2020 Contract Law Question 3 — LawShortcut Independent Model Answer
April hired a commercial-grade ride-on mower for her guesthouse; it caught fire and destroyed her garage, and the hire contract contains an exclusion clause she initialled. The answer turns not on incorporation or construction, which Manifest wins, but on whether the clause survives the fair-and-reasonable control in s.40 of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980.
Scenario summary
April runs a guesthouse. She went to Manifest Garden Equipment to hire a commercial-grade ride-on lawnmower for the grounds.
She signed the hire contract at Manifest’s own office, and at several points was asked to put her initials against particular sections of the document. She did.
One initialled section was an exclusion clause. It purported to exclude Manifest’s liability for any damages “howsoever arising” from use of the mower, where the loss was one a hirer would in normal commercial practice insure against under its own policy — and it applied whether or not the hirer had actually taken out such cover.
The mower was faulty. It went on fire, and the fire destroyed April’s garage.
Manifest refused any liability, saying April could recover from her own property insurance policy. She had allowed it to lapse.
Candidates are asked to advise April on the law governing this exclusion clause, and on what it means for any claim she may bring against Manifest.
This is a LawShortcut scenario summary written in our own words. For the exact examined wording, use the official King’s Inns paper linked above.
What this model answer covers
Issues and structure addressed in the full LawShortcut model answer:
- Issue 1 — The claim the clause has to defeat
- Issue 2 — Incorporation: signature and initialling
- Issue 3 — Construction: do the words reach this loss?
- Issue 4 — Statutory control: is the clause fair and reasonable?
- Issue 5 — The lapsed policy and what it does not do
- Overall advice to April
- Where the 25 marks live — 3 / 5 / 6 / 9 / 2 across the five issues
- Common ways to lose marks
- Authorities relied on
- The reusable answer structure
Read the complete LawShortcut model answer to this question — reading the question, issue spotting, the applicable law, application to the facts and conclusions — inside the King’s Inns Contract Law Model Answer Vault.
Part of the King’s Inns Contract Law Model Answer Vault — 30 independently authored model answers, 2020—2025.
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