Remedies for breach of supplier contracts
What to do if the goods or services you purchase don't match the contract you've agreed with your supplier and what laws apply in these situations.
Remember some rights that consumers are legally entitled to can be excluded from business to business contracts. For example, being supplied with defective goods may not be a breach if the contract includes an exclusion clause limiting your supplier's liability.
However, you might be able to challenge the exclusion clause on the grounds that it was unreasonable under the Unfair Contract Terms Act.
Goods contracts
If your supplier's liability is not limited by reasonable exclusion clauses, you may be able to reject them and recover any money you have paid. You would need to reject the goods within a reasonable time after delivery and at least one of the following must apply:
- the goods aren't fit for purpose
- the goods are of unsatisfactory quality
- the goods don't match the seller's description
Services contracts
Similar remedies are available when buying services. If services aren't carried out with reasonable skill, you're entitled to ask for the work to be redone at no extra cost. Or, if your supplier won't do this, you're entitled to ask another supplier to put the work right and then claim the cost from the original supplier.
Pricing and deadlines
When you agree on a price as part of the contract, you aren't obliged to pay any more. And where you have agreed on a deadline for carrying out the service but it has not been met, you are entitled to compensation for any foreseeable losses you may suffer as a result.
If contractual problems arise, you should clarify your position with your legal adviser.