Contracts are the life blood of businesses and one of the most critically important contracts for most businesses is the contract with their customers.
Businesses that trade mainly with other businesses will usually look to ensure that these contracts are based on their standard terms of sale.
The following are ten reasons for checking that these terms are properly drafted:
- To ensure that the terms are effectively incorporated into the contract with the customer, by being brought to the customer’s notice before a contract is made and by ensuring that the wording of the terms includes provisions which are appropriate for and correctly reflect the business’s processes for taking orders, and are also consistent with other business documentation such as quotations or order acknowledgements.
- To ensure that the description and quality of the product or service that the business is required to deliver is as intended and deliverable and appropriately addresses the effect of unfavourable terms that might be implied into the contract.
- To ensure that the business has the necessary rights and remedies if the customer fails to pay.
- To protect the business if something goes wrong, for example, by including provisions to limit its liability in terms which are likely to be upheld and enforceable.
- To address changes in the law or in the business’s practice since the time that the terms were prepared.
- To ensure that the terms comply with applicable laws in particular if they are used for sales to consumers.
- To ensure that the terms are appropriate for the context in which they are used, for example, if the terms are used for online sales.
- To take account of important issues which may not be addressed such as rights in relation to intellectual property or obligations in relation to data protection.
- To address omissions in the contract, for example, in relation to what is required of the customer, or in relation to delivery or collection of products, or in relation to any services that the business might provide which are ancillary to the supply of goods
- To check that the terms are appropriate, and include what they should include, for the customers of the business in particular if the terms are used for sales to customers in other territories or include consumers.
Reviewing your terms of sale
We are offering to review our business client's terms of sale with a view to considering these 10 points and making recommendations on changes we consider are required to address them. We will complete the review and provide the recommendations for an agreed fixed price starting at £950 and VAT, the price to be confirmed following sight of the terms and an initial free telephone discussion.
Get in touch
If you are interested or have any questions on this, or other commercial contract issues, please contact Julian Milan at julian.milan@mfgsolicitors.com.
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