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HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - LONG TITLE An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to hire-purchase, credit-sale and conditional sale agreements, to information to be included in advertisements displayed or issued in connection with hire-purchase or credit-sale and to dispositions of motor vehicles which have been let or agreed to be sold by way of hire-purchase or conditional sale.{1} [6th ""hire-purchase agreement'' means an agreement for the bailment of goods under which the bailee may buy the goods, or under which the property in the goods will or may pass to the bailee; C >""credit-sale agreement'' means an agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price is payable by five or more instalments, not being a conditional sale agreement; C >""conditional sale agreement'' means an agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price or part of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the goods is to remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be in possession of the goods) until such conditions as to the payment of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled. B>(2) Where by virtue of two or more agreements, none of which by itself constitutes a hire-purchase agreement as defined by subsection (1), there is a bailment of goods and either the bailee may buy the goods, or the property therein will or may pass to the bailee, the agreements shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as a single agreement made at the time when the last of the agreements was made. >Meaning of ""hire-purchase agreement'', ""credit-sale agreement'' and ""conditional sale agreement''. A> 2. (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part, references in Parts II, III and IV to hire-purchase agreements and to conditional sale agreements, and references in Part II to credit-sale agreements, shall be construed in accordance with the following provisions of this section. B>(2) References in Parts II, III and IV to a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement shall be construed respectively as references to a hire-purchase agreement (as defined by section 1) or a conditional sale agreement (as so defined) under which the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be, does not exceed [{2}#5,000] . (3) In Part II, except in any provision to which subsection (4) applies, any reference to a credit-sale agreement shall be construed as a reference to a credit-sale agreement (as defined by section 1) under which the total purchase price (a)exceeds #30, but (b)does not exceed [#5,000]. (4) In any provision of Part II to which this subsection is expressed to apply, any reference to a credit-sale agreement shall be construed as a reference to a credit-sale agreement (as defined by section 1) under which the total purchase price does not exceed [#5,000]. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 3 Limits of value for purposes of Parts II, III and IV. 3.(1) If it appears to the Governor in Council that the limit specified in subsections (2), (3)(b) and (4) of section 2 (whether as originally enacted or as previously amended under this section) should be raised, or further raised, as the case may be, the Governor may by Order in Council direct that section 2 shall be amended or further amended so as to substitute, for the sum so specified, such larger sum as may be specified in the Order. (2) No recommendation shall be made to the Governor to make an Order in Council under this section unless a draft of the Order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 4 Power to increase upper limit of value. 4. Notwithstanding anything in section 2, references in Parts II, III and IV to hire-purchase agreements and to conditional sale agreements, and references in Part II to credit-sale agreements, do not include any agreement which is made by or on behalf of a body corporate (whether incorporated in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) as the hirer or buyer of the goods to which the agreement relates. Exclusion of certain agreements from Parts II, III and IV. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 5 5.(1) Where goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, or are sold, or agreed to be sold, under a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, then (subject to the exercise of any power of the court under section 10) the owner or seller shall not be entitled to enforce the agreement unless (a)the agreement is signed by the hirer or buyer, and by or on behalf of all other parties to the agreement, and (b)the requirements of sections 6 and 7, and the requirements of section 8 or (as the case may be) section 9, are complied with. (2) Where by virtue of subsection (1) the owner or seller is not entitled to enforce an agreement (a)he shall not be entitled to enforce any contract of guarantee relating to that agreement; (b)no security given by the hirer or buyer in respect of money payable under the agreement, or given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under a contract of guarantee relating to the agreement, shall be enforceable against the hirer or buyer or against the guarantor, as the case may be, by the holder of such a security; and (c)if it is a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the owner or seller shall not be entitled to enforce any right to recover the goods from the hirer or buyer. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 6 Enforcement conditional on compliance with specified requirements. 6.(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement, are that, before the agreement is made, (a)the cash price of the goods has been clearly stated in writing to the hirer or buyer by the owner or seller, otherwise than in the document which, on being signed as mentioned in section 5(1)(a), constitutes the agreement, or (b)if the hirer or buyer has inspected the goods or like goods, then, at the time of his inspection, tickets or labels were attached to or displayed with the goods clearly stating the cash price, either of the goods as a whole or of all the different articles or sets of articles comprised therein, or (c)the hirer or buyer has selected the goods by reference to a catalogue, price list or advertisement which clearly stated the cash price, either of the goods as a whole or of all the different articles or sets of articles comprised therein. (2) In this Part "cash price", in relation to any goods, means the price at which the goods may be purchased by the hirer or buyer for cash. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 7 Requirements as to cash price. 7.(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement, are that (a)the agreement contains a statement of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be, and of the cash price of the goods to which the agreement relates, and of the amount of each instalment by which the hire-purchase price or total purchase price is to be paid, and of the date, or the mode of determining the date, on which each instalment is payable; (b)the agreement contains a list of the goods to which the agreement relates sufficient to identify them; (c)the agreement, at the time when it is signed by the hirer or buyer, complies with the requirements of any regulations made under subsection (2); (d)the agreement complies with the requirements of any regulations made under section 32; and (e)if it is a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement, it contains a notice, which is at least as prominent as the rest of the contents of the agreement, in the terms set out in Schedule 1 or (as the case may be) Schedule 2. (2) The Ministry may by regulation provide that, in any document which, on being signed as mentioned in section 5(1)(a), constitutes a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the signature of the hirer or buyer shall be inserted in a space marked in such manner, and accompanied in the document by such words, as may be specified in the regulations; and the regulations may include provision as to the location of those words in relation to the space in which the signature is inserted, and may prescribe such other requirements (whether as to type, size, colour or disposition of lettering or otherwise) as the Ministry may consider appropriate for securing that the words come to the attention of the hirer or buyer at the time when he is about to sign the document. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 8 Requirements as to contents and form of agreements. 8.(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement which is signed by the hirer or buyer at appropriate trade premises, are that copies are delivered or sent to the hirer or buyer in accordance with the following provisions of this section. (2) If either (a)the agreement is signed by or on behalf of all other parties immediately after it is signed by the hirer or buyer, and a copy of the agreement is there and then delivered to him, or (b)the agreement having been signed by or on behalf of all other parties before it is signed by the hirer or buyer, a copy of the agreement is delivered to him immediately after he signs the agreement, (3) If, in a case not falling within paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (2), (a)either (i)the relevant document is presented, and not sent, to the hirer or buyer for his signature, and immediately after he signs it there is delivered to him a copy of that document in the form in which it then is, or (ii)the relevant document is sent to the hirer for his signature, and at the time when it is sent there is also sent to him a copy of that document in the form in which it then is, and (b)in either case, a copy of the agreement is delivered or sent to the hirer or buyer within seven days of the making of the agreement, (4) In this and the next following section "the relevant document" means the document which, on being signed by the hirer or buyer and by or on behalf of all other parties to the agreement, becomes the hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, as the case may be. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 9 Requirements as to copies where hirer or buyer signs at appropriate trade premises. 9.(1) The requirements of this section, in relation to an agreement which is signed by the hirer or buyer at a place other than appropriate trade premises, are that copies are delivered or sent to the hirer or buyer in accordance with the following provisions of this section. (2) A copy of the relevant document (in this Part referred to as "the first statutory copy") shall be delivered or sent to the hirer or buyer as follows, that is to say (a)if the relevant document is presented, and not sent, to the hirer or buyer for his signature, a copy of that document, in the form in which it then is, shall be delivered to him immediately after he signs it; (b)if the relevant document is sent to the hirer or buyer for his signature, a copy of that document, in the form in which it then is, shall be sent to him at the time when that document is sent. (3) Within seven days of the making of the agreement, a copy of the agreement (in this Part referred to as "the second statutory copy") shall be sent by post to the hirer or buyer. (4) The first statutory copy and the second statutory copy shall each contain such a statement of the rights of the hirer or buyer under section 11, and of matters relating to or consequential upon the exercise of those rights, as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Ministry; and that statement shall be so contained in such position, and shall comply with such other requirements (whether as to type, size, colour or disposition of lettering or otherwise) as may be so prescribed. (5) Any statement which, in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4), is contained either in the first statutory copy or in the second statutory copy shall specify the name of a person to whom, and an address to which, notice of cancellation may be sent; and (without prejudice to any other respect in which, in accordance with section 17(5) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, the regulations may make different provision as between the first statutory copy and the second statutory copy, or as between copies delivered and copies sent) different names and addresses may be so specified in the first statutory copy and the second statutory copy of the same document. (6) The first statutory copy and the second statutory copy shall each comply with the requirements of any regulations made under section 32. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 10 1954 c.33 10.(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, if in any action the court is satisfied that a failure to comply with any of the requirements specified in sections 6 to 9 has not prejudiced the hirer or buyer, and that it would be just and equitable to dispense with the requirement, the court may, subject to any conditions that it thinks fit to impose, dispense with that requirement for the purposes of the action. (2) The power conferred by subsection (1) shall not be exercisable in relation to the requirement specified in section 9(3) except where the second statutory copy has been sent to the hirer or buyer but not within the period of seven days of the making of the agreement. (3) The power conferred by subsection (1) shall not be exercisable in relation to the requirement imposed by section 9(4). (4) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that in subsection (1) the reference to the requirements specified in sections 6 to 9 includes the requirements of any regulations made under section 32, in so far as any such requirements relate to hire-purchase agreements, credit-sale agreements and conditional sale agreements, or to copies delivered or sent as mentioned in section 8 or section 9. Power of court to dispense with requirements of sections 6 to 9. