Thorn Rentals NZ Ltd (trading as dtr)
Finalist: Best Plain English Turnaround 2013
Flip charts
Judges' comment
Brilliant. The fun flavour makes the Flip Charts easy and engaging.
The design is 'excellently excellent'. Sentences are short, active, friendly, and engaging. The language is appealing, simple, and easy to understand, with technical terms well explained.
For all its simplicity, it answers questions that more dense contracts have left unsaid — like “what happens if I move?”. It’s ‘information at a glance’ — a much desired outcome and hard to achieve. This is a very successful document.
Media statement
dtr Managing Director, Mark Spring, accepted the Award of Distinction last night on behalf of the company and said they are delighted with their achievement.
“Having contracts explained in plain English is part of dtr’s commitment to being a responsible lender and providing our customers with the best possible service. We are really proud of this award. We will definitely continue to strive to achieve the WriteMark standard across all our relevant future consumer contracts and supporting documentation.”
dtr uses the Flip charts to guide customers through their finance contracts, for which plain English versions were launched earlier this year. In the place of long and complicated text, the new Flip charts are simple and easy to follow, with short, clear text in bright panels. The format ensures dtr customers are fully informed about what the agreement contains and what it means, so there are no hidden surprises.