Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1998 c. 20 |
(1) It is an implied term in a contract to which this Act applies that any qualifying debt created by the contract carries simple interest subject to and in accordance with this Part.(2) Interest carried under that implied term (in this Act referred to as “statutory interest”) shall be treated, for the purposes of any rule of law or enactment (other than this Act) relating to interest on debts, in the same way as interest carried under an express contract term.(3) This Part has effect subject to Part II (which in certain circumstances permits contract terms to oust or vary the right to statutory interest that would otherwise be conferred by virtue of the term implied by subsection (1) ) .(1) This Act applies to a contract for the supply of goods or services where the purchaser and the supplier are each acting in the course of a business, other than an excepted contract.a contract of sale of goods; ora contract (other than a contract of sale of goods) by which a person does any, or any combination, of the things mentioned in subsection (3) for a consideration that is (or includes) a money consideration.transferring or agreeing to transfer to another the property in goods;bailing or agreeing to bail goods to another by way of hire or, in Scotland, hiring or agreeing to hire goods to another; andagreeing to carry out a service.(4) For the avoidance of doubt a contract of service or apprenticeship is not a contract for the supply of goods or services.a consumer credit agreement;a contract intended to operate by way of mortgage, pledge, charge or other security; and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(7) In this section—“property in goods” means the general property in them and not merely a special property. The provisions of this Act apply to a transaction in respect of which fees are paid for professional services to a member of the Faculty of Advocates as they apply to a contract for the supply of services for the purpose of this Act. (1) A debt created by virtue of an obligation under a contract to which this Act applies to pay the whole or any part of the contract price is a “qualifying debt” for the purposes of this Act, unless (when created) the whole of the debt is prevented from carrying statutory interest by this section.(2) A debt does not carry statutory interest if or to the extent that it consists of a sum to which a right to interest or to charge interest applies by virtue of any enactment (other than section 1 of this Act) .This subsection does not prevent a sum from carrying statutory interest by reason of the fact that a court, arbitrator or arbiter would, apart from this Act, have power to award interest on it.(3) A debt does not carry (and shall be treated as never having carried) statutory interest if or to the extent that a right to demand interest on it, which exists by virtue of any rule of law, is exercised.(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1) Statutory interest runs in relation to a qualifying debt in accordance with this section (unless section 5 applies) .(2) Statutory interest starts to run on the day after the relevant day for the debt, at the rate prevailing under section 6 at the end of the relevant day.where there is an agreed payment day, that day, unless a different day is given by subsection (2D) , (2E) or (2G) ;where there is not an agreed payment day, the last day of the relevant 30-day period.(2B) An “agreed payment day” is a date agreed between the supplier and the purchaser for payment of the debt (that is, the day on which the debt is to be created by the contract) .(2C) A date agreed for payment of a debt may be a fixed date or may depend on the happening of an event or the failure of an event to happen.the purchaser is a public authority, andthe last day of the relevant 30-day period falls earlier than the agreed
- “business” includes a profession and the activities of any government department or local or public authority;
- “consumer credit agreement” has the same meaning as in the Consumer Credit Act 1974;
- “contract of sale of goods” and “goods” have the same meaning as in the Sale of Goods Act 1979;
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