Module 2 · Chapter 3

Unfair Terms: the Consumer Rights Act Fairness Test

A term that tips the deal unfairly against the customer does not bind the customer. This chapter shows the test a court applies, and how borrowed terms were rewritten to pass it.

≈ 8 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • The two tests a court applies to the terms of a consumer contract
  • Which terms in the borrowed draft would have failed, and why
  • What the Terms now say about changes, loss and courts

3.1Unfair terms in one paragraph

Customers cannot bargain over an app’s terms, so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lets a court check each term for them. An unfair term tips the deal against the customer in a way a fair business would not ask for. It does not bind the customer.

Hester’s first draft was copied from a big American app, and several of its terms would have failed. You marked it up, and the Terms now pass.

Key point

A term that fails the fairness test does not bind the customer. So a clause that asks for too much protects Seedlark less than a fair one.

Also in this chapter

  1. The fairness test and the transparency test
  2. The borrowed draft and the grey list
  3. What the Terms say about changes, loss and courts
  4. Your job

Preview

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