Context
Following a Consultation about updating its unfair contract terms guidance, the CMA has published a Summary of the Consultation responses, and has updated its Guidance on Unfair Contact Terms and its ‘Writing a fair contract for customers’ guidance web page.
Key points to note and next actions
- The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets out the law on the use of unfair contract terms in consumer contracts.
- Although the law on unfair contract terms has not changed since 2015, so businesses’ obligations remain unchanged, the CMA updated the guidance to make it easier for businesses to understand unfair contract terms law and help them to comply, and to reflect other relevant developments, including direct consumer enforcement powers for the CMA under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Act 2024.
- The guidance has been updated throughout, and we recommend that firms re-familiarise themselves with it and with the separate guidance on writing a fair contract for consumers.