Davis v Lloyds Bank Plc: ChD 3 Jul 2020

action for breach of statutory duty against Lloyds Bank plc – conduct by Lloyds Bank plc of a review process that was agreed between the Financial Services Authority and Lloyds Bank plc in June 2012, and later updated in 2013. The review process concerned the mis-selling of certain types of interest rate hedging products to unsophisticated customers.

Judges:

Sarah Worthington QC (Hon) sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 1758 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Banking, Consumer

Updated: 31 December 2022; Ref: scu.652326

In Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods: RPC 14 Apr 1999

Before granting leave to review the exemption of a class of goods from the resale price maintenance prohibition, there must be established prima facie evidence of a material change in circumstances, which might have led the earlier court to a different conclusion.

Citations:

Times 14-Apr-1999

Statutes:

Resale Prices Act 1976 17

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

See AlsoIn Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2) RPC 17-Nov-2000
Part way into a trial, one of the judges in a case applied for a position with a company. She discovered that a director of that company was due to give evidence. She brought the circumstances to the attention of the remaining court and parties. She . .
See AlsoIn Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association CA 21-Dec-2000
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself.
Held: When asking whether material . .
See alsoIn re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 4) CA 26-Jul-2001
The parties had expended very considerable sums preparing for a hearing. The hearing became abortive when it was questioned whether a member of the court had given the appearance of bias. The parties sought payment of their wasted costs from the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.82054

Milne v Open Access Finance Ltd and Another: ChD 12 Mar 2020

Whether the Court has power to make an order under rule 19.6 of the Civil Procedure Rules for a Consumer Credit Act claim relating to a credit agreement or a regulated agreement to continue against representatives of the defendant creditors.

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 1420 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer, Banking, Litigation Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.651898

Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co Ltd v Fiat Motors Ltd: CA 1910

The plaintiff complained after the purchase of a Fiat Omnibus chassis ‘for the road’, to be used for the conveyance of passengers around Bristol, in heavy and hilly traffic conditions. The chassis proved unfit for this purpose on account of breaking-down too often.
Held: There was an implied condition that the omnibus should be reasonably fit for the declared purpose. Buses manufactured by the defendant which were too slightly built for heavy city traffic were both not fit for purpose and not of merchantable quality. Nevertheless, goods may be reasonably fit for a purpose despite minor defects.
Farwell LJ said: ‘The phrase in s.14, sub-s.(2), is, in my opinion, used as meaning that the article is of such quality and in such condition that a reasonable man acting reasonably would after a full examination accept it under the circumstances of the case in performance of his offer to buy that article whether he buys for his own use or to sell it again.’
Cozens-Hardy, LJ MR considered the proper approach for a court interpreting a codifying statute: ‘I rather deprecate the citation of earlier decisions . . The object and intent of the statute . . was, no doubt, simply to codify the unwritten law applicable to the sale of goods, but in so far as there is an express statutory enactment, that alone must be looked at and must govern the rights of the parties, even though the section may to some extent have altered the prior common law’

Judges:

Cozens-Hardy, LJ MR, Farwell LJ

Citations:

[1910] 2 KB 831

Statutes:

Sale of Goods Act 1897 14(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedRegina v Fulling CACD 1987
It was alleged that evidence had been obtained by police oppression. She had at first refused to answer questions, but an officer talked to her during a break between interviews, telling her that her lover had been having an affair. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Contract

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.464676

Rowlands v Hodson: CA 8 Oct 2009

Judges:

Lord Justice Rimer

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Civ 1042, [2010] PNLR 8

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedCarey v HSBC Bank plc, Yunis v Barclays Bank plc and similar QBD 23-Dec-2009
(Manchester Mercantile Court) The court considered the effects in detail where a bank was unable to comply with a request under section 78 of the 1974 Act to provide a copy of the agreement signed by the client.
Held: The court set out to give . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Legal Professions, Professional Negligence

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.375937

Al Tamimi v Khodari: CA 8 Oct 2009

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Civ 1109, [2010] LLR 42, [2009] CTLC 288

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal fromKhodari v Al Tamimi QBD 18-Dec-2008
Claim for repayment of the balance of eighteen loans said to have been made to the Defendant. The total loaned was about pounds 1,125,000. Less repayments, and including an additional 10 percent he claims to be entitled to on the money advanced, his . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Banking

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.376229

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, Regina (on the Application of) v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd: Admn 14 Nov 2002

The Ombudsman had found that the applicant had unfairly failed to notify its customers of the availability of better accounts, once it discontinued accounts of one type. The Society appealed saying that the finding of unfairness arose from matters outside the scope of the Code.
Held: The finding did go outside the strict range of the Code. Nevertheless, the code was to be interpreted in a purposive, and non-technical way, and the Ombudsman had some considerable discretion. There were arguments each way as to the fairness or unfairness of the decision, but the court could only intervene if the decision was so bad as to be irrational. That was not the case here.

Citations:

Times 13-Dec-2002, [2002] EWHC 2379 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Banking Code 1998

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedRegina v Monopolies and Mergers Commission, ex parte South Yorkshire Transport Ltd HL 1993
One bus company took over another, giving it an effective monopoly within the region. The Commission considered that the area involved was sufficiently substantial to cause concern that it may operate against the public interest. At first instance . .
CitedInvestors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society HL 19-Jun-1997
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity
The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.
Held: Investors having once . .
CitedRegina v Director of Passenger Rail Franchising, Ex Parte Save Our Railways and Others Etc CA 18-Dec-1995
A requirement that new services should be ‘based upon’ the present timetables did not mean that the services had to be at same level. It was possible that they may be a lesser service, though there should be no significant departures from such . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Financial Services, Consumer, Commercial

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.178117

Rees v Munday: QBD 1974

The defendant advertised in a motor trade journal, to sell a vehicle, which was ‘in first class condition throughout.’ In the same advertisement was the reference to it being of ’12 yard’ capacity.’ The Act applied differently according to whether a vehicle had been supplied when the contract was made or only upon subsequent delivery. The Court considered the meaning of the word ‘supply’ within the 1968 Act.
Held: The supply occurred when the goods were delivered: ‘one cannot get away from the fact, I think, that when the advertisement was published there was only one lorry of that description in the seller’s possession, and I think that the description was applied to that lorry when the advertisement itself was published. I think that is an example of the trade description being used in a manner likely to be taken as referring to the goods because if there was only one lorry of that description, that fact would indicate to anybody that the trade description applied to that one vehicle.’ and ‘For my part I think that the proper construction of this Act requires supply to be treated here as the date of delivery. I can see that there are arguments which might be advanced for applying the Sale of Goods Act 1893 to this situation and saying that an article is supplied when the property passes by virtue of that Act. But I think . . that that would be an unnecessary and undesirable complication to attach to this already somewhat difficult Act, and I think that the proper meaning of supply in this context is the delivery of the goods as delivered by the seller, or notification that they are available for delivery if they are to be collected by the buyer.’

Judges:

Lord Widgery CJ

Citations:

[1974] 1 WLR 1284

Statutes:

Trade Descriptions Act 1968 1(1)(b)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedInterfact Ltd and Another v Liverpool City Council Admn 23-May-2005
The defendants, operators of licensed sex shops, appealed convictions for offences under the Act. The shops had supplied videos rated R*18 by mail order from the shops. The Trading Standards Officer said this did not satisfy the requirement that . .
CitedDecidebloom Ltd (T/A Stoneacre Motor Group) v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Admn 10-Dec-2008
The defendant brought a case stated in its defence of allegations under the 1968 Act arising from the sale of a Fiat Punto. It was said to have advertised ‘Drive away a new Fiat Punto for a certain price. The car offered was pre-registered. The only . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.225197

Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd: ChD 17 Jul 2008

Complaint was made that the Foxtons standard terms of acting in residential lettings were unfair. Foxtons objected to the jurisdiction of the Claimant to intervene.
Held: On a challenge to an individual contract, the court would be able to see the term in the particular context and be better able to see its fairness or otherwise. Nevertheless it was necessary to make the Regulations work in the context of this a pre-emptive challenge by taking the case of typical parties. This was not the basis on which an individual’s challenge would be heard. The OFT was entitled to make this challenge. An injunction if granted should not prevent Foxtons arguing in any particular case of a contract already in existence that the circumstances of that particular case made the term fair for that consumer. Once the pleadings had been amended to omit reference to particular cases, the court would have power to grant the appropriate injunction if it felt necessary.

Judges:

Morgan J

Citations:

