Express and Implied Terms (Statute Law) Flashcards
What does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 focus on?
- Anything between a consumer and business where goods are being transferred
What is a consumer?
- An individual acting for purposes mainly outside of that person’s trade and for their own profession
What is a trader?
- A person acting for purposes related to their trade such as a company or business
What is the S9 Consumer Rights Act 2015?
S9 = The right of satisfactory quality
- An implied term that the quality of the goods must be satisfactory when selling goods to a consumer
Uses the objective test of what a reasonable person would believe to be satisfactory =
1. Any description
2. The price and consideration
3. Their state and condition (Second Hand)
What are the exceptions to S9?
- The defects have been brought to the consumer’s attention before the contract has been made
- The consumer examines the goods before the contract is made and the examination would reveal the defects
- The goods have been sold after inspection of a sample and the defect would have been apparent on a reasonable examination
What is the S10 Consumer Rights Act 2015?
S10 = The right of fitness for particular purpose
- The consumer either expressly or impliedly tells the trader the purpose for the goods
- If they state the purpose for the goods, they must ensure the goods are fit for that purpose or state if they are not
- The consumer may rely on the judgement of the seller and has expressed a particular purpose for the requirements of the goods
What is the S11 Consumer Rights Act 2015?
S11 = The right relating to description
- Every contract to supply goods by description has an implied term that the goods will match the description
- This can be an implied description
- The goods supplied must match the model and packaging
- However this can lead to a harsher outcome on the trader
What are the remedies for terms implied in a contract to supply goods?
- In addition to damages for breach of contract
1. S20
2. S23
3. S24
What is the remedy S20?
S20 = The short term right to reject
- Must be exercised within 30 days and shorter if they are perishable
- Must be made clear that they are rejecting the goods and terminating the contract
- Consumer is entitled to a full refund
- Trader must bear the reasonable costs of the return
- Refund must be within 14 days within the agreement of the refund
What is the remedy S23?
S23 = Right to repair or replacement
- They will have the right to repair or replace if they do not exercise S20
- Replacement may be impossible
- If it is an unreasonable cost to the trader to repair or replace, they must use an alternative remedy
- If they can, it must be done within a reasonable time frame and bear costs of implementing the task
- The fault complained by the consumer must have been present at the time of delivery
What is the remedy S24?
S24 = The right to a price reduction or final right to reject
- If S23 is not satisfactory, they can claim a price reduction or reject the product and claim a refund
- This means the consumer has attempted to repair/replace but is not satisfied
- Any refund is subject to a deduction for use
What order must the remedies for goods go in?
- This is a tiered system
1. Begin with S20 and if it is not exercised within 30 days they can
2. Have the right to repair or replace
3. If this is unsatisfactory they have the right to a reduction or rejection and refund
What is a presumption for remedies?
- If a fault arises within the first six months, it was present at the time of delivery
- The trader can rebut this presumption by showing evidence that it was not present
- This does not apply to S20
- If the fault develops after the first six months, burden is on the consumer to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery
What are the statutory terms for implied terms of services?
- The implied terms differ depending on whether the contract is for goods or services
1. S49
2. S52
What is S49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015?
S49 = Reasonable care and skill
- An implied term if there is a contract with services that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill
- Some contracts include delivery of goods and services, the service needs to be completed with reasonable care and skill
- The standard of care is equivalent in tort of negligence, this is on a case by case basis
What is S52 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015?
S52 = Performance within a reasonable time
- If a contract does not expressly state a time for the services to be performed and does not state how it is to be fixed, it must be completed within a reasonable time
- Also applies where the service has not been completed or taken longer than expected
- It is based on a subjective basis and dependent on circumstances as to what is a reasonable time
What are the remedies for implied terms of services?
- S55
- S56
What is the remedy S55?
S55 = The right to require repeat performance
- Requires the trader to perform the services again
- It must be completed within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, the services must be possible
- Trader has to bear the costs of doing this such as labour and materials
What is the remedy S56?
S56 = The right to a price reduction
- This right reduces the price to the consumer by an appropriate amount for the trader’s failure to perform the contract
- May result in a refund from the trader up to the full contract price
- Only available in two situations
What are the two situations where S56 is available?
- Completion by report performance is impossible
- Consumer has asked for repeat performance but trader is in breach of the requirement to do it within a reasonable time and without significant interference to the consumer
