What are the similarities and differences of an expressed and implied warranties?
Image source - https://bit.ly/38C9OYB
Show
This article has been written by Rutuparna Sahu from KIIT School of Law, Odisha. This article talks about the Express and Implied Warranties under the Sale of Goods Act.
What is the warranty?A Warranty is a condition present within a contract between parties, it comes into action the moment the condition is not satisfied or fulfilled by either of the parties. It is stipulated as collateral for the main deal. Section 13 of The Sale of Goods Act tells when a condition is to be treated as a warranty. The conditions are as follows :
In addition to this, any kind of breach of warranty leads to a claim for damages but not to be misinterpreted with repudiation under Section 12 (3) of the Sale of Goods Act. There are two main types of warranties, that are :
Express WarrantyAn express warranty covers the part of contracts that is done expressly by ways of speaking or writing. In addition to that, this kind of warranty expressly comes with a guarantee of reliability and to meet a certain level of credibility of a particular product. If there is a problem pertaining to the product, the manufacturer needs to fix it anyhow without charging an additional cost. These are often used for the purpose of reference as it is a written form of the conditions concerning the contract. The seller warrants the buyer in various ways
A seller does not create the warranty just by a declaration. He may not choose to use any kind of explicit language to give a guarantee against the goods. However, it is difficult to acknowledge the seller’s intention in the context of selling the goods unless he expressly states about the credibility of the goods. A warranty is not merely created by means of a statement made by the seller against the good’s credibility or by the seller’s estimation regarding the product. Generally, during the course of a contract, the statements made by the parties are treated as statements of fact and as above stated unless there is an express statement, it is difficult to draw out any kind of opinion regarding the product whether to buy or not. Generally, products come with the terms and conditions applied against them from inception. So it gets easy for both manufacturers and buyers as well. IllustrationFor example, if a scooter dealer describes a scooter’s mileage to its customer of running about 55 km/lt and the scooter shows the exact mileage warranted by the dealer then there is no breach of express warranty but if it does not show the mileage as warranted by the dealer then it definitely is a breach of express warranty. Implied warrantyAn implied warranty in the law of contract is solely based on presumption. Unlike express warranty, the guarantee is being served in ways of assurance by the ongoing circumstances involved in due course of the contract. A seller assures in detail about the good which the buyer is going to receive. These assurances take a form of warranty as there is hardly any other expression made for the required conditions to be fulfilled. These types of warranties are still considered even if it is not promised in any means of writing or orally. There are two types of implied warranty :
Click Here Implied warranty of merchantabilityWarranty of merchantability is considered to be an implied warranty unless it is expressly stated somewhere with the tag of “to be merchantable”. Besides that, it needs to satisfy the basic criteria of genuinity i.e, the product needs to reasonably conform to the expectation of any ordinary buyer. As the implied warranties are fully based on presumption, the buyer usually presumes the merchant’s warranty against the product’s credibility and inculcates a perception about the product as it has been showcased to the buyers. And talking about the merchant’s warranty, the merchant only guarantees the minimum credibility of the good. There are certain rights given to the merchant for the sale of its goods under Section 14:
No household goods that are being sold to the consumers can be disclaimed with a merchantable warranty under the provision of Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law. IllustrationAs a mosquito repellent manufacturing company claims to kill dengue mosquito but B a buyer buys the product and was still found dengue positive which concludes that there was a breach of warranty of merchantability by the seller. Implied warranty of fitness for a particular purposeIn case of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, the buyer here is totally dependent on the seller’s work and skill to furnish the goods. The buyer basically tries to make things their way for a particular purpose. And this involves a warranty from the seller’s side that the goods produced will fit for a particular purpose. And when we talk about any particular product or good, it just sticks to the usage by the buyer and no way attached to the products’ business. Certain provisions under the Sale of Goods Act about the implied conditions as to quality or fitness under Section 16 :
IllustrationX a medicine manufacturing company dealing with a variety of medicines produced medicine for patients suffering from migraine. B, a migraine patient takes it and gets an adverse side effect by the consumption of the particular medicine which means that it isn’t fit for the group of people suffering from migraine and hence, it is concluded to be the breach of warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Breach of warrantyEven if express and implied are two different types of warranties, they can be breached in a similar manner. So if there is any kind of breach against the buyer then the buyer has certain rights which are as follows :
Cases breaching warranty
ConclusionFrom the above facts, we can derive that a warranty can be simplified as a guarantee. Which a seller has to prove to the buyer beyond all reasonable doubts because, in the end, it’s the buyer who is going to buy the goods of the manufacturer or merchants. So it’s important for the sellers to not to violate any of the conditions of the contract in which he is a party with the buyer. And buyers should not misuse the powers given to him by giving it a form of repudiation. References
To know more about conditions and warranties, please Click Here. LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:
What is the difference between an express warranty and an implied warranty quizlet?An express warranty is created with words or actions. An implied warranty details how a good should generally meet certain standards of quality regardless of what the seller did or did not say.
What is the difference between express and implied condition?Conditions and warranties may be express or implied. Express conditions and warranties are which, are expressly provided in the contract. Implied conditions and warranties are those which are implied by law or custom; these shall prevail in a contract of sale unless the parties agree to the contrary.
What are the different implied warranties?The two key types of implied warranties are merchantability and fitness. Merchantability says that a product will meet reasonable expectations of the buyer, while fitness means the product meets the buyer's intended use.
What is an example of an expressed warranty?Essentially, express warranties are affirmative promises about the qualities and features of the goods being sold. If a manufacturer says that a vehicle will get 35 MPG on the highway or another says that a watch is waterproof to 300 feet, those are both examples of express warranties.
|