Hood v. Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) Ltd. [1918] AC 837, [1918] UKHL 2
Citation:Hood v. Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) Ltd. [1918] AC 837, [1918] UKHL 2
Rule of thumb:Do onerous contract terms have to be clearly brought to your attention? Yes, contract terms that are onerous have to be drawn clearly to the attention of the person agreeing or else they are not enforceable. Onerous terms cannot be sneaked into a contract and then enforced.
Background facts:
The bare facts were that someone agreed to a contract and all of the terms were just all listed together, and so without reading them this person signed it. One of the terms in this group of terms was different from the normal terms of trade in that sector and its validity as a term of the contract was in dispute.
Parties argued:
One party argued the term was onerous as it was different from the rest of trade sector, and it was not properly brought to their attention thereby making it invalid. The other party argued that it was very clearly written and therefore had to be declared to be a valid.
Judgment:
The Court upheld the argument stating the term was not valid. The Court affirmed that where a term is onerous it has to be clearly brought to the other party's attention and not hidden in amongst lots of other standard terms.
Ratio-decidendi:
'Accordingly it is in each case a question of circumstance whether the sort of restriction that is expressed in any writing (which, of course, includes printed matter) is a thing that is unusual, and whether, being unusual, it has been fairly brought before the notice of the accepting party’, Lord Dunedin at 846, 'in each case it is a question ... (when) the sort of restriction... (is) unusual... (whether) it has been fairly brought before the notice of the accepting party', Lord Dunedin
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.