Unfair Contracts
Your rights under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations ensure that consumers are not bamboozled by unfair, unreasonable or downright unfathomable contract terms. In other words, a contract should be written in clear understandable language.
If you have entered into an unfair contract with a company or business, then a court may decide that the agreement is unenforceable and have the contract voided.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) deals with unfair contract terms and can negotiate changes to the term in question or take out an injunction to stop it from being included in any future contracts.
Examples of the types of contract terms the OFT will consider to be unfair include:
- Exclusion of liability for death or personal injury
- No liability by the company / business for breaches of contract
- Excluding liability for poor work or work & materials
- Restricting the level and type of liability
- Unreasonable time limits on notification of claims
- Binding you to the contract when the company / business is at fault
- Assignment clauses
- Restricting your rights and remedies
- Excluding your right to set off claims you have against the company / business against any claims they make against you
- Excluding liability for delay
- Contracts which allow the company / business not to perform obligations at all
- Binding you to the contract while allowing the company / business to offer no service at all
- Allowing retention of prepayments when you are not at fault
- Penalties
- Unequal cancellation rights
- Making termination subject to unreasonable conditions
- Allowing termination of the contract without notice
- Binding you to hidden terms or variation clauses
- Allowing changes in what is supplied, or price variation without notification to you
- Allowing the company / business to impose undue financial burdens
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