What is the difference between ucta and utccr

This has resulted in the emergence of a variety of consumer protection legislation. With the coming into force of the Consumer Rights Act , which applies to consumer contracts made on or after 1 October, , the legislative arrangements have changed significantly from those you may find in text books.

There are now only two key pieces of legislation governing exclusion clauses. One governs business-to-business contracts where all parties to the contract are in business. The other captures all situations where one, or more, of the parties is contracting as a consumer.

As a result, you should take a binary two alternative approach when determining which piece of legislation might apply to render an exclusion clause either, wholly, or in part, ineffective. The two principle legislative controls on unfair contract terms or notices and exclusion clauses are:. Making the decision to study can be a big step, which is why you'll want a trusted University.

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Request an Open University prospectus A significant difference between the two pieces of legislation is that the UTCCR only deals with unfair terms in contracts where the buyer is a consumer Reg. You need to explain that the definition of? The words? Good answers will also explain that?

You should also explain that Schedule 2 of the UTCCR provides an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair and point out that a term that is regarded by UTCCR as being unfair will not be binding on the consumer Reg. A good conclusion will point out that the co-existence of the UCTA and the UTCCR is often inconsistent, overlapping and is unnecessarily complex and that legislative reform is long overdue.

In addition, any pre-contract information provided by the trader to the consumer including information provided under the CCR will form part of the contract and bind the trader. If a trader does not provide services with reasonable care and skill then the consumer can require the trader to re-perform some or all of the services whatever is necessary to bring the services up to standard.

Re-performance must take place within a reasonable time and without causing the consumer significant inconvenience. All costs involved in re-performing the services to the correct standard must be borne by the trader cost of labour and materials. If a trader fails to re-perform services within a reasonable time and without causing the consumer significant inconvenience or if it is impossible for the trader to re-perform services for example if the services were required on a specific date then the consumer can require the trader to reduce the price of the services and provide a refund if necessary.

The amount of the price reduction must be appropriate, based on the difference between the value of what the consumer paid to receive and what was actually received. It can be up to the full amount of the price. Any refund or price reduction must be provided without undue delay and, in any event, within 14 days of the trader agreeing that the consumer is entitled to the remedy.

If a trader does not provide services in accordance with pre-contractual information relating to the performance of the services provided by the trader to the consumer whether this is information provided under the CCRs or voluntarily , the same statutory remedies as those set out above in relation to a breach of the obligation to provide services with reasonable care and skill will apply.

If a trader does not comply with any other pre-contractual information not relating the performance of the service it has provided, the consumer will be entitled to price reduction only. The amount of the price reduction will need to be negotiated with the consumer.

The effect is to provide the consumer with remedies that apply to goods but no short term right to reject installation even though the fault was not with the goods themselves.

This means that if a trader sold kitchen units with installation services and the units are badly installed then the consumer may be able to demand replacement units.

This provision provides the consumer with the remedies that apply to goods. This means that if a trader provides a consumer with faulty software on a disk then the consumer can reject the disk and claim a full refund, which the consumer would not be able to do if the faulty software had been downloaded see later section on digital content. Most consumer contract terms and any notices including website notices, oral communications and announcements will be subject to the fairness test.

Terms which are unfair will be unenforceable against a consumer. All written terms must be in plain and intelligible language. Terms that relate to the amount to be paid or which define the subject matter of the contract are only exempt from the fairness test if transparent and prominent. Prominence is a new requirement. The more onerous and unusual a clause, the more prominent it must be. Under the CRA a term specifically negotiated can be deemed unfair. The CRA also provides that the courts will consider fairness in relation to consumer contract disputes, even if fairness is not raised as an issue by the parties.

The CRA introduces a new right for a consumer to request a copy of any guarantee. Save for that new right, the rules relating to consumer guarantees in the CRA follow those previously set out in the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations Prior to the CRA there were no specific statutory provisions applicable to the supply of digital content to consumers.

The CRA extends consumer protection to specifically apply when a consumer buys digital content from a trader. Digital content is defined in the CRA as data produced and supplied in digital form. This would include software, apps, digital music, e-books and cloud computing services. Digital content may be supplied in a tangible form such as on a disk, or embedded in a product such as a mobile phone or in an intangible form eg software on a PC, a music download or streamed content.

The main rights and remedies under the CRA applies to digital content which is either: paid for with money or a pre-paid facility such as a gift voucher or virtual currency ; or supplied free alongside other paid for digital content, goods or services and is not usually made available free of charge. Digital content supplied by a trader to a consumer will need to comply with statutory quality standards that are similar to those that apply to goods. Digital content must:.