[2008] EWHC 1662 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Council Directive 93/13/EEC on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank Plc ChD 30-Jul-1999
The claimants sought an injunction under the regulations to prevent the defendant bank from including in any of its agreements a clause allowing them to claim interest on judgments on regulated agreements. . .
CitedDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank Plc CA 15-Sep-1999
A bank had a clause in its standard terms which provided that it could continue to recover interest at the contract rate after judgment for default. The clause was an unfair term. The clause allowed a bank to impose an arrangement for repayment by . .
CitedDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank HL 25-Oct-2001
The House was asked whether a contractual provision for interest to run after judgment as well as before in a consumer credit contract led to an unfair relationship.
Held: The term was not covered by the Act, and was not unfair under the . .
CitedBryen and Langley Ltd v Boston CA 29-Jul-2005
The special facts surrounding the agreement of the standard term at issue were such that the court held that it could not possibly say that there had been a breach of the principle of fair dealing and that rendered it unnecessary for the court to . .
CitedOceano Grupo Editorial SA v Quintero ECJ 2000
The court asked whether, in a case brought against an individual consumer, the court could investigate the unfairness of the relevant term of the contract at issue of its own motion.
Held: In such a case the court could act of its own motion. . .
CitedElisa Maria Mostaza Claro v Centro Movil Milenium SL ECJ 26-Oct-2006
ECJ Directive 93/13/EEC – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Failure to raise the unfair nature of a term during arbitration proceedings – Possibility of raising that objection in the context of an action . .
CitedFreiburger Kommunalbauten GmbH Baugesellschaft and Co. KG v Ludger Hofstetter, Ulrike Hofstetter ECJ 1-Apr-2004
ECJ Directive 93/13/EEC – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Contract for the building and supply of a parking space – Reversal of the order of performance of contractual obligations provided for under national . .
CitedFinancial Services Authority v Rourke ChD 19-Oct-2001
The applicant sought a declaration that the defendant had acted in breach of the Act, in accepting sums by way of deposit, without being authorised, and had made prohibited statements to attract such deposits. Could a civil court make such a finding . .
CitedPadden v Arbuthnot Pensions and Investments Ltd CA 14-May-2004
. .
CitedOffice of Fair Trading v MB Designs (Scotland) Limited Martin Black Paul Bradley Bett OHCS 29-Jun-2005
The Office sought an order to enforce obligations under the 2002 Act against a trader. He argued that some of the acts complained of preceded the coming into force of the Act.
Held: The Act sought to protect the interests of consumers in . .
CitedGouriet v Union of Post Office Workers HL 26-Jul-1977
The claimant sought an injunction to prevent the respondent Trades Union calling on its members to boycott mail to South Africa. The respondents challenged the ability of the court to make such an order.
Held: The wide wording of the statute . .
CitedOffice of Fair Trading v Abbey National Plc and seven Others ComC 24-Apr-2008
The Office sought a declaration that the respondent and other banks were subject to the provisions of the Regulations in their imposition of bank charges to customer accounts, and in particular as to the imposition of penalties or charges for the . .
CitedMeadows Indemnity Co Ltd v The Insurance Corporation of Ireland plc and Another CA 1989
A claim was made for declaratory relief.
Held: The Claimant, a re-insurer, did not have locus to claim a declaration that the main insurer could avoid the main contract of insurance, to which the Claimant was not a party. The court considered . .
CitedFeetum v Levy CA 2006
Jonathan Parker LJ discussed the granting of declarations: ‘things have indeed moved on since the Meadows case was decided; and the courts should not nowadays apply such a restrictive meaning to the passage in Lord Diplock’s speech in Gouriet’s . .

Cited by:

Appeal fromOffice Of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd CA 2-Apr-2009
The OFT had sought and obtained an injunction regarding the use of certain standard terms in their estate agency business. Both parties appealed.
Held: The OFT’s appeal succeeded. The court had been wrong to restrict the effect of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, European

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.270958

Skipsredittforeningen v Emperor Navigation SA: 1997

The court considered the reaonableness of a contract clause which sought to exclude liability for misrepresentation: ‘The consequence of the approach adopted in Stewart Gill [[1992] 1 QB 600] is (as the present case shows) that the court may hear arguments that a term is or may be unreasonable (and so wholly void in relation to misrepresentation or breach of contract claims, as the case may be) for reasons or in respects that have nothing to do with the facts of the actual case. Assuming that the whole term will be invalid in this way if it fails the requirement of reasonableness, the court should, I think, take care to consider the clause as a whole in the light of the circumstances when the contract was made, in order to judge in the round whether it satisfies the requirement of reasonableness. The court should not be too ready to focus on remote possibilities or to accept arguments that a clause fails the test by reference to relatively uncommon or unlikely situations.’
The claimant sought summary judgement for sums due under a loan agreement that provided, inter alia: ‘All payments to be made by or on behalf of the Borrowers pursuant to this Agreement . . shall be made without (a) set-off’. The defendant submitted that this clause was unreasonable under UCTA.
Held: Mance J rejected this submission holding that the clause was fair and reasonable. In his view ‘[s]uch a clause in a loan facility like the present is generally familiar, sensible and understandable’.

Judges:

Mance J

Citations:

[1997] 2 BCLC 398, [1998] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 66

Statutes:

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 4(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedRegus (UK) Ltd v Epcot Solutions Ltd CA 15-Apr-2008
The appellant had contracted to provide office accomodation to the defendant. The air conditioning did not work and there were other defects. The appellant now challenged a finding of liability and that its contract terms which were said to totally . .
CitedBarclays Bank Plc v Kufner ComC 10-Oct-2008
barclays_kufnerComC2008
The bank sought summary judgment under a guarantee to secure a loan to purchase a luxury yacht which was to be hired out in business. The loan had been charged against the yacht, but when the yacht was re-registered, the bank failed to re-establish . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Banking, Consumer

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.266862

Lidl Italia Srl v Comune di Arcole (VR) (Environment and Consumers): ECJ 23 Nov 2006

Europa Directive 2000/13/EC – Labelling of foodstuffs to be delivered as such to the ultimate consumer – Scope of the obligations under Articles 2, 3 and 12 – Compulsory statement of the alcoholic strength by volume for certain alcoholic beverages – Alcoholic beverage produced in a Member State other than that in which the distributor is established’ -‘Amaro alle erbe’ – Actual alcoholic strength by volume lower than that appearing on the label – Overstepping of the tolerance – Administrative fine – Liability of the distributor.

Citations:

C-315/05, [2006] EUECJ C-315/05

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.246398

Dyson v Commission: ECFI 11 Nov 2015

Judgment – Directive 2010/30/EU – Indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products – Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2013 – Competence of the Commission – Equal treatment – Obligation to state reasons

Citations:

T-544/13, [2015] EUECJ T-544/13, ECLI:EU:T:2015:836

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 2010/30/EU, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2013

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.554649

Novo Nordisk Pharma: ECJ 20 Nov 2014

ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling – Directive 85/374/EEC – Consumer protection – Liability for defective products – Material scope of the directive – Special liability system existing on the date of notification of that directive – Permissibility of a national liability system enabling information on the adverse effects of pharmaceutical products to be obtained

Judges:

L Bay Larsen, P

Citations:

[2014] EUECJ C-310/13, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2385

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 85/374/EC

Jurisdiction:

European

Citing:

OpinionNovo Nordisk Pharma ECJ 11-Jun-2014
ECJ Opinion – Consumer protection – Liability for defective products – Scope of Directive 85/374/EC – Exclusion of special liability system existing at the time of notification of the Directive – Eligibility of a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer

Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.567371

Novo Nordisk Pharma: ECJ 11 Jun 2014

ECJ Opinion – Consumer protection – Liability for defective products – Scope of Directive 85/374/EC – Exclusion of special liability system existing at the time of notification of the Directive – Eligibility of a national system of liability for inter alia obtaining information on the side effects of pharmaceuticals

Judges:

Maciej Szpunar AG

Citations:

C-310/13, [2014] EUECJ C-310/13 – O

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 85/374/EC

Jurisdiction:

European

Cited by:

OpinionNovo Nordisk Pharma ECJ 20-Nov-2014
ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling – Directive 85/374/EEC – Consumer protection – Liability for defective products – Material scope of the directive – Special liability system existing on the date of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer

Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.526444

Lidl Belgium GmbH and Co KG v Etablissementen Franz Colruyt NV: ECJ 19 Sep 2006

ECJ (Approximation of Laws) – Directives 84/450/EEC and 97/55/EC – Misleading advertising – Comparative advertising – Conditions under which comparative advertising is permitted – Comparison of the general level of the prices charged by chains of stores – Comparison of the prices of a selection of products.

Citations:

C-356/04, [2006] EUECJ C-356/04, [2007] 1 CMLR 9

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 84/450/EEC, Directive 97/55/EC

Jurisdiction:

European

Cited by:

CitedOffice of Fair Trading v Abbey National Plc and seven Others ComC 24-Apr-2008
The Office sought a declaration that the respondent and other banks were subject to the provisions of the Regulations in their imposition of bank charges to customer accounts, and in particular as to the imposition of penalties or charges for the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Consumer

Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.245113

Stevenson and Another v Rogers: CA 8 Dec 1998

The defendant, who carried on the business of a fisherman, sold his vessel Jelle to the plaintiff with a view to having a new boat built to his requirements. In the event he bought a replacement vessel which he continued to use for his business. The question for the court was whether the sale of the Jelle had been made ‘in the course of a business’ within the meaning of section 14(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 so that it was subject to an implied term that the vessel was of merchantable quality.
Held: A sale of his vessel by a fisherman was a sale in the course of business and it was required to be of merchantable quality. The phrase ‘in the course of business had a different meaning in the Act from in Trade Description and Unfair Contract Terms law. The defendant was not in the business of selling trawlers, and the fact that his boat was the principal asset of his business of fisherman did not mean that its sale was other than incidental thereto. The appeal was allowed.

Judges:

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, Lord Justice Potter, Sir Patrick Russell

Citations:

Times 31-Dec-1998, Gazette 13-Jan-1999, [1998] EWCA Civ 1931, [1999] QB 1028, [1999] 2 WLR 1064

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Sale of Goods Act 1979 12(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedHavering London Borough Council v Stevenson 1970
The defendant carried on a car hire business as opposed to the business of a motor car vendor or dealer. He had a fleet of twenty-four cars and made a regular practice of selling his hire cars when he had had them for about two years or when the . .
CitedR and B Customs Brokers Co Ltd v United Dominions Trust Ltd CA 1988
There was an issue whether or not the purchase by the plaintiff of a second-hand car was made ‘in the course of a business’ so as to preclude the plaintiff from relying upon the provisions of the 1977 Act.
Held: Speaking of Lord Keith’s . .
CitedChristopher Hill Ltd v Ashington Piggeries Ltd HL 1972
Mink farmers had asked a compounder of animal foods to make up mink food to a supplied formula.
Held: There was reliance as to the suitability of the ingredients only.
Lord Diplock said: ‘Unless the Sale of Goods Act 1893 is to be allowed . .
CitedFothergill v Monarch Airlines Ltd HL 10-Jul-1980
The plaintiff, on arriving at the airport found that his luggage had been lost. The defendant denied liability saying he had not notified his claim within the requisite period.
Held: Elementary justice requires that the rules by which the . .
CitedDavies v Sumner HL 1984
The defendant used his own car almost exclusively in the course of his occupation as a courier. He sold and replaced it with another for similar use. He was charged before justices with the offence of applying, ‘in the course of trade or business’, . .
CitedDevlin v Hall 1990
. .

