Andrews Brothers v Singer - 1934

Andrews Bros (Bournemouth) Ltd v Singer & Co Ltd [1934] 1 KB 17

Exemption Clauses, Sale of Goods Act 1979

Facts

The claimants and defendants entered into an agreement which stipulated that the claimants would be sole dealers of the claimant’s cars (specifically, new Singer cars) for a designated area and further, that the claimants would purchase a specified number of such cars. The contract contained a clause which stated that all cars sold by the Defendants were subject to the terms of a warranty which was laid out in a Schedule to the contract. Further, that clause excluded all conditions, warranties and liabilities which are implied by statute, common law or otherwise. The warranty in the Schedule applied to new Singer cars and placed an obligation on the defendant to repair or replace any fault on such a car within twelve months of delivery if the fault was due to the materials or the workmanship of the defendant. The claimants ordered a new Singer car. It was delivered and accepted by them, but it was not actually a new car since it had run significant mileage. Upon discovering this, the claimant tried to reject it. The Defendant argued that the exclusion clause protected him since it excluded the requirements of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, s.13, that goods must be as they were described.

Issues

The issue in this case was whether the clause could effectively exclude liability in the way argued by the defendants.

Decision/Outcome

The court held that the “new Singer car” was not an implied term but rather an express one; the defendants had therefore breached the contract by not delivering a “new Singer car” and the exemption clause could not be relied upon.