(1)This section applies to a contract to supply a service if—
(a)the consumer has not paid a price or other consideration for the service,
(b)the contract does not expressly fix a price or other consideration, and does not say how it is to be fixed, and
(c)anything that is to be treated under section 50 as included in the contract does not fix a price or other consideration either.
(2)In that case the contract is to be treated as including a term that the consumer must pay a reasonable price for the service, and no more.
(3)What is a reasonable price is a question of fact.
Cases considering section 51 3
[2024] EWCA Civ 1111 · 3 October 2024Disapplies
The Court held that the statutory reasonable-price regime did not apply because the contracts expressly fixed the price for the legal services (see paras [121]-[123]).
The Court held that section 51 did not apply because the contracts expressly fixed the price for the services. A statutory contractual quantum meruit therefore could not arise under this provision (see paras [121]-[123]).
The Court treated the reasonable-price term as inapplicable because the contracts fixed the price for the services. No statutory reasonable-price entitlement arose (see paras [121]-[123]).
The Court noted that a reasonable price under section 51 would be a question of fact, but the provision had no application because the contracts fixed the price (see paras [121]-[123]).
[2022] EWHC 2201 (TCC) · 19 August 2022Limits
The claimant relied on section 51 as an implied-term basis for payment. The court held that the contractual pleading was too incomplete to determine the interaction between any express terms and the statutory provision (see paras [49], [56]).
[2024] EWHC 1151 (SCCO) · 14 May 2024
Confirms that section 51 replaced section 15 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, with the same effect for the present assessment of reasonable remuneration. (see para [103])
What each judgment says about section 51 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.
253.In most cases, a contract will set out the price for the service, and indeed following the 2013 Regulations, traders who are not excluded will be under an obligation to provide information about the price before the consumer is bound by the contract. In addition, the price could be paid up-front when the contract is agreed, in which case the consumer will know the price. If for any reason the price is not known from the outset, this provision sets out that the consumer must pay a reasonable price. What is ‘reasonable’ is a question of fact. This means that if the question of what is a reasonable price comes before a court and the court makes a decision, the ability of the parties to appeal that decision will be limited once it has been made.
254.This section corresponds to section 15 of the SGSA but updates the language in line with the rest of Part 1.
255.For example, if a home owner engages a plumber to fix an urgent leak, he/she may not take the time to discuss the price before fixing the problem. The price might not be in the contract if the plumber did not know the problem before he/she arrived to fix it. If the leak was fixed in ten minutes and with only a £50 replacement part, £1000 is unlikely to be a reasonable price to pay.