Cited by:

CitedKenny v Conroy and Another CA 27-Jan-1999
A court need only first see whether at the time of the loan, the party’s business was that of moneylender. If not, the court then investigates if the person held themselves out as carrying on such a business. Kennedy L.J: ‘. . . a licensed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.145410

Faber v Autobedrijf Hazet Ochten BV: ECJ 4 Jun 2015

Judgment – Reference for a preliminary ruling – Directive 1999/44/EC – Sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees – Status of the purchaser – Consumer status – Lack of conformity of the goods delivered – Duty to inform the seller – Lack of conformity which became apparent within six months of delivery of the goods – Burden of proof

Citations:

C-497/13, [2015] EUECJ C-497/13, ECLI:EU:C:2015:357

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 1999/44/EC

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.547695

Shogun Finance Limited v Hudson: HL 19 Nov 2003

Thief acquired no title and could not sell

A purchaser used a stolen driving licence to obtain credit for and purchase a car. He then purported to sell it to the respondent, and then disappeared. The finance company sought return of the car.
Held: (Lords Nicholls and Millett dissenting) The rogue had not acquired a title, and could not therefore pass one. The terms of the contract were clear. Other circumstances were not available to construe a clear written contract. The question was whether the rogue was a debtor under the agreement. He was not, and could not pass title.

Judges:

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough, Lord Millett, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe

Citations:

[2003] UKHL 62, Times 20-Nov-2003, [2003] 3 WLR 1627, [2004] 1 LLR 532, [2004] 1 All ER 215, [2004] 1 AC 1101, [2004] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 532, [2004] RTR 12, [2004] PIQR P20, [2004] ELR 11, [2004] 1 All ER (Comm) 332

Links:

House of Lords, Bailii

Statutes:

Hire Purchase Act 1964 27(1) 27(2) 29(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal fromNorman Hudson v Shogun Finance Ltd CA 28-Jun-2001
A rogue had purchased a car, using a false name to obtain finance. He had then sold it to the defendant. The finance company claimed the car back.
Held: The dealer had not taken all the steps he might have done to check the identity of the . .
CitedLewis v Averay CA 22-Jul-1971
A private seller had parted with his car in return for a worthless cheque to a rogue who persuaded him that he was the well-known actor who played Robin Hood on television, and who sold it on to the defendant.
Held: ‘When two parties have come . .
CitedKing’s Norton Metal Co Ltd v Edridge Merrett and Co Ltd CA 1879
A crook ordered some brass rivet wire from a metal manufacturer. On his stationery he represented falsely that he was in business in a big way, running a large factory and having several depots and agencies. The manufacturer supplied the goods but . .
OverruledCundy v Lindsay HL 1878
Cundy was asked to pay the linen manufacturers Lindsay and Co for 250 dozen cambric handkerchiefs which he had acquired from a crook who had acquired them from Lindsay by pretending to be the respectable business firm of Blenkiron.
Held: A . .
CitedWhittaker v Campbell 1984
Where goods were obtained from the owner by fraud, but with the owner’s consent, that fraud did not vitiate the consent given. . .
CitedIngram v Little 27-Jul-1960
Two ladies had a car for sale. A buyer came along. He fooled them into believing him to be someone else, and they sold him the car, after checking the name in the telephone directory. Before the cheque bounced, the rogue sold the car to the . .
CitedPhillips v Brooks Ltd 1919
A jeweller had a ring for sale. The buyer pretended to be somebody else: ‘I am Sir George Bullough of 11 St. James’s Square.’ The jeweller had heard of Sir George Bullough and checked he lived at the address given. He released the jewellry against . .
CitedBabcock v Lawson CA 1880
A person who has acquired the goods by a fraud has a voidable title. . .
CitedHelby v Matthews HL 30-May-1895
A piano owner hired it out to Brewster for monthly payments with a provision that the piano would become Brewster’s on payment of the required number of monthly payments. Brewster pledged it and the owner sought its recovery.
Held: The basic . .
CitedYoung v Schuler CA 19-Jun-1883
The issue was whether Schuler had signed an agreement simply under a power of attorney on behalf of one of the named parties or, additionally, on his own behalf as a guarantor. In the case of an equivocal agency signature, it was held that evidence . .
CitedHector v Lyons 1988
The appellant contracted to buy a house but used his under-aged son’s name. He sought specific performance when the vendor failed to complete.
Held: Since he was neither the purchaser nor the purchaser’s agent, specific performance was . .
CitedSaid v Butt 1920
The plaintiff wanted to go to a play’s first night. He had fallen out with the management of the theatre, and knew that he would not get a ticket in his own name. He got a friend to go to the theatre and buy a ticket for him without disclosing the . .
CitedCollins v Associated Greyhound Racecourses Ltd CA 1930
An undisclosed principal cannot intervene where the nature of the contract shows that the contract was intended to be with the agent personally. . .
CitedHardman v Booth CEC 1863
Gandell carried on business in two capacities: as clerk to Gandell and Co, of which his father was sole proprietor. He had no authority to contract. He was in partnership with Todd, as Gandell and Todd. He purported to conclude a contract to . .
CitedBoulton v Jones CEC 25-Nov-1857
Supply contract not assignable without consent
The defendant sent a written order for goods to a shop owned by Brocklehurst and which was addressed to him by name. Unknown to the defendant, Brocklehurst had earlier that day sold and transferred his business to Boulton. Boulton fulfilled the . .
CitedFawcett v Star Car Sales Limited 1960
(New Zealand) ‘a void contract is a paradox; in truth there is no contract at all.’ and ‘the difficulty in deciding whether a mistake of identity prevents the formation of a concluded contract is a proper assessment of the facts rather than the . .
CitedSmith v Hughes QBD 6-Jun-1871
Blackburn J said: ‘I apprehend that if one of the parties intends to make a contract on one set of terms, and the other intends to make a contract on another set of terms, or, as it is sometimes expressed, if the parties are not ad idem, there is no . .
CitedHartog v Colin and Shields 1939
The defendants had contracted to sell to the plaintiff 30,000 Argentine hairskins but by an alleged mistake the defendants offered the goods at a price per pound weight instead of a price per piece. The value of a piece was approximately one third . .
CitedLovesy v Palmer 1916
Solicitors for two parties corresponded and agreed for their clients about a proposed lease. The plaintiff said the agreement was to be on behalf of a company he was yet to form. The documents making up the memorandum made no mention of the company. . .
CitedLake v Simmons HL 1927
A jeweller claimed on a policy of insurance. One Ellison had induced him, in face-to-face dealings, to part with possession of two necklaces by pretending she was the wife of a local gentleman called Van der Borgh, with whom she was living, and that . .
CitedNewborne v Sensolid (Great Britain) Ltd 1954
A written contract purported to sell goods by a company described as Leopold Newborne (London) Ltd. The document was subscribed by the name of the company with Mr Leopold Newborne’s signature under it. At that time it had not yet been incorporated. . .
CitedBasma v Weekes PC 1950
The appellant requested specific performance of an agreement by which the first three respondents had agreed to sell to him two houses, of which they were tenants in common. The respondents pleaded, inter alia, that the agreement alleged was not a . .
CitedJH Rayner (Mincing Lane) Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry HL 1989
An undisclosed principal will not be permitted to claim to be party to a contract if this is contrary to the terms of the contract itself. Thus the provision in the standard form B contract of the London Metal Exchange ‘this contract is made between . .

Cited by:

Appealed toNorman Hudson v Shogun Finance Ltd CA 28-Jun-2001
A rogue had purchased a car, using a false name to obtain finance. He had then sold it to the defendant. The finance company claimed the car back.
Held: The dealer had not taken all the steps he might have done to check the identity of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Torts – Other, Consumer

Updated: 27 November 2022; Ref: scu.187997

Cavendish Woodhouse Ltd v Wright: 8 Mar 1985

If a salesman in a shop makes representations to say that he could supply goods identical to a sort described, the description becomes attached to the goods delivered for the purposes of the Act, and if it is false, it is a false description. The first information alleged that the Appellants applied a false description to bedroom furniture by describing it as ‘identical’ to furniture previously shown to a Miss Crawley. The second that the Appellants had supplied to Miss Crawley bedroom furniture to which a false trade description was applied, namely ‘identical’ to furniture previously shown to her, contrary in this case to section 1(1)(b). Miss Crawley saw a bedroom unit marked ‘sold’. A salesman offered to supply her with a unit which was ‘identical’. The Crown Court had held that thereby he was making an assertion of existing fact, namely that an identical unit was in stock and could be supplied to her. This was untrue. ‘Turning to the second information, a different circumstance has to be contemplated. We have now to look at the actual supply of the furniture . . . When it arrived at her home it was anything but identical to that which she and her mother had examined. Mr Philpott says that that does not mean to say that it bore a false trade description. True it is that through some negligence or other wrong on the part of the appellants the article as promised was not supplied, but that falls into the realm, not of a false trade description as to an existing fact, but was merely a promise made by the appellants to supply something to the customer in the future…’ ‘What happened was, as found in the case, that the appellants did not supply to Miss Crawley an identical set of furniture. They did not disabuse Miss Crawley, at any time, either before the delivery, at the time of delivery, or, indeed, within a short time after delivery that what they had delivered was everything but identical to that which Miss Crawley had seen and approved at the appellants’ premises. In that situation it seems to me that the set of furniture delivered carried with it the description given to it at the time of the agreement for sale. That is the inevitable implication, in the absence of anything said by the appellants to the contrary – and nothing was. That being so, there clearly was an offence committed here seeing that the furniture actually delivered was not identical. Accordingly, I would hold that the Crown Court was also right in this instance to uphold the conviction of the appellants upon this second information.’ ‘It cannot, I think, be gainsaid that in circumstances such as these, where suppliers of goods have made such representations as I have so far been dealing with and made no attempt whatsoever to inform the customer that they have, for no matter what reason, had to make some alteration in what it is they have promised to supply, the trade description which they have attached to the goods at the time of the agreement for sale will be carried along with them as they are supplied by the seller to the customer.’

