T & C’s or not to be, that is the question…

legal updates

If your T & C’s appear for the first time on the reverse of your sales invoice, it is too late for them to have any effect on the contract between you and your customer.

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Placing terms and conditions (“T & C’s”) on the reverse of sales invoices is rather like closing the stable gate after the horse has bolted! Under contract law an invoice is generally a post contract document.

If your T & C’s appear for the first time on the reverse of your sales invoice, it is too late for them to have any effect on the contract between you and your customer.

In practical terms perhaps the best time to introduce T & C’s, if you have not already done so, is on the reverse of a proforma purchase order.

Having the customer sign the document to confirm that they have read, understood and accept your T & C’s is better still, with reference to them on the back of the order form if this is the case.

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Howard TilneyHead of Strategy / Legal AdvisorRead More by this author

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