Almost every contract contains a term trying to limit or exclude one party's liability. As a solicitor, you constantly need to know whether such a clause actually works — when drafting agreements, advising on disputes, or telling a client whether they're genuinely on the hook. English law controls these terms through two distinct regimes, and the first skill is knowing which one applies and then running its test correctly.
This lesson takes you through both regimes step by step, from the threshold questions to the consequences of an unfair term.
- The Two Regimes — how UCTA 1977 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 divide up the field between business and consumer contracts.
- UCTA 1977 — Application and Effect — the gateway steps that decide whether the Act bites and what it does to a clause.
- UCTA 1977 — Void and Reasonableness-Subject Clauses — which exclusions are automatically dead and which survive only if reasonable.
- UCTA 1977 — The Reasonableness Test — what reasonableness means, the factors that count, and who must prove it.
- CRA 2015 — Key Concepts and Prohibited Terms — who is a consumer and which exclusions are void outright.
- CRA 2015 — The General Unfairness Test and Grey List — the good faith and imbalance test, plus the terms that attract close scrutiny.
- CRA 2015 — The Price and Subject Matter Exemption — when the core bargain is carved out of the fairness test.
- CRA 2015 — Interpretation, Effect and Enforcement — how unfair terms are read, disapplied, and policed by the court.