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 11 11.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a person (in this section referred to as "the prospective hirer or buyer") signs a document (in this section referred to as "the relevant document") which (a)constitutes a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, or (b)would constitute such an agreement if executed by or on behalf of another person as owner or seller of the goods to which it relates, (2) At any time after he has signed the relevant document and before the end of the period of four days beginning with and including the day on which he receives the second statutory copy, the prospective hirer or buyer may serve a notice under this section (in this Act referred to as a "notice of cancellation") (a)on the owner or seller, or (b)on any person who (whether by virtue of section 12(3) or otherwise) is the agent of the owner or seller for the purpose of receiving such a notice. (3) A notice of cancellation served as mentioned in subsection (2) shall have effect if, however expressed, it indicates the intention of the prospective hirer or buyer to withdraw from the transaction to which the relevant document relates. (4) Where the prospective hirer or buyer serves a notice of cancellation, then (a)if, at the time when that notice is served, the relevant document constitutes a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the service of the notice shall operate so as to rescind that agreement; (b)in any other case, the service of the notice shall operate as a withdrawal of any offer to enter into such an agreement which is contained in, or implied by, the relevant document, and as notice to the owner or seller that any such offer is withdrawn. (5) In this section "owner or seller", in relation to the relevant document, means the person who, at the time when the document is signed by the prospective hirer or buyer, is specified in the document as the person who is to let the goods on hire to him or to sell the goods to him, as the case may be but, if no person is so specified at that time, any person by whom, or on whose behalf, the document is executed at any subsequent time, and who is then specified in the document as the person letting or selling the goods, shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be, and at all material times to have been, the owner or seller in relation to that document. (6) In sections 12 to 15 "the prospective hirer or buyer", "the relevant document" and "owner or seller" have the same meanings as in this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 12 Notice of cancellation. 12.(1) For the purposes of section 11 a notice of cancellation (a)shall be deemed to be served on the owner or seller if it is sent by post addressed to a person specified in a statement contained either in the first statutory copy or in the second statutory copy of the relevant document as being a person to whom such a notice may be sent, and is addressed to that person at an address so specified, and (b)where paragraph (a) applies, shall be deemed to be served on the owner or seller at the time when it is posted. (2) Subsection (1) shall have effect without prejudice to the service of a notice of cancellation (whether by post or otherwise) in any way in which the notice could be served apart from that subsection, whether the notice is served on the owner or seller or on a person who (whether by virtue of subsection (3) or otherwise) is the agent of the owner or seller for the purpose of receiving such a notice. (3) Any person who conducted any antecedent negotiations, but is not the owner or seller, shall be deemed to be the agent of the owner or seller for the purpose of receiving any notice of cancellation served by the prospective hirer or buyer. (4) A notice of cancellation which is sent by post to a person at his proper address, otherwise than in accordance with subsection (1), shall be deemed to be served on him at the time when it is posted. (5) So much of section 24 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 as relates to the time when service is deemed to have been effected shall not apply to a notice of cancellation. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 13 1954 c.33 13.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a notice of cancellation is served, and at any time, whether before or after the service of that notice, any of the goods to which the relevant document relates are in the possession of the prospective hirer or buyer, having come into his possession in consequence, or in anticipation, of his signing that document. (2) The prospective hirer or buyer shall not be under any obligation (whether arising by contract or otherwise) to deliver the goods except at his own premises and in pursuance of a request in writing signed by or on behalf of the person entitled to possession of the goods and served on the prospective hirer or buyer either before, or at the time when, the goods are collected from his premises; and any such obligation shall be subject to any lien, or other right to retain the goods, which he may have under section 14(2) or section 15(3). (3) If the prospective hirer or buyer (a)delivers the goods (whether at his own premises or elsewhere) to an authorised person, or to a person designated for the purpose by an authorised person, or (b)sends the goods at his own expense to an authorised person, (4) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the prospective hirer or buyer shall be under an obligation to take reasonable care of the goods until the end of the period of twenty-one days beginning with and including the date of service of the notice of cancellation. (5) Where the prospective hirer or buyer delivers the goods as mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (3), his obligation to take care of the goods shall thereupon cease; and if he sends the goods to an authorised person as mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection, he shall be under an obligation to take reasonable care to see that they are received by that person and are not damaged in transit to him, but in other respects his obligation to take care of the goods shall cease on his sending the goods to that person. (6) Where, at any time during the period of twenty-one days mentioned in subsection (4), the prospective hirer or buyer receives such a request as is mentioned in subsection (2), and unreasonably refuses or unreasonably fails to comply with it, his obligation to take reasonable care of the goods shall continue until he delivers or sends the goods as mentioned in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (3). (7) Any obligation under subsections (4) to (6) shall be owed to the person for the time being entitled to possession of the goods, and any breach of that obligation shall be actionable at the suit of that person, as a breach of statutory duty. (8) Except as provided by subsections (4) to (7), the prospective hirer or buyer shall not be under any obligation (whether arising by contract or otherwise) to take care of the goods by reason of their having come into his possession as mentioned in subsection (1). (9) In this section "authorised person" means a person falling within any one or more of the following descriptions, that is to say (a)the person who conducted any antecedent negotiations in pursuance of which the prospective hirer or buyer signed the relevant document; (b)the person for the time being entitled to possession of the goods; (c)the owner or seller; (d)any person who is specified, as mentioned in section 12(1)(a), as a person to whom a notice of cancellation may be sent, Re-delivery, and interim care, of goods comprised in notice of cancellation. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 14 14.(1) Where a notice of cancellation operates so as to rescind a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, (a)that agreement, and any contract of guarantee relating thereto, shall be deemed never to have had effect, and (b)any security given by the prospective hirer or buyer in respect of money payable under the agreement, or given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under such a contract of guarantee, shall be deemed never to have been enforceable. (2) On the service of a notice of cancellation, any sum which (a)has been paid by the prospective hirer or buyer in respect of the goods to which the relevant document relates, whether it has been paid before the signature of the document or in pursuance of any provision contained in that document, and (b)is comprised (or would, if the document constituted a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, be comprised) in the hire-purchase price or total purchase price or (if it is not or would not be so comprised) has in pursuance of any antecedent negotiations been paid to, or for the benefit of, the owner or seller, or has in pursuance of any such negotiations been paid to, or for the benefit of, any person (other than the owner or seller) who conducted those negotiations, (3) Any obligation to pay any sum which, if it had been paid before the service of a notice of cancellation, would have been recoverable by the prospective hirer or buyer under subsection (2), shall be extinguished on the service of such a notice. (4) Any sum recoverable under subsection (2) shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 15 Further consequences of notice of cancellation. 15.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a notice of cancellation is served, and, in pursuance of any antecedent negotiations conducted by him, a person (in this section referred to as "the dealer") has agreed to take goods in part-exchange and those goods have been delivered to the dealer. (2) Unless, before the end of the period of ten days beginning with and including the date of service of the notice of cancellation, the goods in question are delivered to the prospective hirer or buyer, and are then in a condition which is substantially as good as when they were delivered to the dealer, the prospective hirer or buyer shall be entitled to recover from the dealer a sum equal to the part-exchange allowance. (3) During the period of ten days referred to in subsection (2) the prospective hirer or buyer, if he is in possession of the goods to which the relevant document relates, shall be entitled to retain possession of them until either (a)the goods agreed to be taken in part-exchange are delivered to him in such a condition as is mentioned in that subsection, or (b)a sum equal to the part-exchange allowance is paid to him; and if, immediately before the end of that period, he continues by virtue of this subsection to be entitled to retain possession of the goods to which the relevant document relates, he shall have a lien on those goods for any sum which he is entitled to recover by virtue of subsection (2). (4) Any sum recoverable under subsection (2) shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. (5) Where the prospective hirer or buyer recovers from the dealer a sum equal to the part-exchange allowance, then, if the title of the prospective hirer or buyer to the goods agreed to be taken in part-exchange has not vested in the dealer, that title shall so vest on the recovery of that sum. (6) For the purposes of this section (a)the dealer shall be taken to have agreed to take goods in part-exchange if, in pursuance of the antecedent negotiations, he has either purchased or agreed to purchase those goods or has accepted or agreed to accept them as part of the consideration for the transaction to which the relevant document relates, and (b)the part-exchange allowance shall be taken to be the sum which, in the antecedent negotiations, was agreed to be allowed in respect of the goods referred to in paragraph (a), or, if no such sum was agreed, the part-exchange allowance shall be taken to be such sum as in all the circumstances it would have been reasonable to allow in respect of those goods if no notice of cancellation had been served. Effect of notice of cancellation where goods given in part-exchange. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 16 16.(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as "the owner or seller") lets goods under a hire-purchase agreement, or sells or agrees to sell goods under a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, any representations with respect to the goods to which the agreement relates which were made, either orally or in writing, to the hirer or buyer by a person other than the owner or seller in the course of any antecedent negotiations conducted by that other person shall be deemed to have been made by him as agent of the owner or seller. (2) Nothing in this section shall exonerate any person from any liability (whether criminal or civil) to which he would be subject apart from this section. (3) Section 2(4) applies to this section. (4) In this section "representations" includes any statement or undertaking, whether constituting a condition or a warranty or not, and references to making representations shall be construed accordingly. Ss.1720 rep. (with saving for agreements made before 18.5.1973) by 1973 c.13 s.18(4) Dealer to be agent of owner or seller in respect of certain representations. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 21 21.(1) At any time before the final payment has been made under a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, any person entitled to enforce the agreement against the hirer or buyer shall, within four days after he has received a request in writing from the hirer or buyer, and the hirer or buyer has tendered to him the sum of [13p] for expenses, supply to the hirer or buyer a copy of the agreement, together with a statement signed by that person or his agent showing (a)the amount paid by or on behalf of the hirer or buyer; (b)the amount which has become due under the agreement but remains unpaid, and the date on which each unpaid instalment became due, and the amount of each such instalment; and (c)the amount which is to become payable under the agreement, and the date, or the mode of determining the date, on which each future instalment is to become payable, and the amount of each such instalment. (2) In the event of a failure without reasonable cause to comply with subsection (1), then, while the default continues (a)no person shall be entitled to enforce the agreement against the hirer or buyer or to enforce any contract of guarantee relating to the agreement, and, in the case of a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement, the owner or seller shall not be entitled to enforce any right to recover the goods from the hirer or buyer, and (b)no security given by the hirer or buyer in respect of money payable under the agreement, or given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under a contract of guarantee relating to the agreement, shall be enforceable against the hirer or buyer or the guarantor by any holder thereof, (3) If a copy supplied to a hirer or buyer in pursuance of a request made by him under this section does not comply with such requirements of any regulations made under section 32 as relate thereto, subsection (2) shall apply as if that copy had not been supplied to him. (4) In relation to a credit-sale agreement under which the total purchase price does not exceed #30, subsection (1) shall apply with the substitution, for the words "a copy of the agreement", of the words "a copy of any note or memorandum of the agreement". (5) Section 2(4) applies to this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 22 Owner or seller to supply information and copy to hirer or buyer. 22.(1) A contract of guarantee relating to a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, and any security given by a guarantor in respect of money payable under such a contract, shall (subject to the following provisions of this section) not be enforceable unless, within seven days of the making of the contract of guarantee or the making of the hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, whichever is the later, there is delivered or sent to the guarantor (a)a copy of the hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, and (b)a copy of a note or memorandum of the contract of guarantee, being a note or memorandum signed by the guarantor or by a person authorised by him to sign it on his behalf. (2) Subject to subsection (3), such a contract of guarantee, and any such security, shall also not be enforceable unless (a)each copy delivered or sent as mentioned in subsection (1), and (b)the note or memorandum of the contract of guarantee, (3) If in any action the court is satisfied that a failure to comply with any requirement imposed by subsection (1), or with any such requirement as is mentioned in subsection (2), has not prejudiced the guarantor, and that it would be just and equitable to dispense with that requirement, the court may, subject to any conditions that it thinks fit to impose, dispense with that requirement for the purposes of the action. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 23 Requirements relating to contracts of guarantee. 23.(1) Where a contract of guarantee relating to a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement is for the time being in force, and the final payment under that agreement has not been made, any person entitled to enforce the contract of guarantee against the guarantor shall, within four days after he has received a request in writing from the guarantor, and the guarantor has tendered to him the sum of [13p] for expenses, supply to the guarantor the documents specified in subsection (2). (2) The documents referred to in subsection (1) are (a)a copy of the hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, or, in the case of a credit-sale agreement under which the total purchase price does not exceed #30, a copy of any note or memorandum of the agreement; and (b)a copy of a note or memorandum of the contract of guarantee; and (c)a statement signed by, or by the agent of, the persons to whom the request in writing referred to in subsection (1) is made, showing the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 21(1). (3) In the event of a failure without reasonable cause to comply with subsection (1), then, while the default continues, (a)no person shall be entitled to enforce the contract of guarantee against the guarantor, and (b)no security given by the guarantor in respect of money payable under that contract shall be enforceable against the guarantor by any holder of that security, (4) If a copy supplied to a guarantor in pursuance of a request made by him under this section does not comply with such requirements of any regulations made under section 32 as relate thereto, subsection (3) shall apply as if that copy had not been supplied to him. (5) Section 2(4) applies to this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 24 Further documents to be supplied to guarantor. 24.(1) Where by virtue of a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement a hirer or buyer is under a duty to keep the goods comprised in the agreement in his possession or control, the hirer or buyer shall, on receipt of a request in writing from the owner or seller, inform the owner or seller where the goods are at the time when the information is given, or, if it is sent by post, at the time of posting. (2) If a hirer or buyer fails without reasonable cause to give that information within fourteen days after the receipt of the notice, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding #25. Hirer or buyer to give information to owner or seller. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 25 25.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, or are agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and that agreement, or any other agreement, contains a provision (however expressed and whether limited to defaults in payment or not) whereby, apart from this section, on the occurrence of, or at a time to be ascertained by reference to, a default in the payment of one or more instalments or other sums payable by the hirer or buyer, such of the consequences mentioned in subsection (2) as are specified in that provision (in this section referred to as "the specified consequences") would follow. (2) The consequences referred to in subsection (1) are that the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, or (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) the bailment of the goods, shall terminate, or shall be terminable, or that the owner or seller shall have a right to recover possession of the goods. (3) If default is made in the payment of one or more sums to which that provision (in this subsection referred to as "the relevant provision") applies, the specified consequences shall not follow by reason of that default unless the owner or seller serves on the hirer or buyer, by registered post or the recorded delivery service, a notice (in this Act referred to as a "notice of default") stating the amount which has become due, but remains unpaid, in respect of sums to which the relevant provision applies, and requiring the amount so stated to be paid within such period (not being less than seven days beginning with and including the date of service of the notice) as may be specified in the notice. (4) Where a notice of default is served, the specified consequences shall not follow before the end of the period specified in the notice by reason of any default to which the notice relates; and, if before the end of that period the amount specified in the notice is paid or tendered by or on behalf of the hirer or buyer or any guarantor, the specified consequences shall not follow thereafter by reason of any such default. (5) In a case where the specified consequences are that the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, or (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) the bailment of the goods, may be terminated by notice given by the owner or seller, a notice of default may include a notice terminating the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, or the bailment, as the case may be, at or after the end of the period specified therein in accordance with subsection (3), subject to a condition that the termination is not to take effect if before the end of that period the amount specified in the notice of default is paid or tendered as mentioned in subsection (4). HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 26 Notice of default. 26.(1) A notice of default may be served on the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement, or on the buyer under a conditional sale agreement, by (a)addressing it to the person last known to the owner or seller as the hirer or buyer under the agreement, and sending it by registered post or the recorded delivery service to the last known address of that person, or (b)in a case where that person has died, by addressing the notice (if not served in accordance with paragraph (a)) to that person's personal representative (whether by that or any similar description, and whether for the time being there is any personal representative of his or not) and sending it by registered post or the recorded delivery service to the address which was the last known address of the deceased person; (2) Where the person who, immediately before his death, was the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement, or the buyer under a conditional sale agreement, has died, and his rights under the agreement have not yet passed to a personal representative, (a)section 3 of the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955 (vesting of estate of intestate between death and grant of administration) shall not be construed as enabling a notice of default to be served on the Probate Judge as being the hirer or buyer under that agreement, and (b)section 25 shall have effect as if the deceased person had not died, and any reference in that section to default in the payment of a sum payable by the hirer or buyer shall be construed accordingly. 1955 c.24 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 27 27.(1) At any time before the final payment under a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement falls due, the hirer or buyer shall (subject to subsection (2)) be entitled to terminate the agreement by giving notice of termination in writing to any person entitled or authorised to receive the sums payable under the agreement. (2) In the case of a conditional sale agreement, where the property in the goods, having become vested in the buyer, is transferred to a person who does not become the buyer under the agreement, the buyer shall not thereafter be entitled to terminate the agreement under this section. (3) Subject to subsection (2), where a buyer under a conditional sale agreement terminates the agreement under this section after the property in the goods has become vested in him, the property in the goods shall thereupon vest in the person (in this subsection referred to as "the previous owner") in whom it was vested immediately before it became vested in the buyer so, however, that if the previous owner has died, or any other event has occurred whereby that property, if vested in him immediately before that event, would thereupon have vested in some other person, the property shall be treated as having devolved as if it had been vested in the previous owner immediately before his death or immediately before that event, as the case may be. (4) Nothing in this section shall prejudice any right of a hirer or buyer to terminate a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement otherwise than by virtue of this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 28 Right to terminate agreement. 28.