Judges:

Watkins LJ

Citations:

(1985) Tr L 40, [1985] CLY 3109, Times 08-Mar-1985

Statutes:

Trade Descriptions Act 1968 1(1) 18

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedShropshire County Council (David Walker) v Simon Dudley Limited Admn 17-Dec-1996
A customer’s description of the goods he required was a trade description for the future supply of those goods by the seller claiming to fulfil that specification. The trading standards officer appealed dismissal of his prosecution of the defendant . .
CitedDenard v Smith and Dixons QBD 1991
A Christmas Dixons were offering, both in their brochures and by a placard in the store, a computer, joystick and four software packages, including Nintendo games, all for andpound;149.95. A Mrs Grover decided to buy this from Dixons, her son being . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer

Updated: 26 November 2022; Ref: scu.192599

Oakley v Birmingham City Council: QBD 8 Jan 1999

The justices had concluded that the layout itself of premises was so unhygienic as to be ‘in a state prejudicial to health.’ The small toilets without a wash basin and next to the kitchen created a risk of cross-infection, and were a statutory nuisance.

Citations:

Times 08-Jan-1999

Statutes:

Environmental Protection Act 1990 79

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal fromBirmingham City Council v Oakley HL 29-Nov-2000
When considering if premises fell within the section, and were ‘in such a state as to be prejudicial to health’, the court must consider some feature of the premises which was in itself prejudicial. An arrangement of rooms which was unsatisfactory . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Nuisance, Housing

Updated: 26 November 2022; Ref: scu.84406

Feldman v Always Travel: 15 Oct 1957

The plaintiff complained that the holiday he had booked had been altered by the operator in several ways which inconvenienced and distressed him.
Held: The correct measure of damages was the difference between the amount he paid and the value of what had in fact been furnished, allowing for his feelings of annoyance and frustration.

Judges:

Alan Pugh Judge

Citations:

Unreported, October 15 1957

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Contract, Consumer, Damages

Updated: 23 November 2022; Ref: scu.183092

Decidebloom Ltd (T/A Stoneacre Motor Group) v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council: Admn 10 Dec 2008

The defendant brought a case stated in its defence of allegations under the 1968 Act arising from the sale of a Fiat Punto. It was said to have advertised ‘Drive away a new Fiat Punto for a certain price. The car offered was pre-registered. The only effect was the loss of two month’s warranty.
Held: The fact that no specific car was mentioned did not excuse any misdescription, and ‘there was, in the context of this case, a material difference between describing a vehicle as ‘brand new’ and describing it merely as ‘new’. A pre-registered vehicle could not, in my judgment, properly be described as ‘brand new’. The appeal failed.

Judges:

Sir Anthony May

Citations:

[2008] EWHC 3328 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Trade Descriptions Act 1968 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedRees v Munday QBD 1974
The defendant advertised in a motor trade journal, to sell a vehicle, which was ‘in first class condition throughout.’ In the same advertisement was the reference to it being of ’12 yard’ capacity.’ The Act applied differently according to whether a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 22 November 2022; Ref: scu.293948

Lincolnshire County Council v Safeway Stores Plc: Admn 19 Apr 1999

Appeal against conviction for selling food after sell by date.

Judges:

Kennedy LJ

Citations:

[1999] EWHC Admin 318

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Food Safety Act 1990 16(1)(e), Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (1996 No. 1499) 44

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedTesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass HL 31-Mar-1971
Identification of Company’s Directing Mind
In a prosecution under the 1968 Act, the court discussed how to identify the directing mind and will of a company, and whether employees remained liable when proper instructions had been given to those in charge of a local store.
Held: ‘In the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 19 November 2022; Ref: scu.139582

Lovell Projects Ltd v Legg and Carver: 2003

The court was asked whether the regulations applied to a construction contract.

Judges:

Judge Moseley QC

Citations:

[2003] BLR 452

Statutes:

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts 1992

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedDomsalla (T/A Domsalla Building Services) v Dyason TCC 4-May-2007
A consumer has no grounds for complaining about the construction adjudication process per se under the Regulations . .
CitedShaw and Another v Massey Foundation and Pilings Ltd TCC 12-Mar-2009
The appellants had argued that they were not subject to the construction arbitration system because they were residential occupiers. They now said that as consumers vis a vis the construction contract. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Construction, Consumer

Updated: 19 November 2022; Ref: scu.326091

Tesco Stores Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Birmingham Magistrates’ Court: Admn 6 Apr 2020

Is it a criminal offence for a shop to offer food for sale, or otherwise place it on the market, after its labelled ‘use by’ date?

Judges:

Lord Justice Hickinbottom, Swift J

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 799 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.649808

The Financial Services Authority v Asset L I Inc and Others: ChD 8 Feb 2013

The court was asked whether so-called ‘land-banking’ schemes were ‘collective investments schemes’ within section 235.
Held: Andrew Smith J discussed the difference in effect between the contra preferentem rule, and regulation 7 of the 1999 Regulations as principles of construction, concluding that they were ‘to much the same effect’, and decided that its activities amounted to a collective investment scheme, in breach of the Act. After a second hearing on remedies the judge directed an inquiry into the amounts of restitutionary orders to be made under section 382.

Judges:

Andrew Smith J

Citations:

[2013] EWHC 178 (Ch), [2013] 2 BCLC 480, [2013] WLR(D) 54

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 235, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 7

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedFinancial Services Authority v Fradley and Woodward CA 23-Nov-2005
The defendant appealed against a finding that the pooled betting scheme they operated was governed by the Act.
Held: Whether such an arrangement amounted to a collective investment scheme so as to be regulated was first a question of fact as . .

Cited by:

ApprovedAJ Building and Plastering Ltd v Turner and Others QBD 11-Mar-2013
An insurance company had engaged a main contractor to handle repairs to houses insured under its policies. The contractor had engaged the claimant subcontractor to carry out the works at the defendants’ homes, but then went into insolvent . .
At ChDAsset Land Investment Plc and Another v The Financial Conduct Authority CA 10-Apr-2014
The court was asked whether certain sales of land, or arrangements relating to sales of land, at six sites in England were ‘collective investment schemes’ within the meaning of section 235 of the 2000 Act. The company appealed from a finding that . .
At ChDAsset Land Investment Plc and Another v The Financial Conduct Authority SC 20-Apr-2016
Proceedings were brought against the appellant’s associated parties, alleging that they had carred on regulated activities without authorisation, contrary to section 19 of the2000 Act. They had offered various plots of land for sale, suggesting they . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Financial Services, Consumer

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.470857

Sturgeon and Others v Condor Flugdienst GmbH: ECJ 19 Nov 2009

The claimants’ flights had been cancelled. In one case the passengers had been booked on an alternative flight which had been treated as a substitute for the original flight and the carriage had been performed under the original tickets. In the other, the passengers were booked on a flight operated by another airline and fresh tickets had been issued. In the former case the flight arrived 25 hours after the scheduled arrival time of the original flight; in the latter the flight arrived 22 hours late. Both sets of passengers sought to treat their flights as having been cancelled and brought claims for compensation under articles 5 and 7 of Regulation 261. In both cases it was said that the flight had been delayed rather than cancelled.
Held: Delay, however long, was not the same as cancellation, but that the principle of equal treatment required that the position of passengers whose flights were delayed should be compared with that of passengers whose flights were cancelled and that since both suffer similar damage in the form of loss of time they had to be treated in the same way. Passengers who, following a cancellation, are re-routed pursuant to article 5(1)(c)(iii) of Regulation 261 are entitled to compensation under article 7 if the carrier fails to arrange an alternative flight which departs no more than one hour before the originally scheduled time of departure and reaches its destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival. They thus obtain a right to compensation in respect of a loss of time of three hours or more. In the view of the Court passengers who suffer a comparable loss of time by reason of delay to their flights must be treated in the same way. It expressed the critical part of its ruling in the following way: (2) Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Regulation 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that passengers whose flights are delayed may be treated, for the purposes of the application of the right to compensation, as passengers whose flights are cancelled and they may thus rely on the right to compensation laid down in art 7 of the Regulation where they suffer, on account of a flight delay, a loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours, that is, where they reach their final destination three hours or more after the arrival time originally scheduled by the air carrier . .’

Judges:

K Lenaerts, P

Citations:

[2009] EUECJ C-432/07, [2009] EUECJ C-402/07, C-432/07, [2009] ECR I-10923, C-402/07, [2012] 2 All ER (Comm) 983

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Statutes:

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 2(1)

Citing:

OpinionSturgeon and Others v Condor Flugdienst GmbH ECJ 2-Jul-2009
Opinion (Joined cases) – Air transport – Distinction between the notions of ‘delay’ and ‘cancellation’ . .

Cited by:

CitedX v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau and Another SC 12-Dec-2012
The appellant was disabled, had legal qualifications, and worked with the respondent as a volunteer. She had sought assistance under the Disability Discrimination Act, now the 2012 Act, saying that she counted as a worker. The tribunal and CA had . .
CitedDawson v Thomson Airways Ltd CA 19-Jun-2014
The claimant’s flight had been delayed for six hours. The airline said that the claim having been made outside the two year period applicable under the Montreal convention, no compensation was payable.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. ‘We . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Transport, Consumer

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.470834

Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen eV v Heinrich Heine GmbH: ECJ 8 Dec 2011

ECJ (Opinion) Directive 97/7/CE Consumer protection Distance contracts Right of withdrawal Consumer charged with the cost of delivering the goods

Judges:

Paolo Mengozzi A

Citations:

[2011] EUECJ C-1/11, C-511/08 – O

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 97/7/CE

Cited by:

See AlsoInterseroh Scrap And Metals Trading v Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH ECJ 29-Mar-2012
InterserohECJ2012
ECJ Environment – Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 – Article 18(1) and (4) – Shipments of certain waste – Article 3(2) – Mandatory information – Identity of waste producers – Information not provided by the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Consumer

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.470092

Personal Exchange International (Judgment): ECJ 10 Dec 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Judicial cooperation in civil matters – Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 – Article 15, paragraph 1 – Jurisdiction over contracts concluded by consumers – Concept of ‘consumer’ – Contract for poker games concluded online between a natural person and an organizer of games of chance – Natural person earning his living in online poker games – Knowledge possessed by this person – Regularity of the activity

Citations:

ECLI:EU:C:2020:1015, C-774/19, [2020] EUECJ C-774/19

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 11 November 2022; Ref: scu.660744

Stadtwerke Neuwied (Common Rules for The Internal Market In Natural Gas – Consumer Protection – Judgment): ECJ 2 Apr 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Directive 2003/55/EC – Common rules for the internal market in natural gas – Consumer protection – Article 3(3) and point (b) of Annex A – Transparency of contractual terms and conditions – Obligation to give consumers adequate notice directly of an increase in charges

Citations:

C-765/18, [2020] EUECJ C-765/18, ECLI:EU:C:2020:270

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 11 November 2022; Ref: scu.660154

Cityhook Ltd and Another, Regina (on the Application of) v Office of Fair Trading: Admn 20 Jan 2009

Issue of the extent to which the Office of Fair Trading (‘the OFT’), the body charged with policing and enforcing the Competition Act 1998 (‘the 1998 Act’), may be the subject of judicial review in respect of a decision to close an investigation into suspected infringements of the Act.

