§ After Clause 6, insert the following new clause:
§ Re-delivery and interim care of goods comprised in notice of cancellation
§ (".—(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a notice of cancellation is served, and at any time, whether before or after the service of that notice, any of the goods to which the relevant document relates are in the possession of the prospective hirer or buyer, having come into his possession in consequence, or in anticipation, of his signing that document.
831§ (2) The prospective hirer or buyer shall not be under any obligation (whether arising by contract or otherwise) to deliver the goods except at his own premises and in pursuance of a request in writing, signed by or on behalf of the person entitled to possession of the goods and served on the prospective hirer or buyer either before, or at the time when, the goods are collected from his premises; and any such obligation shall be subject to any lien, or other right to retain the goods, which he may have under section 7(4) or section 8(3) of this Act.
§ (3) If the prospective hirer or buyer—
- (a) delivers the goods (whether at his own premises or elsewhere) to an authorised person, or to a person designated for the purpose by an authorised person, or
- (b) sends the goods at his own expense to an authorised person,
§ (4) Until the occurrence of whichever of the following events first occurs, that is to say—
- (a) the prospective hirer or buyer delivers or sends the goods as mentioned in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection, or
- (b) the period of twenty-one days beginning with the date of service of the notice of cancellation expires without his having received such a request as is mentioned in subsection (2) of this section and unreasonably refused or unreasonably failed to comply with it,
§ (5) Any obligation under the last preceding subsection shall he owed to the person for the time being entitled to possession of the goods, and any breach of that obligation shall be actionable, at the suit of that person, as a breach of statutory duty.
§ (6) Except as provided by subsections (4) and (5) of this section, the prospective hirer or buyer shall not be under any obligation (whether arising by contract or otherwise) to take care of the goods by reason of their having come into his possession as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.
§ (7) In this section "authorised person" means a person falling within any one or more of the following descriptions, that is to say—
- (a) the person who conducted any antecedent negotiations in pursuance of which the prospective hirer or buyer signed the relevant document;
- (b) the person for the time being entitled to possession of the goods;
- (c) the owner or seller;
- (d) any person who is specified, as mentioned in section 6(1)(a) of this Act, as a person to whom a notice of cancellation may be sent,
§ Clause 7, page 7, line 37, leave out subsections (1) and (2).
§ Clause 7, page 8, line 33, leave out from ("has") to end of line 35 and insert ("in pursuance of any antecedent negotiations been paid to, or for the benefit of, the owner or seller, or has in pursuance of any such negotiations be paid to, or for the benefit of, any person (other than the owner or seller) who conducted those negotiations").
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, during the Report stage of the Bill in your Lordships' House there was a good deal of discussion about the return of goods if an agreement was cancelled by the prospective hirer or buyer under the "cooling-off" provisions. This Amendment, 31A, and Nos. 32, 33 and 35 go together. I do not think there was any real divergence of view about what we wanted, and I think your Lordships will find that the new clause contained in Amendment No. 31A introduces the necessary improvements and clarifications. It provides, in subsection (2), that the hirer who cancels the agreement shall only be under an obligation to deliver the goods at his own premises in pursuance of a written request signed by or on behalf of the person entitled to possession of the goods. And even then he has a lien on the goods if there is any sum due to him; for example, if his deposit has not been returned. This subsection covers what will be the normal case where the hirer retains the goods until they are collected from this house.
But the hirer may well wish to get rid of the goods and decide to take or send them back to an "authorised person". Or he may hand them to such a person who collects them at his own premises without producing a written request. These would, in the circumstances, be reasonable things for him to do. Subsection (3) therefore provides that the hirer shall be taken to have discharged his obligation to retain the goods or deliver them if he delivers the goods at his own premises or elsewhere to an authorised person or sends the 833 goods back to such a person at his own expense.
Subsection (7), if I may anticipate, defines the "authorised person" to whom the hirer may deliver or send the goods in wide terms which will cover all the possibilities. Subsection (4) imposes the obligation on the hirer to take reasonable care of the goods. Discussion in your Lordships' House brought out that, while this was reasonable initially, the obligation should not continue indefinitely, since if it did an unscrupulous trader might exploit the position. This point was put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd. To meet this, subsection (4) sets a time limit on the hirer's obligation to take reasonable care of the goods; this is to be 21 days from the service of the notice of cancellation. There is the necessary qualification the. the hirer's obligation would continue if, within the 21 days, he had received a written request to deliver the goods at his own premises, as prescribed in subsection (2), and had unreasonably refused or unreasonably failed to comply with it. Subsection (4) also provides that if the hirer, rather than await collection, chooses to send the goods at his own expense to an authorised person, he must take reasonable care to see that they are received and are not damaged in transit. If the hirer fails to carry out his obligation, sub-section (5) provides that he is liable for breach of statutory duty (that is, a civil action) to the person entitled to possession of the goods, whoever that may be.
Subsection (6) provides that the hirer is to be under no other obligation to take care of the goods. His obligation therefore lapses if the goods are not collected within the 21 days, unless he has failed unreasonably to comply with a request to hand them over at his own premises.
The introduction of the new clause makes certain consequential amendments necessary in Clause 7. Subsections (1) and (2) and (6) and (7) are superseded, and Amendments Nos. 32 and 35 propose their deletion. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.
§ Moved, that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Drumalbyn.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.