Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Act, 1960

Liability of guarantor where goods are returned to owner.

17.—(1) Where—

(a) goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, and

(b) the owner recovers possession thereof or an order is made by the court under paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 13 of the Principal Act for the specific delivery thereof to the owner,

then, subject to subsection (3) of this section, the liability of a guarantor under a contract of guarantee in relation to the agreement shall not exceed the amount, if any, which the hirer would have been liable to pay under section 5 of the Principal Act if he had determined the agreement under that section at the time of the recovery or the making of the order, as the case may be.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, any provision in a contract of guarantee in relation to a hire-purchase agreement whereby the guarantor, after the recovery of possession of the goods let under the agreement or the making of an order by the court under the said paragraph (a) for the specific delivery of the goods to the owner, is subject to a liability which exceeds the liability specified in subsection (1) of this section shall be void.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section are without prejudice to any liability of the guarantor which has accrued in respect of instalments of the hire-purchase price which are due under the hire-purchase agreement and are unpaid at the time of the recovery or the making of the order, as the case may be.

(4) This section shall not have effect in respect of a claim or order in relation to a guarantor made before the commencement of this Act.