Judges:

Foskett J

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 57 (Admin), [2009] ACD 41, [2009] UKCLR 255

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer, Commercial

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.280053

Harwood T/A RSBS Group v Smith and Smith and Bedwell Watts and Company (a Firm): CA 14 Nov 1997

An estate agent with sole selling rights was not entitled to claim commission on a sale where he had contributed no act to the sale, even though his terms were specific enough to deal with the particular circumstances which had arisen here. Such a clause should be interpreted tightly against those seeking to place reliance upon it. On a sensible reading of the whole statement, the liability to pay remuneration in a case such as this must, therefore, be limited to the purchaser who was introduced to the client by that estate agent during the period. If the purchaser is introduced to the client in any other way, the estate agent can only claim remuneration if he has conducted negotiations with the purchaser about the property during that period. Hobhouse LJ: ‘The purpose of section 18 and of the regulations is to attempt to ensure that the person instructing the estate agent shall know precisely what his liabilities to the estate agent are. Part of the mischief to which the Act and regulations were directed was the use by estate agents of expressions such as ‘Sole Agency’ or ‘Sole Selling Rights’, which had no clearly defined meaning and the implications of which would not be fully understood by the client.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Hobhouse, Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Mummery

Citations:

Times 08-Dec-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 2725, [1998] 1 EGLR 5

Statutes:

Estate Agency Act 1979 18, Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991 (SI 1191 No 859) 5(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedWood (John D) and Co v Dantata; Beauchamp Estates v Dantata CA 1987
The purchaser liked inspecting houses and the vendor had appointed ten firms to act for him as estate agents. Each of the estate agents was approached by this purchaser and each of the estate agents took the would be purchaser over the property of . .
CitedPeter Yates v Bullock 1992
Whether an introduction of a purchaser by an estate agent to the vendor was the ‘effective cause’ of the transaction which ultimately takes place must be resolved by an examination of the facts as a whole. . .

Cited by:

ApprovedG and S Properties v Francis and Another SCS 13-Jun-2001
The pursuers were contracted to sell a property with sole selling rights. The contract was terminable on two weeks notice. Notice was given, and another company engaged. A buyer confused the two agents and obtained details from the pursuer’s office, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Agency, Consumer

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.143124

Konsumenteninformation v Volkswagen Ag (Liability – Manipulation of Emissions Values In Car Engines): ECJ 2 Apr 2020

Preliminary ruling proceedings – Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 – Jurisdiction in matters relating to liability in tort, delict or quasi-delict – Place of the event giving rise to the harm – Manipulation of emissions values in car engines

Citations:

C-343/19, [2020] EUECJ C-343/19_O, [2020] EUECJ C-343/19

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Torts – Other, Consumer

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.660138

Taylor v Great Eastern Railway Company: 1901

The section provided that: ‘A contract for the sale of any goods of the value of ten pounds or upwards shall not be enforceable by action unless the buyer shall accept part of the goods so sold, and actually receive the same, or give something in earnest to bind the contract, or in part payment, or unless some note or memorandum in writing of the contract be made and signed by the party to be charged or his agent in that behalf.’
Held: Bigham J said of a contract which failed to meet the requirement: ‘The contract is good. The only effect of the non-fulfilment of the statutory conditions is that it is unenforceable. And, the contract being good, all the legal consequences of a contract follow; so that, if the contract is for the sale of specific goods, the property in the goods passes to the buyer.’

Judges:

Bigham J

Citations:

[1901] 1 KB 774

Statutes:

Sale of Goods Act 1893 4(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedMcGuffick v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc ComC 6-Oct-2009
Requirements for Enforcing Consumer Loan Agreement
The claimant challenged the validity of a loan agreement with his bank as a regulated consumer credit agreement. After default, the lender failed to satisfy a request for a copy of the agreement under section 77. The bank said that though it could . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.375744

Wilson and Another v Hurstanger Ltd: CA 4 Apr 2007

The company sought to enforce its loan agreement and charge over the defendants’ property. The defendants appealed saying that the agreement was unenforceable under the Act, since a commission had been paid to the introducing broker, and his fee had been added to the loan amount. The agreement was a fixed sum credit agreement regulated under the 1974 Act, but it did not say how the fee was to be repaid.
Held: The regulations provided some flexibility on how the sums were to be described, and the borrower’s appeal failed. Nevertheless the payment of the fee was to be deferred and the company’s appeal also failed. A secret commission would be repayable. Was the commission secret? The broker was their fiduciary agent, and the onus fell on him to demonstrate disclosure. There had been insufficient disclosure, and the fee was repayable.

Judges:

Waller LJ VP, Tuckey LJ, Jacob LJ

Citations:

Times 11-May-2007, [2007] EWCA Civ 299, [2007] 2 All ER (Comm) 1037, [2007] 1 WLR 2351, [2008] Bus LR 216, [2007] 4 All ER 1118

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974 8 10(1)(b), Consumer Credit (Agreements) Regulations 1983 Sch6 p5

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedMcGinn v Grangewood Securities Ltd CA 23-Apr-2002
The lender used part of the loan to repay a small amount of arrears of the claimant on another loan. The part so used was not part of the objective of the loan, but one of the costs of obtaining it.
Held: The deduction was properly part of the . .
CitedO’Hagan v Wright CANI 15-Jun-2001
Lord Carswell CJ discussed the necessary contents of a consumer credit agreement: ‘the debtor must receive fairly precise information about the times and amount of repayments to be made’. . .
CitedPanama and South Pacific Telegraph Co v India Rubber, Gutta Percha, and Telegraph Co 1875
Where his agent has taken a secret commission, the transaction is voidable at the election of the principal who can rescind it provided counter-restitution can be made. . .
CitedJohnson v EBS Pensioner Trustees Limited CA 2002
The court considered a request for rescission. A guarantee had been given by one of the defendants as security for a loan made by solicitors to his company. He complained that the solicitor acting for him had a conflict of interest and had been in . .
CitedShipway v Broadwood 1899
Where an agent takes a secret commission, ‘the real evil is not the payment of money, but the secrecy attending it’ . .
CitedBartram and Sons v Lloyd 1904
A secret commission had been agreed and paid to the agent. The court was asked whether the principal had elected to affirm the contract with the other party at a later meeting when he was given some information about what had happened.
Held: . .
CitedMahesan v Malaysia Government Officers Co-operative Housing Society PC 1978
The appellant, the director and employee of a housing society was bribed by a real estate agent, one Manickam, and the appellant then caused the society to buy land at an overvalue. The agent was sued for money had and received (for the amount of . .
Appeal fromHurstanger Ltd v Wilson 2006
(Coventry County Court) Michael Douglas discussed the 1983 Regulations, saying: ‘The 1983 Regulations prescribe, among other things, the minimum contents of a regulated agreement, the information which must be brought to the attention of the . .

Cited by:

CitedSternlight v Barclays Bank Plc QBD 22-Jul-2010
Various credit card customers said that the respondent banks had mis-stated the interest rates applied to them, in that the interest charged did not match the APR advertised, and that therefore the agreements were unenforceable.
Held: The . .
CitedHSBC Bank Plc v Brophy CA 2-Feb-2011
The customer appealed against an order finding that his credit card agreement was binding upon him.
Held: The appeal failed. His argument that the application form amounted only to an invitation to treat, and that the contract was one made by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Financial Services, Agency

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.250988

Antonelli v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: CA 31 Jul 1997

The Secretary of State had the right to take account of a foreign criminal conviction against property, when assessing the fitness of a Estate Agent to act as such, even though the offence also took place before the Act came into effect. The statute had been introduced to protect the public against the activities of fraudulent or dishonest or violent estate agents.

Judges:

Beldam LJ, Kennedy and Aldous LJJ

Citations:

Gazette 17-Sep-1997, Times 03-Oct-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 2282, [1998] QB 948, [1998] 1 All ER 997

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Estate Agents Act 1979 3(2)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedGeneral Medical Council v Professor Sir Roy Meadow, Attorney General CA 26-Oct-2006
The GMC appealed against the dismissal of its proceedings for professional misconduct against the respondent doctor, whose expert evidence to a criminal court was the subject of complaint. The doctor said that the evidence given by him was . .
CitedWright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health Secretary of State for Education and Skills Admn 16-Nov-2006
The various applicants sought judicial review of the operation of the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List insofar as they had been placed provisionally on the list, preventing them from finding work. One complaint was that the list had operated . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Administrative, Consumer

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.77822

Southern and District Finance Plc v Turner: CA 7 Nov 2003

The defendant sought to assert that the agreement under which possession of her house was sought was an extortionate credit bargain. She had to obtain leave to appeal out of time.
Held: The rules required an application to be supported by evidence. In this case the leave had been granted without formal consideration of the need for an application for leave.The matter should be treated as an application to the Court of Appeal. As to the substantive issue, this was a matter which should be heard, and the leave to appeal was given.

