Q&As

Can a company restrict a consumer from going directly to subcontractors that the company uses in order to supply the goods (in other words, can the consumer cut out the company and get the goods directly from a subcontractor)?

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Produced in partnership with Lynne Counsell of Addington Chambers
Published on: 29 March 2018
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In these circumstances, there would be two contracts—that between the consumer and the company as contractor and that between the company and its subcontractor. The issue is therefore whether the company can insert a clause in its terms and conditions with the consumer that the consumer is prohibited from dealing directly with the subcontractor.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015

The legal position is governed by statute, namely the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) and whether such a term restricting the consumer in this way is enforceable under CRA 2015. For an overview of CRA 2015, see Practice Note: Consumer Rights Act 2015—summary. CRA 2015 received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 and clarified and consolidated the existing muddled consumer legislation on unfair terms which had previously been contained in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms

Lynne Counsell
Lynne Counsell

Barrister, Addington Chambers

Lynne has been in traditional Chancery practice for some thirty years, specialising in probate matters, construction of wills and trusts and also financial services and drafting.

Lynne was for some years counsel for Tower Hamlets, representing them on landlord and tenant cases and counsel for Bedford Building Society representing it on mortgage cases.

Lynne has written or updated over fifty books, including writing the initial volume of Atkin’s Court Forms “Financial Services” and updating Halsbury’s Laws on Injunctions. Lynne was also co-author of two editions of “Insider Trading” and co-editor and one of the writers of “Chancery Practice and Procedure.”

Articles include “Marketing of Investments” for the Law Society Gazette and “The Doctrine of Mutual Wills” for the Trust Quarterly Review. Lynne won one of the few cases on mutual wills in the last fifty years – Charles v Fraser (2010).

Lynne has drafted the standard unit trust for the government of Nigeria, the rules and related documentation for various building societies and clubs, shareholder agreements, company takeovers compliance documentation for certain banks as well as wills and trusts.

Lynne was awarded the 2017 Corporate international Magazine Global Award – “Investment Contracts Barrister of the Year in England”.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Supply definition
What does Supply mean?

The Value Added Tax Act 1994, s.5(2)(a) provides that supply "includes all forms of supply".

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