(1) Where the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement, or the buyer under a conditional sale agreement, terminates the agreement by virtue of section 27, then, subject to the following provisions of this section, and without prejudice to any liability which has accrued before the termination, he shall be liable (a)in the case of a hire-purchase agreement, to pay the amount, if any, by which one-half of the hire-purchase price exceeds the total of the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the hire-purchase price immediately before the termination, or (b)in the case of a conditional sale agreement, to pay the amount, if any, by which one-half of the total purchase price exceeds the total of the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the total purchase price immediately before the termination, (2) If in any action the court is satisfied that a sum less than the amount specified in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) (as the case may be) would be equal to the loss sustained by the owner or seller in consequence of the termination of the agreement by the hirer or buyer, the court may make an order for the payment of that sum in lieu of that amount. (3) Where a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement has been terminated under section 27, the hirer or buyer, if he has failed to take reasonable care of the goods, shall be liable to pay damages for the failure. (4) Where a hirer or buyer, having terminated a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement under section 27, wrongfully retains possession of the goods, then, in any action brought by the owner or seller to recover possession of the goods from the hirer or buyer, the court, unless it is satisfied that having regard to the circumstances it would not be just and equitable to do so, shall order the goods to be delivered to the owner or seller without giving the hirer or buyer an option to pay the value of the goods. (5) This section shall have effect subject to the provisions of section 55. Liability of hirer or buyer giving notice of termination. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 29 29.(1) Any provision to which this subsection applies shall be void. (2) Subsection (1) applies to any provision in any agreement (whether a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement or not) (a)whereby an owner or seller, or any person acting on his behalf, is authorised to enter upon any premises for the purpose of taking possession of goods which have been let under a hire-purchase agreement or agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, or is relieved from liability for any such entry, or (b)whereby the right conferred by section 27 to terminate a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement is excluded or restricted, or whereby any liability, in addition to the liability imposed by section 28, is imposed on a hirer or buyer by reason of the termination of a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement under section 27, or (c)whereby a hirer or buyer, after the termination in any manner whatsoever of a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement or (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) of the bailment, is (apart from any liability which has accrued before the termination) subject to a liability to pay an amount which exceeds whichever is the lesser of the two following amounts, that is to say (i)the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) or (as the casey may be) in paragraph (b) of section 28(1), and (ii)an amount equal to the loss sustained by the owner or seller in consequence of the termination of the agreement or bailment, or (d)whereby any person acting on behalf of an owner or seller in connection with the formation or conclusion of a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement is treated as, or deemed to be, the agent of the hirer or buyer, or (e)whereby an owner or seller is relieved from liability for the acts or defaults of any person acting on his behalf in connection with the formation or conclusion of a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement. (3) There shall also be void any provision in any agreement (whether a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement or not) (a)excluding or restricting the operation of any enactment contained in sections 11 to 15 or the exercise of any right conferred by such an enactment or imposing any liability in consequence of the exercise of such a right, other than or in addition to any liability imposed by such an enactment, or (b)excluding or restricting the operation of any enactment contained in section 16 or section 31, or Para.(c) rep. (with saving for agreements made before 18.5.1973) by 1973 c.13 s.18(4) (4) Any contract, whether oral or in writing, which apart from this subsection would have effect as a contract to enter into a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement (as distinct from a contract constituting such an agreement) shall be void. (5) Section 2(4) applies to subsections (2) and (3) of this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 30 General provisions. 30.(1) The provisions of subsection (2) or (as the case may be) subsection (3) shall have effect where goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, or are agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and that agreement, or any other agreement, provides that, on the occurrence of, or at a time to be ascertained by reference to, one or more events referred to in the provision in question, (a)the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, or (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) the bailment of the goods, shall terminate, or shall be terminable, or the owner or seller shall have a right to recover possession of the goods to which the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement relates, or (b)any sum shall become payable by the hirer or buyer or any guarantor, or any liability of the hirer or buyer or any guarantor shall be increased or accelerated, or (c)any right of the hirer under the hire-purchase agreement or of the buyer under the conditional sale agreement shall cease to be exercisable, or shall be, or shall become liable to be, restricted or postponed. (2) If the only event specified as mentioned in subsection (1) is the death of the hirer or buyer, so much of the agreement as makes any such provision as is mentioned in that subsection shall be void. (3) If two or more events are so specified, and one of them is the death of the hirer or buyer, so much of the agreement as makes any such provision shall have effect as if any reference to the death of the hirer or buyer were omitted. (4) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this section, where (a)goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, or are agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and (b)that agreement, or any other agreement, contains any provision (whether expressed as a provision that the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement shall be personal to the hirer or buyer or otherwise) which, if the hire-purchase agreement or the conditional sale agreement is in force immediately before the death of the hirer or buyer, would apart from this subsection have the effect of terminating the last-mentioned agreement on the death of the hirer or buyer or otherwise preventing the benefit of that agreement from being transmitted on his death, Provisions relating to death of hirer or buyer. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 31 31.(1) Where a person has made an offer to enter into a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, in a case not falling within section 11(1), and wishes to withdraw that offer before it is accepted, any person who conducted any antecedent negotiations shall be deemed to be the agent of any other person concerned for the purpose of receiving notice that the offer is withdrawn. (2) Where the hirer or buyer under a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement claims to have a right to rescind the agreement, any person who conducted any antecedent negotiations shall be deemed to be the agent of the owner or seller for the purpose of receiving any notice rescinding the agreement which is served by the hirer or buyer. (3) In subsection (1) "other person concerned", in relation to an offer, means any person who would be in a position to accept the offer if it were not withdrawn; and in subsection (2) "rescind" does not include (a)the service of a notice of cancellation, or (b)the termination of an agreement under section 27, or by the exercise of a right or power in that behalf expressly conferred by the agreement. (4) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect without prejudice to the operation of section 12(3). (5) Section 2(4) applies to this section. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 32 Agency for purpose of receiving notices. 32.(1) The Ministry may make regulations prescribing such requirements (whether as to type, size, colour or disposition of lettering, quality or colour of paper, or otherwise) as the Ministry may consider appropriate for securing that documents to which this section applies are easily legible. (2) Subject to subsection (3), the documents to which this section applies are documents of any of the following descriptions, that is to say (a)any hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement; (b)any such copy as is mentioned in section 8(2) or (3) or in section 9(2) or (3); (c)any copy supplied to a hirer or buyer in pursuance of a request made by him under section 21; (d)any note or memorandum of a contract of guarantee relating to a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, and any such copy as is mentioned in section 22(1)(a) or (b); (e)any such copy as is mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b) of section 23 which is supplied to a guarantor in pursuance of a request made by him under subsection (1) of that section. (3) Without prejudice to the operation of section 17(5) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 in relation to any regulations made under this section, any such regulations (a)may specify which parts of the contents of a document to which the regulations apply are permitted to consist of handwriting or a reproduction of handwriting, and may prescribe different requirements in relation to so much of the contents of such a document as is permitted to consist, and consists, of handwriting or a reproduction of handwriting and in relation to the remainder of the contents of such a document; and (b)may except from any of the requirements of the regulations any marginal notes or other subsidiary parts of a document. (4) In relation to so much of any document falling within subsection (2)(a) or (b) as consists of (a)words or other matters prescribed by regulations made under section 7(2), or (b)a statement required to be contained therein as prescribed by regulations made under section 9(4), 1954 c.33 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 33 33.(1) Goods shall be protected in the manner provided by this Part and are in this Part referred to as "protected goods" if for the time being the following conditions are fulfilled, that is to say (a)that the goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement; (b)that one-third of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price has been paid (whether in pursuance of a judgment or otherwise) or tendered by or on behalf of the hirer or buyer or a guarantor; and (c)that the hirer or buyer has not terminated the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, or (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) the bailment, by virtue of any right vested in him. (2) In this Part "the agreement", in relation to any protected goods, means the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement in respect of which those conditions are fulfilled. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 34 Meaning of ""protected goods''. 34.(1) The owner (where the agreement is a hire-purchase agreement) or the seller (where it is a conditional sale agreement) shall not enforce any right to recover possession of protected goods from the hirer or buyer otherwise than by action. (2) If the owner or seller recovers possession of protected goods in contravention of subsection (1), the agreement, if not previously terminated, shall terminate, and (a)the hirer or buyer shall be released from all liability under the agreement, and shall be entitled to recover from the owner or seller, in an action for money had and received, all sums paid by the hirer or buyer under the agreement or under any security given by him in respect thereof, and (b)any guarantor shall be entitled to recover from the owner or seller, in an action for money had and received, all sums paid by him under the contract of guarantee or under any security given by him in respect thereof. Restriction on right to recover possession of protected goods. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 35 35.