Judges:

Lord Justice Brooke Sir Martin Nourse Lord Justice Longmore

Citations:

[2003] EWCA Civ 1574

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedLondon Borough of Hackney v Driscoll CA 16-Jul-2003
The defendant sought to set aside judgment entered in his absence.
Held: The right of a defendant to have set aside a judgment where he had not known of the proceedings did not necessarily apply where, as here, he had attended one hearing, but . .
CitedFowler De Pledge (A Firm) v Smith CA 20-May-2003
The appellant sought two permissions to appeal. Having at one stage been legally aided in proceedings, a claim for his solicitors costs had been compromised. The court records were imperfect. It was not clear whether a circuit judge sitting as a . .
CitedHackney v Driscoll (No 1) CA 2003
It was not clear whether an order made by a circuit judge was made by a judge of the county court at first instance, or by a circuit judge in an appeal court. The route for an appeal was therefore unclear. . .
CitedHertsmere Borough Council v Harty and others CA 21-Jun-2001
Concerning challenges to leave to appeal: ‘(if) the Judge was misled by an Appellant, not necessarily deliberately, into giving permission to appeal, that may well be a compelling reason within the Rule. It must . . involve showing (a) that the . .
CitedFoenander v Bond Lewis and Co CA 23-May-2001
The applicant sought to appeal from an order refusing leave to appeal out of time. There was no second appeal inherent in such a case where the court had not additionally considered and refused the leave to appeal itself. A refusal to extend time . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Litigation Practice

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.187558

Sargent v GRE (UK) Limited: CA 16 Apr 1997

The plaintiff had been injured, losing a finger, playing football whilst in the forces. He was unable to continue his profession within the army, and claimed under his insurance against loss of employment through permanent disablement. The insurers responded that he was able to do other work.
Held: An unclear provision in a consumer insurance contract is to be construed broadly. ‘A broader approach to the construction of a provision in a commercial document, such as this policy, is appropriate, embracing consideration of the policy as a whole, its context, scheme and the surrounding circumstances. That approach should help to bring into sharper focus the object and purpose of the provisions which lack linguistic clarity.’ Applying such a reading, the policy was construed to read that ‘any occupation’ in this context meant within the Armed Forces, and accordingly the appeal succeeded, and the benefit was payable.

Judges:

Lord Justice Leggatt, Lord Justice Thorpe, Lord Justice Mummery

Citations:

Times 25-Apr-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 1414

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedSherwood v Cox CA 1945
The respondent had been accused of selling milk not of the nature, substance and quality demanded, in that it was deficient in milk fat. The justices found facts proved as admitted: ‘When the summons was served on the respondent on August 14, 1944, . .
CitedPocock v Century Insurance Co Ltd 1960
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Insurance, Consumer

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.141810

Airey v Computer Services: CA 18 Apr 1997

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1450

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See AlsoAirey v Computer Services CA 28-Feb-1997
Application for leave to appeal. . .

Cited by:

See AlsoAirey v Computer Services CA 14-Nov-1997
The claimant had approached the defendant to have his computer repaired. The repair was unsuccessful. The claimant sought return of the computer, The defendant agreed provided a contribution was paid of pounds 29.00. The claim failed, but the judge . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.141846

Regina v Docklands Estates Ltd: CACD 22 Sep 2000

The offence committed by an estate agent of erecting ‘House Sold’ signs outside house in which it had had no instructions, was the offence of giving a false indication that services were supplied. The offence was commercial, and the penalty should be judged accordingly. The offence was unsightly, was for commercial gain, and to the disadvantage of honest agents. Current fines levels were too low, and a fine of pounds 2,000 per offence was a proper level.

Citations:

Times 22-Sep-2000

Statutes:

Trade Descriptions Act 1968 13

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Sentencing, Consumer

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.85237

Sheffield v Pickfords Limited and Pickfords Removals Limited: CA 11 Feb 1997

The defendants had contracted to transport goods for the plaintiff. The goods had been left at empty premises and were damaged or stolen. The defendant sought to rely upon their clause excluding liability.
Held: The reasonableness of a standard contract term was best pleaded by the proponent of it. ‘There is much to be said in favour of a requirement that when a contractor such as the defendants seeks to rely on a contractual exemption clause against a consumer, he must include in his pleading at least a general averment that the term relied upon satisfies the requirement of reasonableness.’ and ‘the effect of Section 11(5) is to place the onus squarely on the defendants to show that they satisfy the requirement of reasonableness when it is relevant for them to do so. ‘

Judges:

The Master Of The Rolls, (Lord Woolf), Lord Justice Thorpe, Sir Ralph Gibson

Citations:

Times 17-Mar-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 984

Statutes:

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 11(5)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedLaceys Footwear (Wholesale) Ltd v Bowler International Freight Ltd and Another CA 18-Apr-1997
The defendant’s driver had taken a consignment of shoes to Spain, where they were stolen. The plaintiff alleged his gross negligence amounted to ‘wilful misconduct’ so as to disapply an exemption clause.
Held: Whether a bailee’s acts . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141380

Sc Volksbank Romania: ECJ 12 Jul 2012

ECJ Consumer protection – Credit agreements for consumers – Directive 2008/48/EC – Articles 22, 24 and 30 – National legislation designed to transpose that directive – Applicability to agreements not included in the material and temporal scope of the directive – Obligations not provided for by the directive – Limitation on the bank charges capable of being levied by the creditor – Articles 56 TFEU, 58 TFEU and 63 TFEU – Obligation to put in place, in national law, adequate and effective out-of-court dispute resolution procedures

Judges:

J-C Bonichot, P

Citations:

C-602/10, [2012] EUECJ C-602/10

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 2008/48/EC

European, Consumer

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.463244

Condominio Di Milano, Via Meda (Consumer Protection – Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts -Judgment): ECJ 2 Apr 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Consumer protection – Directive 93/13/EEC – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Article 1(1) – Article 2(b) – Definition of ‘consumer’ – Commonhold of a building

Citations:

C-329/19, [2020] EUECJ C-329/19, ECLI:EU:C:2020:263

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 03 November 2022; Ref: scu.660110

Micreos Food Safety v Commission: ECFI 18 Dec 2020

Action for annulment – Public health – Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 – Phage-based product used to reduce the presence of the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in animal-derived ready-to-eat food – Rejection of the request to approve Listex P100 as a decontaminant in animal-derived ready-to-eat food – Act not open to challenge – Act not intended to produce binding legal effects – Purely confirmatory act – Informative act – Inadmissibility

Citations:

ECLI:EU:T:2020:647, T-568/19, [2020] EUECJ T-568/19_CO, [2019] EUECJ T-568/19_CO

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.660739

Harrison v Jagged Globe Ltd: CA 29 May 2012

The defendant tour operator appealed against a finding that it was liable after the claimant had been injured while climbing in Ecuador on a tour it had arranged, saying that it had been ‘self-led’ by the client Sir Ranulph Fiennes. The claimant had fallen when engaging in a stunt arranged for filming.

Judges:

Laws, itchford, Lloyd-Jones LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 835

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Negligence, Personal Injury, Consumer

Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.460540

Solitaire Property Management Company and Another v Holden and Others: UTLC 10 Apr 2012

UTLC LANDLORD AND TENANT – service charge – reserve funds – lease providing that reserve funds could be used to meet any temporary deficiencies in monies available for general expenditure – whether LVT should have embarked on any consideration of the question of whether monies from the reserve funds had been so spent and (if so) whether any legally sufficient reasons given for its conclusions on this point and related points (raised by LVT) under Article 1 of First Protocal of ECHR and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 – jurisdiction of LVT – whether LVT entitled to disagree with and to refuse to follow a High Court decision regarding application of s.20(B) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 – reasonableness of service charges – costs

Judges:

Huskinson Judge

Citations:

[2012] UKUT 86 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 20B, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant, Human Rights, Consumer

Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.460252

Bankers Insurance Company Limited v South, Gardner: QBD 7 Mar 2003

The two defendants had been involved in a jet-ski accident on holiday in Europe. The claimant sought a declaration that it was not liable to indemnify its insured under the holiday insurance under which they travelled. The policy excluded liability for damages arising from ownership, or possession of water craft. The defendants alleged that the exclusion was unfair under the Regulations.
Held: The policy was neither unfair nor worded unclearly, and was not affected by the Regulation. A jet ski is a water craft. It was asserted that the clause requiring immediate notification was unfair. This failed. Declaration granted.

Judges:

The Honourable Mr Justice Buckley

Citations:

[2003] EWHC 380 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994 3

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank HL 25-Oct-2001
The House was asked whether a contractual provision for interest to run after judgment as well as before in a consumer credit contract led to an unfair relationship.
Held: The term was not covered by the Act, and was not unfair under the . .
CitedAlfred Mcalpine Plc v BAI (Run-Off) Limited CA 11-Feb-2000
Obligations in a Notice of Claims clause should not be treated as conditions precedent to liability but as innominate terms apt only to create a defence to a claim under the policy if the consequences of breach are so serious as to give the insurers . .

Cited by:

CitedFriends Provident Life and Pensions Ltd v Sirius International Insurance CA 24-May-2005
The appellants provided excess layer professional indemnity insurance cover on a claims made basis. Insurers complained that although the insured had become aware of possible sources of claims, he had not given notice to the insurer, and had thereby . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Insurance, Personal Injury, Consumer

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.179545

Banca B (Consumer Protection – Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts – Judgment): ECJ 25 Nov 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Consumer protection – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Directive 93/13/EEC – Consequences of a term being found to be unfair – Replacement of the unfair term – Method for calculating the variable interest rate – Whether permissible – Referral of the parties to negotiations

Citations:

C-269/19, [2020] EUECJ C-269/19, [2020] WLR(D) 649, [2021] Bus LR 202

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.660644

Northern Bank Ltd v Mckinstry and Another: ChNI 22 Mar 2001

Whether a bank’s ‘all monies mortgage’ gives the bank a security over the premises subject to the mortgage in respect of monies due under a regulated consumer credit agreement governed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which is not in itself a secured debt but breach of which has led the bank to obtain a judgment for the debt due under the agreement.

