Contracts rarely spell out everything the parties owe each other. The law fills these gaps with terms it treats as part of the bargain — sometimes because they are obviously necessary, sometimes because a trade always works that way, and sometimes because legislation insists on it. For a solicitor, knowing what is implied is essential: a client's rights and liabilities often turn on obligations no one ever wrote down, especially in sales, services, employment and consumer disputes.
This lesson builds your understanding step by step:
- Nature and Sources — what implied terms are, how they sit alongside express terms, and the routes by which they arise.
- Terms Implied in Fact — the necessity-based tests for filling a genuine gap in a particular contract.
- Terms Implied by Custom, Course of Dealing or Law — how trade practice, past dealings, and contract type bring terms in.
- Implied Terms in Employment Contracts — the core obligations on employers and employees, including mutual trust and confidence.
- Statutory Implied Terms — Sale of Goods and Services — the title, quality, fitness and care-and-skill terms in business contracts.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 — Implied Terms and Remedies — the protections and remedies for consumers buying goods, digital content and services.
- Exclusion and Loss of the Right to Reject — when implied terms can be excluded and how a buyer loses the right to reject.