(1) This section applies to any action brought by the owner to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the hirer, where the owner has not previously, in contravention of section 34(1), recovered possession of part of the goods let under the agreement. (2) Subject to such exceptions as may be provided for by rules of court, all the parties to the agreement, and any guarantor, shall be made parties to the action. (3) Pending the hearing of the action, the court shall, in addition to any other powers, have power, on the application of the owner, to make such orders as the court thinks just for the purpose of protecting the goods from damage or depreciation, including orders restricting or prohibiting the use of the goods or giving directions as to their custody. (4) Subject to the following provisions of this Part, on the hearing of the action the court may, without prejudice to any other power, (a)make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods to the owner, or (b)make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods to the owner and postpone the operation of the order on condition that the hirer or any guarantor pays the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price at such times and in such amounts as the court, having regard to the means of the hirer and of any guarantor, thinks just, and subject to the fulfilment by the hirer or a guarantor of such other conditions as the court thinks just, or (c)make an order for the specific delivery of a part of the goods to the owner and for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remainder of the goods. (5) In this Part any reference to an order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner is a reference to an order for the delivery of those goods to the owner without giving the hirer an option to pay their value. (6) In the following provisions of this Part "postponed" means postponed in pursuance of subsection (4)(b), and any reference to postponement shall be construed accordingly. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 36 Action by owner to recover possession of protected goods from hirer. 36.(1) The operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner shall not be postponed unless the hirer satisfies the court that the goods are in his possession or control at the time when the order is made. (2) If in an action to which section 35 applies an offer as to conditions for the postponement of the operation of an order is made by the hirer, and accepted by the owner, in accordance with rules of court, the court (subject to subsection (3)) may thereupon make the order, and postpone its operation, in accordance with the offer without hearing evidence as to any of the matters mentioned in section 35(4)(b) and in subsection (1) of this section. (3) Where a guarantor is a party to the action, an order shall not be made in pursuance of subsection (2) before the date fixed for the hearing of the action. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 37 Circumstances in which postponed order may be made. 37.(1) The court shall not exercise any power under this Part to make an order for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to part of the goods to which the agreement relates unless the court is satisfied that the amount which the hirer has paid in respect of the hire-purchase price exceeds the price of that part of the goods by at least one-third of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price. (2) In this section "price", in relation to any part of the goods to which the agreement relates, means such part of the hire-purchase price as is assigned to that part of the goods by the agreement, or, if no such assignment is so made, it means such part of the hire-purchase price as the court may determine. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 38 Restriction on orders transferring owner's title. 38.(1) While the operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner is postponed, the hirer shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be deemed to be a bailee of the goods under and on the terms of the agreement. (2) No further sum shall be or become payable by the hirer or a guarantor on account of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price, except in accordance with the terms of the order. (3) The court may make such further modification of the terms of the agreement, and of any contract of guarantee relating thereto, as the court considers necessary having regard to the variation of the terms of payment. (4) If, while the operation of the order is postponed, the hirer or a guarantor fails to comply with any condition of the postponement, or with any term of the agreement as varied by the court, or wrongfully disposes of the goods, the owner shall not take any civil proceedings against the hirer or guarantor otherwise than by making an application to the court by which the order was made but, in the case of a breach of a condition relating to the payment of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price, it shall not be necessary for the owner to apply to the court for leave to execute the order unless the court has so directed. (5) When the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price has been paid in accordance with the terms of the order, the owner's title to the goods shall vest in the hirer. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 39 Effect of postponed order. 39.(1) At any time while the operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner is postponed, the court (a)may vary the conditions of the postponement, and make such further modification of the agreement, and of any contract of guarantee relating thereto, as the court considers necessary having regard to the variation of the conditions of the postponement, or (b)may revoke the postponement, or (c)subject to section 37, may make an order for the specific delivery of a part of the goods to the owner and for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remainder of the goods. (2) The powers of the court under subsection (1)(a) or (c) may be exercised, notwithstanding that any condition of the postponement has not been complied with, at any time before the goods are delivered to the owner in accordance with [an enforcement order]. [(3) Where an enforcement order has been made, then (a)if the court varies the conditions of the postponement under subsection (1)(a), the Enforcement of Judgments Office shall, subject to rules of court, stay the enforcement order on the like conditions; (b)if the court makes an order under subsection (1)(c), the Enforcement of Judgments Office shall, subject to rules of court, set aside the enforcement order so far as it provides for the delivery of that part of the goods in respect of which the owner's title is to be transferred to the hirer.] (4) At any time before the delivery of goods to the owner in accordance with [an enforcement order, the enforcement order may], be discharged by the payment to the owner by the hirer or any guarantor of the whole of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price; and in any such case the owner's title to the goods shall vest in the hirer. Subs.(5) rep. by 1969 c.30 (NI) s.132 sch.6 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 40 Further powers of court in relation to postponed order. 40.(1) If, before the hearing of an action to which section 35 applies, the owner has recovered possession of a part of the goods, any reference in section 35(4) to all the goods shall be construed as a reference to all the goods of which the owner has not recovered possession. (2) If, in any case falling within subsection (1), the parties have not agreed upon an adjustment of the hire-purchase price in respect of the goods recovered by the owner, the court may, for the purposes of the relevant provisions, make such reduction of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price as the court thinks just. (3) Where the owner has brought an action to which section 35 applies, and damages have been awarded against him in the proceedings, the court may treat the hirer as having paid in respect of the hire-purchase price (in addition to the actual amount paid) the amount of the damages, or such part of them as the court thinks fit; and thereupon those damages shall accordingly be remitted, either in whole or in part. (4) Where the agreement validly provides for the payment by the hirer, on or after the termination of the agreement or bailment, of such sum as, when added to the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the hire-purchase price before the termination, is equal to a fixed amount, and (a)the hirer or a guarantor has paid or has been ordered to pay such a sum, and (b)the owner subsequently seeks to recover possession of the goods in an action to which section 35 applies, (5) In subsection (2) of this section "the relevant provisions", in relation to an action, means such of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, sections 35(4)(b), 37(1), 38 and 39(4), as are applicable to the action. Supplementary provisions relating to ss.35 to 39. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 41 41. After the owner has begun an action to which section 35 applies, he shall not take any step to enforce payment of any sum due under the agreement, or under any contract of guarantee relating to the agreement, except by claiming the sum in that action. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 42 Restriction on separate action. 42�.(1) Where the owner has brought an action to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the hirer, and (a)the court has made an order in that action under section 35(4) or section 39(1)(c) (in this section referred to as "the previous order"), and (b)the previous order has not been complied with, or, in a case where the operation of that order was postponed, the hirer or any guarantor has failed to comply with any condition of the postponement, or with any term of the agreement as varied by the court, or has wrongfully disposed of the goods, and (c)the owner has not recovered possession of all the goods which under the previous order were directed to be delivered to him, (2) Any application under this section shall be made to the court by which the previous order was made, and (whether the operation of the previous order was postponed or not) shall be made in the action in which that order was made. (3) On any such application the court shall have power, if in the circumstances it considers it just to do so, (a)to revoke the previous order, and (b)to make an order for the payment (in any manner in which money may be ordered to be paid by the court) of a sum determined in accordance with subsection (4). (4) Subject to any reduction under subsection (6), the sum referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) shall be a sum equal to the balance of the price of the unrecovered goods which remains outstanding at the date when the order under that paragraph is made. (5) The power to make an order under subsection (3)(b) shall be exercisable against any person who, at the time when the order is made, is (apart from the previous order) liable to pay any sum which has then accrued due under the agreement; and on the making of such an order the owner's title to the unrecovered goods shall vest in the person against whom the order is made. (6) Where the court makes an order under subsection (3)(b), the court shall deduct from the balance referred to in subsection (4) such amount as the court thinks just, having regard to the extent to which the order requires any part of that balance to be paid at a date earlier than the date on which it would have become payable in accordance with the agreement. [(7) Where an order has been made under subsection (3)(b) after the making of an enforcement order made for the purposes of enforcing the previous order, the Enforcement of Judgments Office shall, subject to rules of court, set aside the enforcement order.] (8) In this section (a)"the unrecovered goods" means those goods which, under the previous order, were directed to be delivered to the owner but of which he has not recovered possession at the time when the court makes the order under subsection (3)(b); (b)"price" has the meaning assigned to it by section 37(2), and any reference to the balance of the price of any goods remaining outstanding shall be construed accordingly; and Para.(c) rep. by 1969 c.30 (NI) s.132 sch.6 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 43 Powers of court on non-compliance with order for specific delivery of goods. 43.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a hire-purchase agreement validly provides for the payment by the hirer on or after the termination of the agreement or the bailment of such sum as, when added to the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the hire-purchase price before the termination, is equal to a fixed amount. (2) If, in an action to which section 35 applies, (a)a claim is made in respect of a sum for which the agreement provides as mentioned in subsection (1), and (b)the court makes an order for the specific delivery of a part of the goods to the owner and the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remainder of the goods, (3) If in any such action (a)a claim is made in respect of a sum for which the agreement provides as mentioned in subsection (1), and (b)the court makes an order for the specific delivery of the goods to the owner, and postpones the operation of that order, Claim under minimum payment provision. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 44 44.