Further to the RTA v Bracewell High Court case, LOST by RTA, readers should note that Judge Seymour QC used Council Directive 85/577/EC in deciding that Mr Bracewell was not a Consumer; BUT as you can see by the extract below from the actual Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (which came into force on 13th June 2014) Judge Seymour’s ruling should no longer be used as the definitive ruling by RTA or any other Business Marketing Agent:-
The Secretary of State must, so far as is reasonable, have regard to what is done in other member States to implement Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.
A translation: European Law no longer prevails for the decision as to whether a person who signs a contract is a consumer or not. English Law prevails.
An opinion: Why should owning a business give one ‘special powers’ to understand an onerous contract; when one is not in the same line of business.
Applicability: The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 applies only to contracts signed after 13th June 2014.
