Sale of Goods Act Abolished !!

Thanks todwlgll20 and surfer for keeping me on my toes.

In retrospect my use of the word "abolished" was not well chosen. "Supeceded would probably also draw the comment that it remains in effect for pre Ist October contracts. I think in general the new act is a consolidation of the Sale of Goods Act and others but there is some significant new law in it as well and my main objective was to encourage people to look at the new legislation

Should have said Surfer the original 1893 Act is still available online and as I said in my first post it was a milestone piece of legislation. It introduced and codified commercial concepts and terminology still in use today. The 1979 Act was a major update.  

BlueVanMan thanks for raising this.

I WOULD URGE PEOPLE TO CHECK THEIR SALES INVOICES/CONTRACTS FOR SALES POST 1ST OCTOBER 2015.

I wonder how many other people will have the following issue.  I just had a look on the sales invoice for the deposit for my caravan which is dated the end of October 2015. It makes reference to liability under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 rather than under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  Due to pick the new caravan up shortly so I will be looking at the 'small print' in a lot more detail before I sign anything (for once!). Thanks again for raising it.

The T & Cs in that contract would probably be invalid as the wording should have included Consumer Rights Act and not SOGA making the whole contract invalid.

Write your comments here

Wrong references won't neccesarily make the whole contract invalid and indeed making the whole contract invalid could operate against the interests of the consumer however the part containing the wrong reference may itself be invalid. As always the contract needs to be interpreted as a whole in the context of its wording date and relevant legislation. It is these factors which make the correct interpretation difficult and if appropriate  why expert advice by suitably qualified persons is needed. However if the consumer starts with a basic knowledge of the law and a detailed scrutiny and understanding of the contract then risks can be reduced  

Should have said Surfer the original 1893 Act is still available online and as I said in my first post it was a milestone piece of legislation. It introduced and codified commercial concepts and terminology still in use today. The 1979 Act was a major update.  

It seems it was only applicable for goods costing over £10 and on those days £10 was a lot of money so I guess it was only applicable to the well off?

BlueVanMan thanks for raising this.

I WOULD URGE PEOPLE TO CHECK THEIR SALES INVOICES/CONTRACTS FOR SALES POST 1ST OCTOBER 2015.

I wonder how many other people will have the following issue.  I just had a look on the sales invoice for the deposit for my caravan which is dated the end of October 2015. It makes reference to liability under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 rather than under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  Due to pick the new caravan up shortly so I will be looking at the 'small print' in a lot more detail before I sign anything (for once!). Thanks again for raising it.

The T & Cs in that contract would probably be invalid as the wording should have included Consumer Rights Act and not SOGA making the whole contract invalid.

Write your comments here

Wrong references won't neccesarily make the whole contract invalid and indeed making the whole contract invalid could operate against the interests of the consumer however the part containing the wrong reference may itself be invalid. As always the contract needs to be interpreted as a whole in the context of its wording date and relevant legislation. It is these factors which make the correct interpretation difficult and if appropriate  why expert advice by suitably qualified persons is needed. However if the consumer starts with a basic knowledge of the law and a detailed scrutiny and understanding of the contract then risks can be reduced  

It could be a get out clause for a consumer if they wanted to sse it as it is an Unfair Term which can make an contract invalid if the clause does not include any term referring to legislation that may supercede the current term in the contract or similar.  It is also a get out term for a dealership and they can cancel your order without any issue or penalties.

BlueVanMan thanks for raising this.

I WOULD URGE PEOPLE TO CHECK THEIR SALES INVOICES/CONTRACTS FOR SALES POST 1ST OCTOBER 2015.

I wonder how many other people will have the following issue.  I just had a look on the sales invoice for the deposit for my caravan which is dated the end of October 2015. It makes reference to liability under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 rather than under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  Due to pick the new caravan up shortly so I will be looking at the 'small print' in a lot more detail before I sign anything (for once!). Thanks again for raising it.

The T & Cs in that contract would probably be invalid as the wording should have included Consumer Rights Act and not SOGA making the whole contract invalid.

Write your comments here

Wrong references won't neccesarily make the whole contract invalid and indeed making the whole contract invalid could operate against the interests of the consumer however the part containing the wrong reference may itself be invalid. As always the contract needs to be interpreted as a whole in the context of its wording date and relevant legislation. It is these factors which make the correct interpretation difficult and if appropriate  why expert advice by suitably qualified persons is needed. However if the consumer starts with a basic knowledge of the law and a detailed scrutiny and understanding of the contract then risks can be reduced  

It could be a get out clause for a consumer if they wanted to sse it as it is an Unfair Term which can make an contract invalid if the clause does not include any term referring to legislation that may supercede the current term in the contract or similar.  It is also a get out term for a dealership and they can cancel your order without any issue or penalties.

Yes £10 was a lot of money perhaps a years wages for some people. Access to the Courts is probably now better than it was in the 19th century but realistically litigation is still only for the well heeled and in order to mount a challenge that a contract term is unfair is likely to require recourse to litigation. The Consumer Rights Act does do some rebalancing in favour of the consumer and to that extent may help a savvy consumer obtain redress without litigation. 

The contract unfair terms provisions are now codified into The Consumer Rights Act and expressly provide that where a provision is deemed to be unfair the rest of the contract will apply so far as practicable. So a wrong reference will not automatically kill the contract (at the best of either seller or buyer).  However I have to repeat my point that you need to look at the whole situation in the specific case so generalisations are misleading and potentially dangerous. As in so many things prevention is better than cure.

My feeling is that the clause will be invalid and therefore ineffective but I would still want legal advice before doing anything about the situation to be sure.

We signed a contract for a caravan at the NEC last year and delviery was due beginning of April.  The T & Cs referred to the older legislation and not the CRA 2015.

In March I queried a few things about the caravan that others who had taken delivery were experiencing and a few days before the caravan was due for delivery to the delaership, the dealership cancelled the contract and refunded my deposit!  Seems the dealer did not want a customer who was aware of their rights and could be troublesome in the future of anyhting went wrong with the caravan!

We have sourced the same brand and model caravan elsewhere, but because it is not a show special we have a lower trade in value on our current caravan plus the APR is higher and no new motor mover.  

We are seeking compensation for breach of contract so lets hope CRA 2015 works in our favour.