Citations:

[2001] NICh 6

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Consumer, Land, Banking

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.202030

Cape SNC v Idealservice Srl: ECJ 22 Nov 2001

Article 2(b) of Directive 93/13/EEC – Meaning of consumer – Undertaking concluding a standard contract with another undertaking to acquire merchandise or services solely for the benefit of its employees

Citations:

C-541/99, [2001] EUECJ C-541/99, ECLI:EU:C:2001:625

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.166909

Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society Plc v Norgan: CA 5 Dec 1995

The starting point for assessing the period of time over which a court should order the repayment of arrears under a mortgage, when considering the need for a possession order, is the remaining balance of mortgage term.

Judges:

Evans, Waite LJJ, Sir John May

Citations:

Gazette 17-Jan-1996, Independent 14-Dec-1995, Times 08-Dec-1995, [1995] EWCA Civ 11, [1996] 1 WLR 343, [1996] 1 All ER 449, (1996) 28 HLR 443

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Administration of Justice Act 1970 30, Administration of Justice Act 1973 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer, Housing, Land

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.79006

Regina v Monopolies and Mergers Commission ex parte National House Building Council: CA 20 Jan 1994

There must be established a causal link between an alleged monopolistic practice and the resulting action, before the one can be attributed to the other under the Act.

Citations:

Times 25-Jan-1994, Independent 20-Jan-1994

Statutes:

Fair Trading Act 1973 48(d)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer, Commercial

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87375

Lease Management Services Ltd v Purnell Secretarial Services Ltd: CA 1 Apr 1994

A leasing company adopting the style of a like supplier had to adopt that supplier’s representations.

Citations:

Times 01-Apr-1994, [1994] CCLR 127

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedAnglo Group Plc, Winther Brown and Co Ltd v Winter Brown and Co Ltd, BML (Office Computers) Ltd, Anglo Group Plc, BML (Office Computers) Ltd TCC 8-Mar-2000
Contract – Contract for provision of computer services – purchaser contract with finance company – duty of co-operation to be implied in computer contracts – practice – responsibilities of expert witnesses generally – whether computer company liable . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Agency

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.82976

Profi Credit Polska (Consumer Protection – Credit Agreements for Consumers – Opinion): ECJ 2 Apr 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Consumer protection – Credit agreements for consumers – Directive 93/13/EEC – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Article 1(2) – Exclusion provided for contractual terms reflecting mandatory legislative or regulatory provisions – National provision instituting a maximum amount of total cost of the credit for the consumer excluding interest – Article 4(2) – Scope – Application to clauses providing fees in addition of an interest – Obligation to draft contract terms in plain, intelligible language – Article 3(1) – Compatibility of a national legislation laying down the maximum amount of non-interest credit cost – Directive 2008/48 – Article 3(g) – Compatibility of a national legislation calculating maximum amount of non-interest credit cost by taking into account the general expenses of the credit institution

Citations:

C-84/19, [2020] EUECJ C-84/19_O, ECLI:EU:C:2020:259, [2020] EUECJ C-84/19

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.660148

Spreadex Ltd v Cochrane: ComC 18 May 2012

The spread betting bookmaker claimed summary judgment in respect of a consumer, Mr Cochrane, who had made certain initial personal trades with significant profitability. In his absence, without his knowledge and authorisation, his account was tinkered with by a child who, by playing on the computer, effected through it a number of ‘trades’ which caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of loss on the account. The Claimants sued on a clause that deemed the Defendant to have authorised all trading under his account number.
Held: Summary judgment was refused. The Claimant’s analysis was wrong: the terms did not form part of any contract, but even if they did, the clause in question fell foul of the consumer protection provisions proscribing reliance upon unfair terms, and: ‘A further, and compounding, factor to be taken into account is the manner in which the clause was incorporated into any contract (if there was one). As I described earlier, the potential customer was told that four documents, including the Customer Agreement, could be viewed elsewhere on-line by clicking ‘View’. Many, one might suspect most, would have passed up on that invitation and proceeded directly to click on ‘Agree’, even though it was suggested that they should do so only when they had read and understood the documents. Even if, exceptionally, the Defendant in fact chose to look at the documents, he would have been faced in the Customer Agreement alone with 49 pages containing the same number of closely printed and complex paragraphs. It would have come close to a miracle if he had read the second sentence of Cl 10(3), let alone appreciated its purport or implications, and it would have been quite irrational for the Claimant to assume that he had. (In most cases, the limited time spent on the on-line application would in any event probably preclude any serious perusal of the documents). This was an entirely inadequate way to seek to make the customer liable for any potential trades which he did not authorise, and is a further factor rendering the second sentence of Cl 10(3) an unfair term.’

Judges:

David Donaldson QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)

Citations:

[2012] EWHC 1290 (Comm)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedGreen v Petfre (Gibraltar) Ltd (T/A Betfred) QBD 7-Apr-2021
Onerous Contract Terms Unclear – Not Incorporated
The claimant said that he had won a substantial sum on the online gaming platform operated by the defendants, but that they had refused to pay up. The defendants said that there had been a glitch in the game. The court faced a request for summary . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.459904

Regina v Modupe: CACD 1991

The appellant obtained loans enabling him to buy cars by giving false information when entering into hire purchase agreements. The relevant agreement did not contain all the prescribed information and was improperly executed so that by virtue of section 65 it was only enforceable on the order of the court. The appellant had been convicted of evading an existing liability by deception with intent to make permanent default contrary to section 2(1) (b) of the Theft Act 1978. He appealed against conviction, contending that since the agreement was enforceable only on the order of the court, there was no existing liability, as there was no liability until such an order was made.
Held: The fact that under section 65(1) the agreement was only enforceable on an order of the court did not mean that there was no existing liability on the part of the debtor ‘There was an existing liability, albeit only enforceable by an order of the court. It is quite plain from s 65 that the object of that provision is that if the agreement is not properly completed, then one of the methods of the disappointed contractor enforcing his liability is removed from him. He cannot help himself. In other words he cannot retake the vehicle if it is a hire-purchase type of agreement. But the argument that no legal liability exists in the light of those matters is one which is not tenable.’

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ and Henry and Hidden JJ

Citations:

[1991] CCLR 29

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974 65, Theft Act 1968 2(1)(b)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedMcGuffick v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc ComC 6-Oct-2009
Requirements for Enforcing Consumer Loan Agreement
The claimant challenged the validity of a loan agreement with his bank as a regulated consumer credit agreement. After default, the lender failed to satisfy a request for a copy of the agreement under section 77. The bank said that though it could . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.375746

Director General of Fair Trading v First National Bank Plc: ChD 30 Jul 1999

The claimants sought an injunction under the regulations to prevent the defendant bank from including in any of its agreements a clause allowing them to claim interest on judgments on regulated agreements.

Judges:

Evans-Lombe J

Citations:

[1999] EWHC Ch 206, [2000] 1 WLR 98

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1994, Consumer Credit Act 1974

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal fromDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank Plc CA 15-Sep-1999
A bank had a clause in its standard terms which provided that it could continue to recover interest at the contract rate after judgment for default. The clause was an unfair term. The clause allowed a bank to impose an arrangement for repayment by . .
At First InstanceDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank HL 25-Oct-2001
The House was asked whether a contractual provision for interest to run after judgment as well as before in a consumer credit contract led to an unfair relationship.
Held: The term was not covered by the Act, and was not unfair under the . .
CitedOffice of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd ChD 17-Jul-2008
Complaint was made that the Foxtons standard terms of acting in residential lettings were unfair. Foxtons objected to the jurisdiction of the Claimant to intervene.
Held: On a challenge to an individual contract, the court would be able to see . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Consumer

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.162975

Jarrett v Barclays Bank Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and Jones v First National Bank Plc and Peacock v First National Bank Plc: CA 31 Oct 1996

Time share lettings are not rights in rem. UK consumer law applies to loans made for their purchase, and UK banks are liable for misrepresentations made by foreign companies if they are providing the finance.

Judges:

Morris Ward, Potter LJJ

Citations:

Times 18-Nov-1996, Gazette 12-Feb-1997, [1996] EWCA Civ 847, [1999] QB 1, [1997] CLC 391, [1997] ILPr 531, [1997] 3 WLR 654

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974 56(2) 75, Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (1968) (Cmnd 7395) Art 16

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Banking, Consumer

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.140714

Commission v France (Rec 1993,p I-2289) (Judgment): ECJ 5 May 1993

Directive 76/768 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products has provided exhaustively for the harmonization of national rules on the packaging and labelling of the products at issue. A Member State fails to fulfil its obligations under Directive 76/768, therefore, where its legislation exceeds the limits of the requirements laid down by Article 7(3) of the Directive regarding information, by making the marketing of cosmetic products subject to an obligation to maintain a file permanently at the disposal of the competent authorities, containing information on the nature of the product, the way in which it was manufactured and tested, its use and method of application, and on the clinical trials conducted in order to ascertain its toxicity and its tolerance by the human body.

Citations:

C-246/91, [1993] EUECJ C-246/91

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Consumer

Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.160786

Kunsthaus Muerz (Judgment): ECJ 2 Apr 2020

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Freedom to provide services – Direct life insurance – Directive 2002/83 / EC – Articles 35 and 36 – Right and period of waiver – Incorrect information concerning the procedures for exercising the right of waiver – Formal conditions for the declaration of waiver – Expiration of the right of waiver – Relevance of the policyholder’s ‘consumer’ status

Citations:

C-20/19, [2020] EUECJ C-20/19, ECLI:EU:C:2020:273

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Insurance, Consumer

Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.660139

Thew v Cole; King v Daltray: CA 16 Dec 2003

Issues arose as to whether car hire agreements were exempt from regulation under the Act. They provided that payment was to be made in 12 months ‘from the start of the agreement’.
Held: The first question was whether the time by which the hirer was required to make payment coincided with the end of the period of deferment or followed it. There were not two times, but just one. As the period expired the payment became due. Was this ‘within a period not exceeding twelve months’? Yes, the period was defined as ‘not more than twelve months’ The agreement was ambiguous and was to be construed against the hire company.

