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:
Cited – Laceys 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