(1) Where the owner has brought an action to which section 35 applies, and the court has made an order under subsection (4)(a) or (b) of that section (in this section referred to as "the previous order"), then if (a)the owner (whether the operation of the previous order was postponed or not) has recovered possession of all the goods, or (b)where the operation of the previous order was postponed, the court revokes the postponement, (2) This section applies to any claim (a)for the payment of one or more instalments which had accrued due under the agreement before the action was brought, or (b)for the payment of any sum for which the agreement makes provision as mentioned in section 43(1) and which had become payable before the action was brought. (3) Where in pursuance of subsection (1) the owner proposes to make or proceed with a claim as therein mentioned, that claim shall (whether the operation of the previous order was postponed or not) be made or proceeded with in the action in which the previous order was made, and, if the owner has recovered possession of all the goods, may, notwithstanding anything in section 43(3), be so made or proceeded with at any time after he has recovered possession of them. (4) In determining a claim to which this section applies the court may treat any sum paid in pursuance of an order under section 35(4)(b) as a payment made (wholly or partly) in respect of any instalment or sum to which the claim relates. Money claim after order for specific delivery of goods. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 45 45.(1) The provisions of sections 35 to 44 shall have effect in relation to protected goods where the agreement is a conditional sale agreement, subject to the modifications specified in the following provisions of this section. (2) Subject to subsection (3), those provisions shall apply as if (a)any reference to the hirer were a reference to the buyer; (b)any reference to the owner were a reference to the seller; (c)any reference to the hire-purchase price were a reference to the total price; and (d)any reference to a hire-purchase agreement, or to goods let under the agreement, were a reference to a conditional sale agreement, or to goods agreed to be sold under the agreement, as the case may be. (3) For section 38(1) there shall be substituted the following subsection: xtf1lf40lf110f3f1lf40f5B(vi).(1) The provisions of Schedule 3 shall have effect in the circumstances specified in that Schedule. (2) In sections 34(2) and 35(1) the references to contravention of section 34(1) shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 5 of that Schedule. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 47 Application of ss.35 to 44 to conditional sale agreements. 47.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where (a)goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, and, at any time after one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid or tendered, the owner makes a further hire-purchase agreement with the hirer, or, as seller, makes a conditional sale agreement with the hirer as buyer, or (b)goods have been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and, at any time after one-third of the total purchase price has been paid or tendered, the seller makes a further conditional sale agreement with the buyer, or, as owner, makes a hire-purchase agreement with the buyer as hirer, (2) In any case falling within subsection (1), section 33 shall have effect in relation to the subsequent agreement as if paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of that section were omitted. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 48 Recovery of possession, and money claims, after death of hirer or buyer. 48.(1) Where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or have been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and the owner or seller (a)brings an action to enforce a right to recover possession of the goods from the hirer or buyer, and (b)proves in that action that, after the right to recover possession of the goods accrued but before the action was begun, he made a request in writing to the hirer or buyer to surrender the goods, (2) Nothing in this section shall affect a claim for damages for conversion. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 49 Successive agreements. 49.(1) Where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or have been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and the owner or seller brings an action to enforce a right to recover possession of the goods from the hirer or buyer, and either (a)the action is one to which section 35 applies, or (b)the action is brought before one-third of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price has been paid (whether in pursuance of a judgment or otherwise) or tendered by or on behalf of the hirer or buyer or any guarantor, (2) Where an action such as is described in subsection (1) is brought in the county court and the owner claims any sums due under the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement or under a contract of guarantee relating thereto, the county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the action as well in relation to that claim as in relation to the claim to enforce such a right as is mentioned in subsection (1), if apart from this section the county court would not have jurisdiction to do so. (3) Subsection (2) shall have effect without prejudice to the operation of sections 41 to 44. (4) Any reference in this section to section 35 or sections 41 to 44 shall be construed as including a reference to that section, or those sections, as the case may be, as applied by section 45 to conditional sale agreements. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 50 Evidence of adverse detention of goods. 50. Any person dissatisfied with an order, whether adverse to him or in his favour, made by a county court in the exercise of any jurisdiction conferred by this Act, or with the dismissal or refusal by the county court of any action or application instituted by him under the provisions of this Act shall be entitled to appeal from such order or from such dismissal or refusal as if the order, dismissal or refusal had been made in exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by Part III of the County Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 and the appeal brought under the County Court Appeals Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 and sections 2 (cases stated by county court judge) and 3 (cases stated by assize judge or High Court on appeal from county court) of the last-mentioned Act shall apply accordingly. 1959 c.25 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 51 51.(1) Where a hirer or buyer is liable to make payments in respect of (a)two or more hire-purchase agreements, or (b)two or more credit-sale agreements, or (c)two or more conditional sale agreements, or (d)one or more of each, or of any two, of the types of agreement mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c), (2) The hirer or buyer may appropriate the sum in question (a)in or towards the satisfaction of the sum due under any one of the agreements, or (b)in or towards the satisfaction of the sums due under any two or more of the agreements in such proportion as he thinks fit. (3) If the hirer or buyer fails to make any such appropriation, the payment shall by virtue of this subsection be appropriated towards the satisfaction of the sums due under the several agreements respectively in the proportions which those sums bear to one another. (4) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 52 1964 c.3 52.(1) If, at any time when by virtue of this Act the enforcement by the owner under a hire-purchase agreement, or by the seller under a conditional sale agreement, of a right to recover possession of goods from the hirer or buyer is subject to any restriction, the hirer or buyer refuses to give up possession of the goods to the owner or seller, the hirer or buyer shall not, by reason only of the refusal, be liable to the owner or seller for conversion of the goods. (2) If, at any time when the circumstances specified in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 exist and the goods are protected goods, the person in possession (as therein defined) refuses to give up possession of the goods to the owner or seller, the person in possession shall not, by reason only of the refusal, be liable to the owner or seller for conversion of the goods. (3) In this section "protected goods" has the same meaning as in Part III. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 53 Appropriation of payments. 53.(1) Where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or have been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and a notice of default is served under section 25, then at any time after the service of that notice and before the amount specified in the notice is paid or tendered as mentioned in subsection (4) of that section or the period specified in the notice expires (whichever first occurs) the goods to which the agreement relates shall not be treated Para.(a) rep. by 1969 c.30 (NI) s.132 sch.6 (b)for the purposes of ... section 313 of the Irish Bankrupt and Insolvent Act 1857 (in this section referred to as "the Act of 1857"), as goods which are by the consent and permission of the owner or seller in the possession, order or disposition of the hirer or buyer. (2) Where under the powers conferred by Part III the court has postponed the operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to any person, those goods shall not, during the postponement, be treated, for the purposes of ... section 313 of the Act of 1857, as goods which are by the consent or permission of that person in the possession, order or disposition of the hirer or buyer. Subs.(3) rep. by 1969 c.30 (NI) s.132 sch.6 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 54 Distress for rent, and bankruptcy. 54. For the purposes of section 9 of the Factors Act 1889 and of [section 25(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979] (under which, notwithstanding that the property in the goods has not been transferred to him, a person who has bought or agreed to buy goods and is in possession of them can confer a good title to the goods) the buyer under a conditional sale agreement shall be deemed not to be a person who has bought or agreed to buy goods. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 55 1889 c.45 55.(1) Where under a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sale agreement the owner or seller is required to carry out any installation, and the agreement specifies, as part of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, the amount to be paid in respect of the installation (in this section referred to as "the installation charge") (a)any reference in section 28(1) to one-half of the hire-purchase price or one-half of the total purchase price shall be construed as a reference to the aggregate of the installation charge and one-half of the remainder of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be, and (b)any reference in Part III to one-third of the hire-purchase price or one-third of the total purchase price shall be construed as a reference to the aggregate of the installation charge and one-third of the remainder of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be. (2) In this section "installation" means (a)the installing of any electric line within the meaning of the Electricity (Supply) Acts (Northern Ireland) 1882 to 1962 or any gas or water pipe; (b)the fixing of goods to which the agreement relates to the premises where they are to be used, and the alteration of premises to enable any such goods to be used on them; and (c)where it is reasonably necessary that any such goods should be constructed or erected on the premises where they are to be used, any work carried out for the purpose of constructing or erecting them on those premises. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 56 1979 c.54 56. Where the owner (in the case of a hire-purchase agreement) or the seller (in the case of a conditional sale agreement) has agreed that any part of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price may be discharged otherwise than by the payment of money, any such discharge shall be deemed to be a payment of that part of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price for the purposes of sections 21 and 28 and of Part III and Schedule 3. Part V (ss.5761) rep. by 1974 c.39 s.192 sch.5 Pt.II; SI 1980/50 Installation charges. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 62 62.