in a hire-purchase agreement and the agreement is neither reinstated nor finalised by the hirer, the hirer may recover from the owner—

if the owner sells or disposes of the goods, an amount equal to the proceeds of the sale of the goods; or

if the owner does not sell or dispose of the goods or fails to sell or dispose of the goods as soon as reasonably practicable after taking possession of the goods (or such other time as the owner and the hirer agree), an amount equal to the value of the goods at the time that the owner took possession of the goods—

An owner who sells or disposes of goods under subsection (1) is entitled to deduct from the proceeds of sale or the value of the goods, as the case requires, only the following amounts—

the total amount owed by the hirer under the hire-purchase agreement at the time the owner took possession of the goods, not being an amount greater than the amount required to discharge the agreement; and

the reasonable expenses of the owner incurred in taking possession of the goods; and

any amount reasonably incurred by the owner on the storage, repair or maintenance of the goods; and

the reasonable expenses incurred in selling or disposing of the goods, whether or not the goods have subsequently been sold or disposed of by the owner.

In this section value of the goods means the best price reasonably obtainable by the owner at the time the owner took possession of the goods.

The onus is on the owner to prove that the price obtained for the goods was the best price reasonably obtainable at the time that the owner took possession of the goods.