standard form contract

standard form contract

a contract that is not specially set out for the transaction in question but is drawn up in advance and applied to numerous transactions. Such contracts are not defined in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 but controlled by it. The concept is that one party is only willing to trade on a set of terms that have been thought out in advance and usually favour the party putting them forward. The other party is usually offered the terms on a ‘take it or leave it’ basis. A term that is not individually negotiated is more likely to be an unfair contract term by virtue of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations.

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006