(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect where a motor vehicle has been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or has been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and, at a time before the property in the vehicle has become vested in the hirer or buyer, he disposes of the vehicle to another person. (2) Where the disposition referred to in subsection (1) is to a private purchaser, and he is a purchaser of the motor vehicle in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, that disposition shall have effect as if the title of the owner or seller to the vehicle had been vested in the hirer or buyer immediately before that disposition. (3) Where the person to whom the disposition referred to in subsection (1) is made (in this subsection referred to as "the original purchaser") is a trade or finance purchaser, then if the person who is the first private purchaser of the motor vehicle after that disposition (in this section referred to as "the first private purchaser") is a purchaser of the vehicle in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, the disposition of the vehicle to the first private purchaser shall have effect as if the title of the owner or seller to the vehicle had been vested in the hirer or buyer immediately before he disposed of it to the original purchaser. (4) Where, in a case falling within subsection (3), (a)the disposition whereby the first private purchaser becomes a purchaser of the motor vehicle in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement is itself a letting under a hire-purchase agreement, and (b)the person who is the owner in relation to that agreement disposes of the vehicle to the first private purchaser, or a person claiming under him, by way of transferring to him the property in the vehicle in pursuance of a provision in the agreement in that behalf, (5) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect (a)notwithstanding anything in section 21 of the Sale of Goods Act [1979] (which relates to the sale of goods by a person who is not the owner), but (b)without prejudice to the provisions of the Factors Acts (as defined by [section 61(1) of the said Act of 1979]) or of any other enactment enabling the apparent owner of goods to dispose of them as if he were the true owner of the goods. (6) Nothing in this section shall exonerate the hirer or buyer from any liability (whether criminal or civil) to which he would be subject apart from this section; and, in a case where the hirer or buyer disposes of the motor vehicle to a trade or finance purchaser, nothing in this section shall exonerate (a)that trade or finance purchaser, or (b)any other trade or finance purchaser who becomes a purchaser of the vehicle and is not a person claiming under the first private purchaser, Protection of purchasers of motor vehicles. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 63 63.(1) Where in any proceedings (whether criminal or civil) relating to a motor vehicle it is proved (a)that the vehicle was let under a hire-purchase agreement, or was agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and (b)that a person (whether a party to the proceedings or not) became a private purchaser of the vehicle in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, (2) It shall be presumed for those purposes, unless the contrary is proved, that the disposition of the vehicle to the person referred to in subsection (1)(b) (in this section referred to as "the relevant purchaser") was made by the hirer or buyer. (3) If it is proved that that disposition was not made by the hirer or buyer, then it shall be presumed for those purposes, unless the contrary is proved, (a)that the hirer or buyer disposed of the vehicle to a private purchaser who was a purchaser of the vehicle in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, and (b)that the relevant purchaser is or was a person claiming under the person to whom the hirer or buyer so disposed of the vehicle. (4) If it is proved that the disposition of the vehicle to the relevant purchaser was not made by the hirer or buyer, and that the person to whom the hirer or buyer disposed of the vehicle (in this subsection referred to as "the original purchaser") was a trade or finance purchaser, then it shall be presumed for those purposes, unless the contrary is proved, (a)that the person who, after the disposition of the vehicle to the original purchaser, first became a private purchaser of the vehicle was a purchaser in good faith and without notice of the hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement, and (b)that the relevant purchaser is or was a person claiming under the original purchaser. (5) Without prejudice to any other mode of proof, where in any proceedings a party thereto admits a fact, that fact shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken as against him to be proved in relation to those proceedings. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 64 1979 c.54 64.(1) In this Part "seller" has the meaning assigned to it by section 65(1) in relation to a conditional sale agreement; "disposition" means any sale or contract of sale (including a conditional sale agreement), any letting under a hire-purchase agreement and any transfer of the property in goods in pursuance of a provision in that behalf contained in a hire-purchase agreement, and includes any transaction purporting to be a disposition; "motor vehicle" means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads to which the public has access. (2) In this Part "trade or finance purchaser" means a purchaser who, at the time of the disposition made to him, carries on a business which consists, wholly or partly, (a)of purchasing motor vehicles for the purpose of offering or exposing them for sale, or (b)of providing finance by purchasing motor vehicles for the purpose of letting them under hire-purchase agreements or agreeing to sell them under conditional sale agreements, (3) For the purposes of this Part a person becomes a purchaser of a motor vehicle if, and at the time when, a disposition of the vehicle is made to him; and a person shall be taken to be a purchaser of a motor vehicle without notice of a hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement if, at the time of the disposition made to him, he has no actual notice that the vehicle is or was the subject of any hire-purchase agreement or conditional sale agreement. (4) In this Part "the hirer or buyer", (a)in relation to a motor vehicle which has been let under a hire-purchase agreement, means the person who at the material time (whether the agreement has before that time been terminated or not) is the hirer in relation to that agreement for the purposes of this Act, including a person who at that time is, by virtue of section 38(1), deemed to be a bailee of the vehicle as therein mentioned; (b)in relation to a motor vehicle which has been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, means the person who at the material time (whether the agreement has before that time been terminated or not) is in relation to that agreement the buyer, including a person who at that time is, by virtue of section 38(1) (as modified by section 45(3)), deemed to be in possession of the vehicle as therein mentioned. (5) In this Part any reference to the title of the owner or seller to a motor vehicle which has been let under a hire-purchase agreement, or agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and is disposed of by the hirer or buyer, is a reference to such title (if any) to the vehicle as, immediately before that disposition, was vested in the person who then was the owner in relation to the hire-purchase agreement, or the seller in relation to the conditional sale agreement, as the case may be. (6) This Part shall bind the Crown to the full extent authorised or permitted by the constitutional laws of Northern Ireland. (7) This Part shall not have effect where the disposition by the hirer or buyer which is referred to in section 62(1) was made before 1st July 1966. Presumptions relating to dealings with motor vehicles. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 65 65.(1) In this Act "action", "buyer" (except in relation to a conditional sale agreement or in Part VI), "delivery", "goods" (except in Part V), "property", "sale", "seller" (except in relation to a conditional sale agreement or in Part VI) and "warranty" have the meanings assigned to them respectively by [the Sale of Goods Act 1979]; "appropriate trade premises", in relation to a document, means premises at which either the owner or seller (as defined by section 11(5)) normally carries on a business, or goods of the description to which the document relates, or goods of a similar description, are normally offered or exposed for sale in the course of a business carried on at those premises; "buyer" (except in Part VI), in relation to a conditional sale agreement, means the person who agrees to purchase goods under the agreement and includes a person to whom the rights or liabilities of that person under the agreement have passed by assignement or by operation of law; "conditional sale agreement", "credit-sale agreement" and "hire-purchase agreement" have the meanings assigned to them by Part I; "contract of guarantee", in relation to a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, means a contract, made at the request (express or implied) of the hirer or buyer, either to guarantee the performance of the hirer's or buyer's obligations under the hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, or to indemnify the owner or seller against any loss which he may incur in respect of that agreement, and "guarantor" shall be construed accordingly; ["enforcement order" means an order for the delivery of goods made pursuant to [Article 57 of the Judgments Enforcement (Northern Ireland) Order 1981] for the purposes of enforcing an order made under this Act for the specific delivery of goods;] "hire-purchase price" (subject to subsection (2)) means the total sum payable by the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement in order to complete the purchase of goods to which the agreement relates, exclusive of any sum payable as a penalty or as compensation or damages for a breach of the agreement; "hirer" (except in Part VI) means the person who takes or has taken goods from an owner under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the hirer's rights or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law; "the Ministry" means the Ministry of Commerce; "notice of cancellation" has the meaning assigned to it by section 11(2); "owner" means the person who lets or has let goods to a hirer under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the owner's property in the goods or any of the owner's rights or liabilities under the agreement has passed by assignment or by operation of law; "rules of court" means rules made by the authority having power to make rules of court regulating the practice of the county courts or, as the case may require, rules made under section 7 of the Northern Ireland Act 1962; "seller", in relation to a conditional sale agreement, means the person who agrees to sell goods under the agreement and includes a person (other than the buyer) to whom that person's property in the goods or any of that person's rights or liabilities under the agreement has passed by assignment or by operation of law; "total purchase price" (subject to subsection (2)) means the total sum payable by the buyer under a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, exclusive of any sum payable as a penalty or as compensation or damages for a breach of the agreement. (2) For the purposes of this Act, any sum payable by the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement, or by the buyer under a conditional sale agreement, by way of a deposit or other initial payment, or credited or to be credited to him under the agreement on account of any such deposit or payment, whether that sum is to be or has been paid to the owner or seller or to any other person or is to be or has been discharged by a payment of money or by the transfer or delivery of goods or by any other means, shall form part of the hire-purchase price or total purchase price, as the case may be. (3) In this Act "antecedent negotiations", in relation to a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement, means any negotiations or arrangements with the hirer or buyer whereby he was induced to make the agreement or which otherwise promoted the transaction to which the agreement relates; and any reference in this Act to the person by whom any antecedent negotiations were conducted is a reference to the person by whom the negotiations or arrangements in question were conducted or made in the course of a business carried on by him. (4) Subsection (3) (a)shall have effect in relation to a document to which section 11 applies, but which does not constitute a hire-purchase agreement, a credit-sale agreement or a conditional sale agreement, as if references to the agreement and to making the agreement were references respectively to the document and to signing the document and any reference to the hirer or buyer were a reference to the prospective hirer or buyer (within the meaning of that section), and (b)for the purposes of section 31(1), shall have effect in relation to any offer to enter into a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement as if any reference to the agreement were a reference to the offer and any reference to the hirer or buyer were a reference to the person making the offer. (5) For the purposes of this Act any negotiations conducted, or arrangements or representations made, by a servant or agent, if conducted or made by him in the course of his employment or agency, shall be treated as conducted or made by his employer or principal; and anything received by a servant or agent, if received by him in the course of his employment or agency, shall be treated as received by his employer or principal. In this subsection "representations" has the same meaning as in section 16, and references to making representations shall be construed accordingly. (6) Without prejudice to the operation of section 1(2), any reference in this Act to a document which constitutes a hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement shall be construed as including a reference to a document which together with one or more other documents constitutes such an agreement, and any reference to a document which, if executed by or on behalf of another person, would constitute such an agreement shall be construed accordingly. HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 66 1981 NI 6 66.