Citation: BLR 348
Nature of case: The defendant owner, whose house had burnt down, was told by his insurers to enter into a JCT Minor Works Contract (1998 edition) with the claimant contractor. The contractor obtained an adjudication decision in its favour against the owner and applied for summary judgment by way of enforcement. In refusing summary judgment, the defendant was given leave to defend the claim on the ground that the withholding notice provisions of the JCT Minor Works Contract were unfair within the meaning of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, and accordingly were not binding on him as a consumer. Further, the Court held that the doctrine of “unreviewable error” of an adjudicator’s decisions made within his jurisdiction only applied to statutory adjudications, which this was not. Per curiam, the claimant was found to be an agent of his insurers, and the defendant was held to have enforceable rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 in respect of a payment mandate between insurers and contractor. Also reported in: 112 Con LR 95 TCC [2007] Lawtel, 7 June 2007
