Singer Co (UK) Ltd v Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority: 1988

The court upheld under the 1977 Act a clause which limited a port authority’s liability to andpound;800 per ton of consignment. Other factors were relevant but ‘The way in which the port authority’s general conditions came into being seems to me to be relevant. The conditions were approved, apparently without objection, by the port authority’s board of directors, on which users of the port were well represented. That is a significant factor. And so is the fact that the general conditions were widely distributed, and were readily available to users of the port’. The availability to a purchaser of alternate terms without the exclusion or limitation is relevant.

Judges:

Steyn J

Citations:

[1988] 2 Lloyds Rep 164

Statutes:

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 11

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

AppliedSchenkers Limited v Overland Shoes Limited and Schenkers International Deutschland Gmbh v Overland Shoes Limited CA 12-Feb-1998
A clause in a shipping freight contract using the standard British International Freight Association terms disallowing a set-off was not unreasonable. The clause read ‘The customer shall pay to the company in cash or as otherwise agreed all sums . .
CitedOverseas Medical Supplies Limited v Orient Transport Services Limited CA 20-May-1999
The appellant challenged a finding that it was responsible for the loss of medical equipment being transported from Tehran to the UK, and of failing to insure it as required, the contractual term exempting it from responsibility being an . .
CitedScheps v Fine Art Logistic Ltd QBD 16-Mar-2007
The claimant bought fine art sculptures by Anish Kapoor at auction. They were stored by the defendant who when called upon to deliver them, said they had possibly been thrown away as rubbish. The defendant sought to limit its liability to the sum . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.185992