Case study example

Amy always took her car to be serviced at Brakes Ltd and did so again in January. On the three previous occasions,
Before handing her car over to the garage, Amy had always been required to sign a contractual document which contained the following statement.
'Brakes Ltd accepts no responsibility for any consequential loss or injury sustained as a result of any work carried out by the company, whether as a result of negligence or otherwise.'

On the most recent occasion, due to the fact that the garage was very busy when she arrived, Amy was not asked to sign the usual document. She was, however, given a receipt for the car, which she accepted without reading.

On the back of the form were printed Brakes Ltd’s usual business terms including the above statement.
After collecting the car after its service, Amy was driving home when she suddenly lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. As a consequence, Amy was severely injured and was unable to work for three months and the car was completely destroyed.
It subsequently emerged that that the accident had been caused by a mechanic at Brakes Ltd who had failed to properly reconnect the car's steering mechanism. Brakes Ltd have accepted that their employee was negligent but deny any liability, relying on the exclusion clause.

Required
Task: Advise Cathy whether the exclusion clause was incorporated into her contract with Brakes Ltd.
Your analysis should clearly relate to thelegal controls that courts would use in assessing the validity of an exclusion clause. Refer to relevant cases and legislations (AC: 1.3,2.2, & 2.3)

Exclusion clauses
An exclusion clause, or exemption clause, can be defined as 'a clause in a contract which purports to exclude liability altogether or to restrict it by limiting damages or by imposing other onerous conditions.'
As a general