PART II
FORM AND CONTENTS OF HIRE-PURCHASE AGREEMENTS
3.
—(1) Before a hire-purchase agreement is entered into in respect of any goods, the owner shall give or cause to be given to the prospective hirer a written statement duly completed in accordance with the form set out in the Second Schedule.
(2) Where a hire-purchase agreement is entered into by way of acceptance by the owner of a written offer signed by or on behalf of the hirer, subsection (1) shall be deemed not to have been complied with unless the written statement was given to the prospective hirer before the written offer was signed.
(3) Every hire-purchase agreement —
(a)
shall be in writing and in the English language;
(b)
shall be signed by or on behalf of the hirer and all other parties to the agreement;
(c)
shall —
(i)
specify a date on which the hiring shall be deemed to have commenced;
(ii)
specify the number of instalments to be paid under the agreement by the hirer;
(iii)
specify the amounts of each of these instalments and the person to whom and the place at which the payments of these instalments are to be made;
(iv)
specify the time for the payment of each of those instalments; and
(v)
contain a description of the goods sufficient to identify them;
(d)
shall, where any part of the consideration is or is to be provided otherwise than in cash, contain a description of that part of the consideration; and
(e)
shall set out in a tabular form —
(i)
the price at which at the time of signing the agreement the hirer might have purchased the goods for cash (referred to in this Act and to be described in the agreement as cash price);
(ii)
the amount paid or provided by way of deposit (referred to in this Act and to be described in the agreement as deposit) showing separately the amount paid in cash and the amount provided by any consideration other than cash;
(iii)
any amount (included in the total amount) payable to cover the expenses of delivering the goods or any of them or to the order of the hirer (referred to in this Act and to be described in the agreement as freight);
(iv)
any amount (included in the total amount) payable to cover vehicle registration fees in respect of the goods (to be described in the agreement as vehicle registration fees);
(v)
any amount (included in the total amount) payable for insurance in respect of the goods or any of them;
(vi)
(vii)
the amount of any other charges included in the total amount payable (referred to in this Act and to be described in the agreement as terms charges);
(viii)
the total of the amounts referred to in sub-paragraphs (vi) and (vii) (referred to in this Act as the balance originally payable under the agreement); and
(ix)
the total amount payable.
(4) An owner who enters into a hire-purchase agreement that does not comply with subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence.
4.
—(1) The owner shall serve or cause to be served on the hirer within 14 days after the making of a hire-purchase agreement —
(a)
a copy of the agreement; and
(b)
a notice, which is at least as prominent as the rest of the contents of the agreement, in the terms prescribed in the Third Schedule.
(2) Where any part of the total amount payable consists of an amount paid or to be paid under a policy of insurance in respect of the goods, the owner shall serve or cause to be served on the hirer within 7 days of receipt of the policy, a copy of the policy or statement in writing setting out the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy that affect the rights of the hirer.
5.
—(1) A hire-purchase agreement that is not in writing shall not be enforceable by the owner.
(2) An owner shall not be entitled to enforce a hire-purchase agreement or any contract of guarantee relating thereto or any right to recover the goods from the hirer, and no security given by the hirer in respect of money payable under the hire-purchase agreement or given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under such a contract of guarantee as aforesaid shall be enforceable against the hirer or guarantor by any holder thereof, unless the requirements set out in sections 3(3)(b) to (e) and 4 have been complied with.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) where the court is satisfied that —
(a)
a failure to comply with any of the requirements set out in sections 3 and 4 has not prejudiced the hirer; and
(b)
it would be just and equitable to dispense with such of the requirements mentioned in paragraph (a),
the court may, subject to any conditions that it thinks fit to impose, dispense with those requirements for the purpose of the action.