(1) This Act (including the repeals effected by this section) shall not, except for the purposes of Part VI, have effect in relation to any hire-purchase agreement, credit-sale agreement or conditional sale agreement made before 1st July 1966. (2) Subject to subsection (1), this Act shall have effect in relation to agreements made before, as well as agreements made after, the commencement of this Act. (3) The transitional provisions contained in Part I of Schedule 5 shall have effect; and, on the coming into operation of any Order in Council under section 3, the transitional provisions in Part II of that Schedule shall have effect. Subs.(4), with Schedule 6, effects amendments; subs.(5), with Schedule 7, effects repeals HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 67 1962 c.30 67. The inclusion in this Act of any express saving, transitional provision or amendment shall not be taken as prejudicing the operation of sections 28 and 29 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (effect of repeal and substitution provisions). HIRE-PURCHASE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1966 - SECT 68 Saving for Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954. 68. This Act may be cited as the Hire-Purchase Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 ... Commencement ... 1. The hirer may put an end to this agreement by giving notice of termination in writing to any person who is entitled to collect or receive the hire-rent. 2. He must then pay any instalments which are in arrear at the time when he gives notice. If, when he has paid those instalments, the total amount which he has paid under the agreement is less than (here insert the minimum amount which the hirer is required to pay in accordance with the provisions of sections 28(1) and 55) he must also pay enough to make up that sum, unless the court determines that a smaller sum would be equal to the owner's loss. 3. If the goods have been damaged owing to the hirer having failed to take reasonable care of them, the owner may sue him for the amount of the damage unless that amount can be agreed between the hirer and the owner. 4. The hirer should see whether this agreement contains provisions allowing him to put an end to the agreement, on terms more favourable to him than those just mentioned. If it does, he may put an end to the agreement on those terms. 5. [After (here insert an amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of sections 33 and 55) has been paid or tendered, then,] unless the hirer has himself put an end to the agreement, the owner of the goods cannot take them back from the hirer without the hirer's consent unless the owner obtains an order of the court. 6. If the owner applies to the court for such an order, the court may, if the court thinks it just to do so, allow the hirer to keep either (a)the whole of the goods, on condition that the hirer pays the balance of the price in the manner ordered by the court; or (b)a fair proportion of the goods having regard to what the hirer has already paid. If the agreement is a subsequent agreement to which section 47 applies, the words in square brackets should be omitted. 1. The buyer may put an end to this agreement by giving notice of termination in writing to any person who is entitled to collect or receive the instalments of the purchase price. 2. He must then pay any instalments which are in arrear at the time when he gives notice. If, when he has paid those instalments, the total amount which he has paid under the agreement is less than (here insert the minimum amount which the buyer is required to pay in accordance with the provisions of sections 28(1) and 55) he must also pay enough to make up that sum, unless the court determines that a smaller sum would be equal to the seller's loss. 3. If the goods have been damaged owing to the buyer having failed to take reasonable care of them, the seller may sue him for the amount of the damage unless that amount can be agreed between the buyer and the seller. 4. The buyer should see whether this agreement contains provisions allowing him to put an end to the agreement on terms more favourable to him than those just mentioned. If it does, he may put an end to the agreement on those terms. 5. [After (here insert an amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of sections 33 and 55) has been paid or tendered, then,] unless the buyer has himself put an end to the agreement, the seller of the goods cannot take them back from the buyer without the buyer's consent unless the seller obtains an order of the court. 6. If the seller applies to the court for such an order, the court may, if the court thinks it just to do so, allow the buyer to keep either (a)the whole of the goods, on condition that the buyer pays the balance of the price in the manner ordered by the court; or (b)a fair proportion of the goods having regard to what the buyer has already paid. If the agreement is a subsequent agreement to which section 47 applies, the words in square brackets should be omitted. 1. The provisions of this Schedule shall have effect where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement, and at any time after the death of a person who, immediately before his death, was the hirer in relation to that agreement (in this Schedule referred to as "the deceased hirer") the following circumstances exist, that is to say (a)the goods have not been delivered to the owner, and a person (in this Schedule referred to as "the person in possession") who is neither the owner of the goods nor a personal representative of the deceased hirer is in possession of the goods; (b)no order for the specific delivery of the goods or of any part of them has been made against the deceased hirer under Part III, or, if such an order has been made, its operation has been postponed and the postponement has not been revoked by the court; (c)no order under Part III for the specific delivery of the goods or of any part of them has (whether in pursuance of this Schedule or otherwise) been made against any person since the death of the deceased hirer. 2. The provisions of this Schedule shall also have effect where goods have been agreed to be sold under a conditional sale agreement, and at any time after the death of a person who, immediately before his death, was the buyer in relation to that agreement (in this Schedule referred to as "the deceased buyer") the following circumstances exist, that is to say (a)the goods have not been delivered to the seller, and a person (in this Schedule referred to as "the person in possession") who is neither the seller nor a personal representative of the deceased buyer is in possession of the goods; (b)no order for the specific delivery of the goods or of any part of them has been made against the deceased buyer under Part III, or, if such an order has been made, its operation has been postponed and the postponement has not been revoked by the court; (c)no order under Part III for the specific delivery of the goods or of any part of them has (whether in pursuance of this Schedule or otherwise) been made against any person since the death of the deceased buyer. 3. Expressions to which a meaning is assigned by Part III have the same meanings in this Schedule as in that Part. 4. At any time when the circumstances specified in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 exist, and the goods are protected goods, the owner (where the agreement is a hire-purchase agreement) or the seller (where it is a conditional sale agreement) shall not enforce any right to recover possession of the goods from the person in possession otherwise than by action. 5. In sections 34(2) and 35(1) (including those provisions as applied by section 45 to conditional sale agreements) any reference to contravention of section 34(1) shall include a reference to contravention of paragraph 4; and accordingly, if the owner or seller recovers possession of goods in contravention of that paragraph, a personal representative of the deceased hirer or the deceased buyer, as the case may be, shall (without prejudice to any other right exercisable by him as the hirer or buyer in relation to the agreement) be entitled to recover from the owner or seller, in an action for money had and received, all sums paid by the hirer or buyer under the agreement or under any security given by him in respect thereof. 6.(1) In subsections (2) to (6) of section 35, in sections 36 to 44 and in section 49 (a)any reference to an action to which section 35 applies shall include a reference to any action to which sub-paragraph (2) applies, and (b)any reference to an action to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the hirer shall include a reference to an action to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the person in possession in the circumstances specified in paragraph 1. (2) This sub-paragraph applies to any action brought by the owner, in the circumstances specified in paragraph 1, to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the person in possession, where the owner has not previously, in contravention of section 34(1) or of paragraph 4, recovered possession of part of the goods let under the agreement. (3) In any action to which sub-paragraph (2) applies, the court (without prejudice to any other power exercisable by the court) may (a)on the application of any party to the action, adjourn the action to enable a grant of probate or letters of administration to be obtained, and, if such a grant is obtained by a person who is not a party to the action, to enable that person to be made a party thereto, or (b)on the application of any person who is not a party to the action, but who satisfies the court that he is a personal representative of the deceased hirer or that he intends to apply for letters of administration in respect of his estate, adjourn the action to enable that person to be made a party to the action, and, if he has not obtained a grant of probate or letters of administration, to enable him to obtain such a grant. (4) Section 36(1) shall not apply to any such action. (5) Section 48 shall apply to any action to enforce a right to recover possession of goods from the person in possession as if in that section any reference to the hirer or buyer were a reference to the person in possession. 7.(1) In subsections (2) to (6) of section 35, in sections 36 to 44 and in section 49 (a)any reference to an action to which section 35 applies shall include a reference to any action to which sub-paragraph (2) applies, and (b)any reference to an action to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the buyer shall include a reference to an action to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the person in possession in the circumstances specified in paragraph 2. (2) This sub-paragraph applies to any action brought by the seller, in the circumstances specified in paragraph 2, to enforce a right to recover possession of protected goods from the person in possession, where the seller has not previously, in contravention of section 34(1) or of paragraph 4, recovered possession of part of the goods agreed to be sold under the agreement. (3) In any action to which sub-paragraph (2) applies, the court (without prejudice to any other power exercisable by the court) may (a)on the application of any party to the action, adjourn the action to enable a grant of probate or letters of administration to be obtained, and, if such a grant is obtained by a person who is not a party to the action, to enable that person to be made a party thereto, or (b)on the application of any person who is not a party to the action, but who satisfies the court that he is a personal representative of the deceased buyer or that he intends to apply for letters of administration in respect of his estate, adjourn the action to enable that person to be made a party to the action, and, if he has not obtained a grant of probate or letters of administration, to enable him to obtain such a grant. (4) Section 36(1) shall not apply to any such action. (5) Section 48 shall apply to any action to enforce a right to recover possession of goods from the person in possession as if in that section any reference to the hirer or buyer were a reference to the person in possession. (6) In the preceding provisions of this paragraph references to any provisions of sections 35 to 44 are references to those provisions as applied by section 45 to conditional sale agreements. 8.(1) Where the circumstances specified in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 exist, in a case where (a)an order for the specific delivery of the goods has been made under Part III of this Act in an action against the deceased hirer or the deceased buyer, and (b)the operation of that order has been postponed, (2) The court may adjourn any [application for such leave] in the like circumstances, and for the like purposes, as in accordance with paragraph 6(3) or paragraph 7(3) it could adjourn an action to which paragraph 6(2) or (as the case may be) paragraph 7(2) applies. Schedule 4 rep. by 1974 c.39 s.192 sch.5 Pt.II

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Statutes of Northern Ireland