According to contract law, in order for a contract to be valid, there must be an offer, consideration, and acceptance.
Being able to prove your customer accepted your terms (and therefore entered a contract with you) will determine whether or not your Terms and Conditions are enforceable..
In a written contract, the express terms of a contract will be the written terms.
In a verbal contract, they'll be the words spoken by one party to the other to form the contract.
Implied Terms of a Contract: these are terms that the parties have not expressly stated..
Standard (written) terms and conditions (T&Cs) are the legal basis on which you will be engaging with customers - and are essential when starting a business.
It is recommended that you don't copy T&Cs from another business; no two businesses are exactly the same, plus they may not have obtained legal advice..
The consumer could have this determined by the courts, or could refer the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA can investigate and take action to prevent sellers using certain terms.
The CMA can issue guidance on unfair terms..
A standard term is unfair 'if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer'– Regulation 5(1).
Unfair terms are not enforceable against the consumer..
Terms and conditions are the terms of the legal contract between you and your customer for your supply of goods or services, and which regulates your business relationship.
They are the conditions on which you agree to do business with someone else..
Businesses that deal with consumers need to make sure their contract terms are fair
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 aims to protect consumers against unfair contract terms and notices
For the purpose of this guide we often use the word ‘you’ to refer to the business and ‘customer’ to mean consumer
Contract terms are unfair and, therefore, not binding on consumers if, contrary to the requirements of good faith, they cause significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer
