Hire-Purchase Act 1965

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1965 c. 66


Hire-PurchaseAct 1965

1965 CHAPTER 66

An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to hire-purchase, credit-sale and conditional sale agreements in England and Wales; with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.

[5th August 1965]

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

I Agreements to which Parts II, III and IV of Act apply

Part I

Agreements to which Parts II, III and IV of Act apply

S-1 Meaning of ‘hire-purchase agreement’, ‘credit-sale agreement’ and ‘conditional sale agreement’.

1 Meaning of ‘hire-purchase agreement’, ‘credit-sale agreement’ and ‘conditional sale agreement’.

(1) In this Act (subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act)—

‘hire-purchase agreement’ means an agreement for the bailment of goods under which the bailee may buy the goods, or under which the property in the goods will or may pass to the bailee;

‘credit-sale agreement’ means an agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price is payable by five or more instalments, not being a conditional sale agreement;

‘conditional sale agreement’ means an agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price or part of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the goods is to remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be in possession of the goods) until such conditions as to the payment of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled.

(2) Where by virtue of two or more agreements, none of which by itself constitutes a hire-purchase agreement as defined by the preceding subsection, there is a bailment of goods and either the bailee may buy the goods, or the property therein will or may pass to the bailee, the agreements shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as a single agreement made at the time when the last of the agreements was made.

S-2 Limits of value for purposes of Parts II, III and IV.

2 Limits of value for purposes of Parts II, III and IV.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, references in Parts II, III and IV of this Act to hire-purchase agreements and to conditional sale agreements, and references in Part II of this Act to credit-sale agreements, shall be construed in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) References in Parts II, III and IV of this Act to a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement shall be construed respectively as references to a hire-purchase agreement (as defined by the preceding section) or a conditional sale agreement (as so defined) under which the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be, does not exceed 2,000.

(3) In Part II of this Act, except in any provision to which the next following subsection applies, any reference to a credit-sale agreement shall be construed as a reference to a credit-sale agreement (as defined by the preceding section) under which the total purchase price—

(a ) exceeds 30, but

(b ) does not exceed 2,000.

(4) In any provision of Part II of this Act to which this subsection is expressed to apply, any reference to a credit-sale agreement shall be construed as a reference to a credit-sale agreement (as defined by the preceding section) under which the total purchase price does not exceed 2,000.

S-3 Power to increase upper limit of value.

3 Power to increase upper limit of value.

(1) If it appears to Her Majesty in Council that the limit specified in subsections (2), (3)(b ) and (4) of section 2 of this Act (whether as originally enacted or as previously amended under this section) should be raised, or further raised, as the case may be, Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that section 2 of this Act shall be amended or further amended so as to substitute, for the sum so specified, such larger sum as may be specified in the Order.

(2) No recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make an Order in Council under this section unless a draft of the Order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(3) Any Order in Council made under this section may be revoked by a subsequent Order in Council under this section which substitutes a larger sum for the sum specified in the Order which is thereby revoked.

S-4 Exclusion of certain agreements from Parts II, III and IV.

4 Exclusion of certain agreements from Parts II, III and IV.

4. Notwithstanding anything in section 2 of this Act, references in Parts II, III and IV of this Act to hire-purchase agreements and to conditional sale agreements, and references in Part II of this Act to credit-sale agreements, do not include any agreement which is made by or on behalf of a body corporate (whether incorporated in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) as the hirer or buyer of the goods to which the agreement relates.

II General Provisions

Part II

General Provisions

Requirements in connection with making agreements

Requirements in connection with making agreements

S-5 Enforcement conditional on compliance with specified requirements.

5 Enforcement conditional on compliance with specified requirements.

(1) Where goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, or are sold, or agreed to be sold, under a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, then (subject to the exercise of any power of the court under section 10 of this Act) the owner or seller shall not be entitled to enforce the agreement unless—

(a ) the agreement is signed by the hirer or buyer, and by or on behalf of all other parties to the agreement, and

(b ) the requirements of sections 6 and 7 of this Act, and the requirements of section 8 or (as the case may be) section 9 of this Act, are complied with.

(2) Where by virtue of the preceding subsection the owner or seller is not entitled to enforce an agreement—

(a ) he shall not be entitled to enforce any contract of guarantee relating to that agreement;

(b ) no security given by the hirer or buyer in respect of money payable under the agreement, or given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under a contract of guarantee relating to the agreement, shall be enforceable against the hirer or buyer, or against the guarantor, as the case may be, by the holder of such a security; and

(c ) if it is a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the owner or seller shall not be entitled to enforce any right to recover the goods from the hirer or buyer.

S-6 Requirements as to cash price.

6 Requirements as to cash price.

(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement, are that, before the agreement is made,—

(a ) the cash price of the goods has been stated in writing to the hirer or buyer by the owner or seller, otherwise than in the agreement, or

(b ) if the hirer or buyer has inspected the goods or like goods, then, at the time of his inspection, tickets or labels were attached to or displayed with the goods clearly stating the cash price, either of the goods as a whole or of all the different articles or sets of articles comprised therein, or

(c ) the hirer or buyer has selected the goods by reference to a catalogue, price list or advertisement which clearly stated the cash price, either of the goods as a whole or of all the different articles or sets of articles comprised therein.

(2) In this Part of this Act ‘cash price’, in relation to any goods, means the price at which the goods may be purchased by the hirer or buyer for cash.

S-7 Requirements as to contents and form of agreements.

7 Requirements as to contents and form of agreements.

(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement, are that—

(a ) the agreement contains a statement of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be, and of the cash price of the goods to which the agreement relates, and of the amount of each instalment by which the hire-purchase price or total purchase price is to be paid, and of the date, or the mode of determining the date, on which each instalment is payable;

(b ) the agreement contains a list of the goods to which the agreement relates sufficient to identify them;

(c ) the agreement, at the time when it is signed by the hirer or buyer, complies with the requirements of any regulations made under subsection (2) of this section;

(d ) the agreement complies with the requirements of any regulations made under section 32 of this Act; and

(e ) if it is a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement, it contains a notice, which is at least as prominent as the rest of the contents of the agreement, in the terms set out in Schedule 1 or (as the case may be) Schedule 2 to this Act.

(2) The Board of Trade may by regulations provide that, in any document which, on being signed as mentioned in section 5(1)(a ) of this Act, constitutes a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the signature of the hirer or buyer shall be inserted in a space marked in such manner, and accompanied in the document by such words, as may be specified in the regulations; and the regulations may include provision as to the location of those words in relation to the space in which the signature is inserted, and may prescribe such other requirements (whether as to type, size, colour or disposition of lettering or otherwise) as the Board may consider appropriate for securing that the words come to the attention of the hirer or buyer at the time when he is about to sign the document.

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