Contractual limitations and exclusions of liability are regulated and controlled by law, and the courts may rule that particular limitations and exclusions of liability in contracts are unenforceable. The courts are particularly likely to intervene where a party is seeking to rely on a limitation or exclusion of liability in its standard terms and conditions, but will also sometimes intervene where a term has been individually negotiated. The courts may be more likely to rule that provisions excluding liability, as opposed to those merely limiting liability, are unenforceable. If there is a risk that any particular limitation or exclusion of liability will be found to be unenforceable by the courts, that provision should be drafted as an independent term, and be numbered separately from the other provisions. It may improve the chances of a limitation or exclusion of liability being found to be enforceable if the party seeking to rely upon it specifically drew it to the attention of the other party before the contract was entered into. Exclusions and limitations of liability in UK contracts are primarily regulated by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 ("UCTA"). Contracts regulated by UCTA cannot exclude or restrict a party's liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence (Section 2(1), UCTA). Except insofar as the relevant term satisfies the requirements of reasonableness, such contracts cannot exclude or restrict liability: (i) for negligence (which includes a breach of an express or implied contractual obligation to take reasonable care or exercise reasonable skill) (Section 2(2), UCTA); or (ii) for misrepresentation (Section 3, Misrepresentation Act 1967). In addition, if a contract is regulated by UCTA, and one of the parties is dealing on the other's written standard terms of business, then except insofar as the relevant contractual term satisfies the requirements of reasonableness the other party cannot: (i) exclude or restrict his liability in respect of a breach of contract; or (ii) claim to be entitled to render a contractual performance substantially different from that which was reasonably expected of him; or (iii) claim to be entitled, in respect of the whole or any part of his contractual obligation, to render no contractual performance at all (see Section 3, UCTA). UCTA includes various other restrictions, particularly in the case of contracts for the sale of goods and contracts under which possession or ownership of goods passes. If you wish to try to limit/exclude for liability in respect of reckless, deliberate, personal and/or repudiatory breaches of contract, you should specify this in relation to the relevant provision (for example, using the following wording: "The limitations and exclusions of liability in this Clause [number] will apply whether or not the liability in question arises out of any reckless, deliberate, personal and/or repudiatory conduct or breach of contract"). In many circumstances, however, the courts will find these types of limitations and exclusions to be unenforceable. Somewhat different rules apply to limitations of liability in contracts with consumers, and these provisions should not be used in relation to such contracts. These guidance notes provide a very incomplete and basic overview of a complex subject. Accordingly, you should take legal advice if you may wish to rely upon a limitation or exclusion of liability.
Clause 9.1
Do not delete this provision (except upon legal advice). Without this provision, the specific limitations and exclusions of liability in the document are more likely to be unenforceable.
Clause 9.2
Optional element.
- Which of the parties will be the beneficiary of this limitation of liability?
Clause 9.3
Optional element.
"Consequential loss" has a special meaning in English law: it means any loss that, whilst not arising naturally from the breach, was specifically in the contemplation of the parties when the contract was made.
- Which of the parties will be the beneficiary of this limitation of liability?
