Unfair Terms in a Contract Act 1977 and Regulations Essay

Unfair Terms in a Contract Act 1977 and Regulations - Essay Example The protection has been increased by the Unfair Terms in a Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 (UTCCR). These regulations have strengthened the net of consumer protection by incorporating unfair terms. The essay will provide a brief over the look of the two pieces of legislation and go into detail of the protection that they both provide. It will then explain the need for the double requirement and finally, conclude with the proposal for the future. The introduction of UCTA introduced a significant addition to the mechanism for the governing of exemption clauses (Poole, 2008, 281). Provision for the controlling of exemption clauses was originally only through an implied term under the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 (now s.55 Sale of Goods Act 1979). UCTA now incorporates more extensive controls to a wide array of contract varieties and allows the court for the first time to have a general and direct means of control over exemption clauses (Poole, 2008, 281). The main advanta ge of the act is the power to render exemption clauses either totally unenforceable or unenforceable unless shown to be reasonable. UTCCR have added to the powers of UCTA. The regulations provide that ‘unfair terms’ in a contract concluded between a ‘seller or supplier’ and a ‘consumer’ will not be binding on the consumer (Poole, 2008, 282). This means that the regulations will only be binding in the context of ‘consumer contracts’, but is not restrained by exemption clause but extends to unfair terms. A popular misconception is that UCTA applies to all exemption clauses, this is not the case. UCTA only applies to business liability, the liability covers breaches of obligations or duties arising from 1) things done or to be done by a person in the course of a business, or 2) from the occupation of premises used for the business purposes of the occupier (s.1(3) UCTA) (Koffman and Macdonald, 2007, 211).