Legality of online enrolment

[maxh]

If someone agrees to a set of terms and conditions online, but never signs anything or enters any financial information are the terms set out in that online form enforceable, or does there need to be a written/signed consent?

This one's important!

 

[Lime One]

On line contracts can be legally binding but a lot depends on their content, the position of them before the sale is made and the clauses as drafted. Most ecommerce sites have Terms and Conditions which are binding at the point of purchase and written with that in mind. Not clear on where you would expect financial information to be entered, was the transaction via an ecommerce shop or via email?

 

[S-Marketing]

How would consideration for the contract be proved if no financial details were given? I think we may need a little more information about the specific problem you are having.

 

[maxh]

Its a tricky one. I don't want to disclose too much information

Lets say this is for a gym membership. You subscribe to a year course online and agree to various terms and conditions (including an agreement to pay a full years subscription) the information given in the online enrolment is essentially your name + email address and that is linked to other personal information on their system.

However no bank details are entered at this point. There is also no physical signature.

Then, upon review, the person decides not to go to the gym and not pay.

The gym then tries to get the person to pay, can they enforce an agreement with no signature and no money actually passing hands (no deposit or even bank details)

Thanks guys!

 

[S-Marketing]

I would say that it would depend on the exact terms and conditions on the site. I would imagine it could go either way. Sorry for my answer being no help what so ever:redface:.
Sure some legal bods will be along soon to help.

 

[Jeff FV]

Oddly enough, I was looking at distance selling regulations today.

Basically online T&C are not enough, as they can be easily changed. Here's a quote from an Office of Fair Trading document

"If you provide pre-contractual information in a form that does
not allow it to be stored or reproduced by the consumer, such
as during a phone call or on a website, then you must confirm
in writing, or in another durable medium (such as e-mail or
fax) accessible to the consumer that can be kept for future
reference and which cannot be edited. We do not consider
that information on a website is durable as it can be altered
after the consumer has accessed it."

I very much doubt the original agreement is enforceable - however, I am merely a 'lay-man' and the above is just my opinion.

Jeff

 

[LawHound]

If the above poster was correct then any consumer buying on line would be able to get out of a contract. As usual the devil is in the detail and normally terms and conditions can be downloaded by the consumer in a PDF or are sent again at the time of order with the confirmation email in most online stores. Without seeing the format of the terms, the content and the site the orginal poster's question cannot be answered with anything useful.

 

[Kernowman]

Its a tricky one. I don't want to disclose too much information

Lets say this is for a gym membership. You subscribe to a year course online and agree to various terms and conditions (including an agreement to pay a full years subscription) the information given in the online enrolment is essentially your name + email address and that is linked to other personal information on their system.

However no bank details are entered at this point. There is also no physical signature.

Then, upon review, the person decides not to go to the gym and not pay.

The gym then tries to get the person to pay, can they enforce an agreement with no signature and no money actually passing hands (no deposit or even bank details)

Thanks guys!

I think the key is in the text I have highlighted.

If this "review" took place within the minimum 'Cooling Off Period' of 7 days then that is the person's right under DSR. In their own mind they have indeed cooled off but not notified you (how unusual), because they paid nothing so is not anticipating a refund.

To continue with the gym scenario, this person has not used the gym at all so your actual loss is zero in terms of money, goods or services, so that would be almost impossible to prove and recoup should you decide to take legal action as that is what you would need to calculate as your loss.

One could argue then that belonging to the AA for years without having a single breakdown falls into that category but not so unfortunately