Provisions the documents cite: s.1(1)–(2) (right of third party to enforce a term), s.2(1) (variation and rescission), s.3(2) (defences), s.7(2) (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 s.2(2)), s.10(4) (extent)
What it requires
A person who is not a party to a contract may in their own right enforce a term of it if the contract expressly provides that they may, or the term purports to confer a benefit on them — unless, on a proper construction of the contract, the parties did not intend the term to be enforceable by that person (s.1(1)–(2)). Once a third party has such a right, the parties may not rescind or vary the contract to extinguish or alter it without the third party's consent if the third party has communicated assent, or the promisor knows or can reasonably be expected to have foreseen that the third party has relied on the term (s.2(1)). In the third party's proceedings the promisor has the defences and set-offs it would have had against the promisee (s.3(2)). Section 2(2) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 does not apply where a third party enforces a term in reliance on s.1 (s.7(2)). A contract that intends no third-party rights should say so expressly. The Act extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland only (s.10(4)).
The instrument itself: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/31. The summary above is our plain-English reading, not the text of the instrument — always work from the source.
How this entry is kept current
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The 3 documents that cite it
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