Nearly every single one of us will enter into, or deal with, a contract daily. Whether it is a contract for the sale of bread or the obligations we agreed to abide by when signing up to a phone company, there are no escaping contracts.
Studying contract law at university, one becomes amazed at the legal steps that occur when you purchase a newspaper. Though no words are exchanged, the six elements of contract law occur and no one even notices them.
The six elements of contract law
The six steps are, offer, intention, agreement, consideration, legality, capacity and genuine consent, together ‘with the six elements. Each deserves a whole chapter or two in any door stopper of a law book, however together are the fundamental elements of all commercial transactions, whether one is buying a newspaper or entering a multibillion-dollar contract.
We at Appius Lawyers offer the service of reviewing contracts and transactions for clients, but, it has become quite apparent that something more fundamental, than the six elements, is being missed; your freedom to contract.
Freedom of contract meaning
Freedom to contract means parties to negotiations, should have the utmost liberty to bargain. That means parties have the power to enter into a contract or not, and, if they enter into a contract, they have a say over the terms of the contract, that they accept.
It is worthy to note, that because of this idea of your freedom to contract, your signature on a document carries special significance, binding you to the agreement.
Consumer Rights
It appears that consumers have forgotten this. Providers have standard contracts with standard terms. Providers get the ease of this approach, we believe, because consumers have forgotten about their own freedom to contract.
If all consumers, or at least a significant few, actioned their freedom to contract, no provider would be able to rely solely on their standard contract with its standard terms, generally with terms favourable to the provider at the detriment of the consumer.
Each consumer should consider the terms of the contract offered to them in relation to their circumstances. Look at the transaction objectively and determine what is in it for them. Are the price and associated product or service representative of the value you assign to that product or service? Standard contracts should be amended and returned to the provider with the consumers’ list of terms to be deleted or amended, where necessary.
There will be those who say that they will not get what they want if they trouble the provider, but, consumers must realise that a contract is for the benefit of both parties.
Consumers get a product or service and providers get the consumer’s money. Unless a provider is the sole source of the product or service, it would be prudent, and in the interest of the consumer, especially if the consumer is a new small business, to seek out a more beneficial bargain with another provider.
Make a bargain that is in your interest, and force the provider to impress you by providing you with a fair and equitable contract.
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