Judges:

Tuckey, Jonathan Parker, LJJ, Evans Lombe J

Citations:

Times 15-Jan-2004, [2003] EWCA Civ 1828, [2004] RTR 25

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedZoan v Rouamba CA 7-Mar-2000
A document could not be construed other than in its clear words even though one party had clearly intended the result sought. A hire agreement would be unenforceable under the Act, depending upon whether payments were made within a year of the . .
CitedMichael Ketley v Claire Nicole Gilbert CA 21-Dec-2000
A car hire agreement expressed that payment would become due ‘on the expiry of twelve months’. The form of the agreement did not comply with the Consumer Credit Act regulations. To bring the agreement within the exception provided, payment had to be . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Contract

Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.193440

Airtours plc v Shipley: CACD 1994

Judges:

McCowan LJ

Citations:

(1994) 158 JP 835

Statutes:

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedX Ltd, Regina v CACD 23-May-2013
The prosecutor appealed after the judge at the crown court had found no case to answer on a prosecution of the company under the 2008 Regulations. The company had sold a home security system to an elderly and vulnerable man. His family found that he . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.510096

Nemzeti Fogyasztovedelmi Hatosag v Invitel Tavkozlesi Zrt: ECJ 26 Apr 2012

ECJ Directive 93/13/EEC – Article 3(1) and (3) – Articles 6 and 7 – Consumer contracts – Unfair terms – Unilateral amendment of the terms of a contract by a seller or supplier – Action for an injunction brought in the public interest and on behalf of consumers by a body appointed by national legislation – Declaration of the unfair nature of a term – Legal effects

Citations:

C-472/10, [2012] EUECJ C-472/10, ECLI:EU:C:2012:242

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 93/13/EEC

Jurisdiction:

European

Citing:

OpinionNemzeti Fogyasztovedelmi Hatosag v Invitel Tavkozlesi Zrt ECJ 6-Dec-2011
ECJ Opinion – Consumer protection – Directive 93/13/EEC – Article 3(1) in combination with points 1(j) and 2(d) of the annex – Articles 6 and 7 – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Contract term that entitles . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Contract

Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.453047

Du Plessis v Fontgary Leisure Parks Ltd: CA 2 Apr 2012

The claimant, who owned a holiday mobile home on the respondent’s site challenged the raising of site fees, saying that the contract was unfair. Previously all site fees were equal within the site, but the respondent had introduced a scheme which reflected the differing grades of pitches. The judge had rejected her argument that the fees selected, their method of calculation, and the contract were unfair.
Held: The appeal failed, and the contract had been validly terminated by the respondent on the claimant failing to pay the new licence fees. The term was not unfair. The claimant had not produced evidence of any excess value paid, and she had had full opportunity to read the contract before signing it. The grading itself had been carried out in a fair manner. The arbitration agreement about which complaint was made had not prevented the claimant doing as she had, and seeking the court’s decision.
Similarly the arbitration agreement, which excluded the claimant from taking such an issue to arbitration on her own was not unfair. Such an arbitration could only take place, if it was requested by 51% of caravan owners affected by the increase. There was sense and commercial purpose in the provision.

Judges:

Ward, Lloyd, Jackson LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 409

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, Arbitration Act 1996, Unfair Arbitration Agreements (Specified Amount) Order 1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedStroud v Weir Associates CA 1987
The court was asked to set pitch fees on a registered mobile home site. The site owner had sought to rely upon the fact of the order which cut from 15 per cent to 10 per cent the maximum commission chargeable by a site owner on an occupier’s . .
CitedDirector General of Fair Trading v First National Bank HL 25-Oct-2001
The House was asked whether a contractual provision for interest to run after judgment as well as before in a consumer credit contract led to an unfair relationship.
Held: The term was not covered by the Act, and was not unfair under the . .

Cited by:

CitedAJ Building and Plastering Ltd v Turner and Others QBD 11-Mar-2013
An insurance company had engaged a main contractor to handle repairs to houses insured under its policies. The contractor had engaged the claimant subcontractor to carry out the works at the defendants’ homes, but then went into insolvent . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Consumer

Updated: 06 October 2022; Ref: scu.452410

Regina v Mears and Another: CACD 10 Nov 2011

Judges:

Moore-Bick LJ, Butterfield, Irwin JJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 2651

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedHamilton and Others v Post Office Ltd CACD 15-Jan-2021
Good Reason to Pursue Second Appeal
The appellants had been convicted of fraud against the Post Office. The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred their convictions on two grounds, namely abuse of process for the inability to provide a fair trial, and that the trial was an affront . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.448363

Torfaen County Borough Council v Douglas Willis Ltd: Admn 20 Feb 2012

The company had been found with frozen meat which had passed the labelled ‘Use by’ date. The magistrates dismissed charges, conclusing that, since they were all frozen at the time of the inspection, they were not then highly perishable and so did not require a ‘use by’ date under the regulations. Therefore no offence was committed under the relevant regulation. The Council appealed.
Held: The prosecution did not have to show that the food was in a highly perishable state at the date of the alleged offence, but it did have to show that the food had at some stage been in a state which required it to be labelled with a ‘use by’ date and that the date had passed.
The Court certified the following point of law of public importance for the Supreme Court: ‘Does an offence under regulation 44(1)(d) of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 require the prosecution to prove that the label or marking bearing the ‘use by’ date, after which the food was sold, was applied at a time when (1) the food was ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment, and (2) from the microbiological point of view it was highly perishable and in consequence likely after a short period to constitute an immediate danger to human health?’

Judges:

Aikens LJ and Maddison J

Citations:

[2012] EWHC 296 (Admin), [2012] CTLC 16

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Food Labelling Regulations 1996

Cited by:

Appeal fromTorfaen County Borough Council v Douglas Willis Ltd SC 31-Jul-2013
The Council’s officers visited the company’s premises, and after finding there packages of frozen meat whose use date had expired, pursued 23 charges under the 1990 Act and the Regulations. The justices had accepted the company’s argument that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Crime

Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.451432

Surrey Trading Standards, Regina (on The Application of) v Scottish and Southern Energy Plc: CACD 16 Mar 2012

The defendant appealed against its conviction on counts under the 2008 Regulations.

Judges:

Davis LJ, Nicol J, Kramer QC

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Crim 539

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer (Protection from Unfair Trading) Regulations 2008

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.452153

Perenicova And Perenic French Text: ECJ 29 Nov 2011

ECJ Opinion – Consumer protection – Directive 93/13/EEC – Article 4, paragraph 1 and Article 6, paragraph 1 – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Directive 2005/29/EC – Unfair commercial practices of companies vis-a-vis consumers – Contract consumer credit stating a usurious interest rates – Effect of unfair trade practices and unfair terms of the overall validity of the contract

Judges:

Trstenjak AG

Citations:

C-453/10, [2011] EUECJ C-453/10

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 93/13/EEC

Cited by:

OpinionPerenicova And Perenic ECJ 15-Mar-2012
ECJ Consumer protection – Consumer credit agreement – Incorrect statement of annual percentage rate of charge – Effect of unfair commercial practices and unfair terms on the validity of the contract as a whole
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Consumer

Updated: 29 September 2022; Ref: scu.449367

Wilson v Robertsons (London) Ltd.: ChD 5 Jul 2005

The parties entered into pawnbroking arrangements. In order to get around the consequences of the 1974 Act, the agreements were antedated.
Held: The court would not allow parties to contract out of the 1974 Act. Also, by including a document fee which was in reality deducted in advance, the agreement misstated the consideration and was therefore void.

Judges:

Laddie J

Citations:

[2005] EWHC 1425 (Ch), Times 28-Jul-2005, [2006] 1 WLR 1248

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedSouthern Pacific Securities 05-2 Plc v Walker and Another SC 7-Jul-2010
The appellant borrowed a sum from the respondent under a fixed sum credit agreement. A broker administration fee had been advanced to facilitate the loan. The agreement recorded the ‘Amount of Credit’ net of the fee, and the ‘Total Amount Financed’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.228241

Harrison and Another v Black Horse Ltd: CA 12 Oct 2011

The appellant sought under section 104A to recover a Payment Protection Insurance premium paid in support of a loan. The borrower dealt directly with the lender, who acted as an intermediary with the insurer. The commission taken by the lender was 87%.
Held: Tomlinson LJ described this level of commission as ‘quite startling’, adding that there would be ‘many who would regard it as unacceptable conduct on the part of lending institutions to have profited in this way’. However that of itself was not enough to render the relationship with the consumer unfair. The lender had not breached the applicable rules either as to the amount of commission or as to the failure to disclose it. He said: ‘the touchstone must in my view be the standard imposed by the regulatory authorities pursuant to their statutory duties, not resort to a visceral instinct that the relevant conduct is beyond the Pale, In that regard it is clear that the ICOB regime, after due consultation and consideration, does not require the disclosure of the receipt of commission. It would be an anomalous result if a lender was obliged to disclose receipt of a commission in order to escape a finding of unfairness under section 140A of the Act but yet not obliged to disclose it pursuant to the statutorily imposed regulatory framework under which it operates.’

Judges:

Lord Neuberger MR, Patten, Tomlinson LJJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Civ 1128

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974 140A 140B

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

BindingPlevin v Paragon Personal Finance Ltd and Another Misc 4-Oct-2012
Manchester County Court – The claimant sought repayment of insurance premiums paid as payment protection insurance when aking out a loan with the defendants as advised by the second defendant. The second defendant was in liquidation by the time her . .
See AlsoHarrison and Another v Black Horse Ltd SCCO 7-Mar-2013
. .
BindingPlevin v Paragon Personal Finance Ltd and Another CA 16-Dec-2013
The claimant sought repayment of a personal protection insurance premium paid to her broker. The broker was now in insolvent liquidation, and she sought to recover the premium from the next intermediary.
Held: Any limitation of section . .
DisapprovedPlevin v Paragon Personal Finance Ltd SC 12-Nov-2014
PPI Sale – No Recovery from Remote Parties
The claimant sought repayment of payment protection insurance premiums paid by her under a policy with Norwich Union. The immediate broker arranging the loan was now insolvent, and she sought repayment from the second and other level intermediaties. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, Banking

Updated: 20 September 2022; Ref: scu.445400