Legislation
General gist
For a contract to supply a service, anything the trader said or wrote about the trader or the service that the consumer took into account — when deciding to enter the contract, or in a later decision about the service — is treated as a term of the contract, subject to anything said on the same occasion that qualified it and any change expressly agreed.
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Full provision
Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—
it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract, or
it is taken into account by the consumer when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract.
Anything taken into account by the consumer as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) is subject to—
anything that qualified it and was said or written to the consumer by the trader on the same occasion, and
any change to it that has been expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader (before entering into the contract or later).
Without prejudice to subsection (1), any information provided by the trader in accordance with regulation 9, 10 or 13 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134) is to be treated as included as a term of the contract.
A change to any of the information mentioned in subsection (3), made before entering into the contract or later, is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.
See section 54 for a consumer's rights if the trader is in breach of a term that this section requires to be treated as included in a contract.
Legislation
General gist
A person who suffers loss after entering a contract because of a non-fraudulent misrepresentation can be liable in damages as if it had been made fraudulently, unless they prove they had reasonable grounds to believe, and did believe, the facts were true — but this does not entitle a consumer to damages where they instead have a right to redress under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (subsection (4)).
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Full provision
Where a person has entered into a contract after a misrepresentation has been made to him by another party thereto and as a result thereof he has suffered loss, then, if the person making the misrepresentation would be liable to damages in respect thereof had the misrepresentation been made fraudulently, that person shall be so liable notwithstanding that the misrepresentation was not made fraudulently, unless he proves that he had reasonable ground to believe and did believe up to the time the contract was made the facts represented were true.
Where a person has entered into a contract after a misrepresentation has been made to him otherwise than fraudulently, and he would be entitled, by reason of the misrepresentation, to rescind the contract, then, if it is claimed, in any proceedings arising out of the contract, that the contract ought to be or has been rescinded, the court or arbitrator may declare the contract subsisting and award damages in lieu of rescission, if of opinion that it would be equitable to do so, having regard to the nature of the misrepresentation and the loss that would be caused by it if the contract were upheld, as well as to the loss that rescission would cause to the other party.
Damages may be awarded against a person under subsection (2) of this section whether or not he is liable to damages under subsection (1) thereof, but where he is so liable any award under the said subsection (2) shall be taken into account in assessing his liability under the said subsection (1).
This section does not entitle a person to be paid damages in respect of a misrepresentation if the person has a right to redress under Part 4A of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 ( SI 2008/1277 ) in respect of the conduct constituting the misrepresentation.
Subsection (4) does not prevent a debtor from bringing a claim under section 75(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 against a creditor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement in a case where, but for subsection (4), the debtor would have a claim against the supplier in respect of a misrepresentation (and, where section 75 of that Act would otherwise apply, it accordingly applies as if the debtor had a claim against the supplier).
Legislation
General gist
An unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer — a term being unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the consumer's detriment.
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Full provision
An unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer.
An unfair consumer notice is not binding on the consumer.
This does not prevent the consumer from relying on the term or notice if the consumer chooses to do so.
A term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer.
Whether a term is fair is to be determined—
taking into account the nature of the subject matter of the contract, and
by reference to all the circumstances existing when the term was agreed and to all of the other terms of the contract or of any other contract on which it depends.
A notice is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer.
Whether a notice is fair is to be determined—
taking into account the nature of the subject matter of the notice, and
by reference to all the circumstances existing when the rights or obligations to which it relates arose and to the terms of any contract on which it depends.
This section does not affect the operation of—
section 31 (exclusion of liability: goods contracts),
section 47 (exclusion of liability: digital content contracts),
section 57 (exclusion of liability: services contracts), or
section 65 (exclusion of negligence liability).