THE SCOPE OF AN ENTIRE AGREEMENT CLAUSE

One of the many issues considered by Mr Justice Ramsey in his monumental judgment in BSkyB Ltd v HP Enterprise Services UK Ltd [2010] EWHC 86 (TCC), [2010] All ER (D) 192 (Jan) was the scope of an entire agreement clause contained in the contract between the parties. He held that the clause had the effect of defeating any suggestion that there was a collateral warranty between the parties or some other side agreement but that it did not prevent the claimants from bringing a claim for negligent misrepresentation. He reached his conclusion as a matter of interpretation of the clause in question and so it is not the case that an entire agreement clause can never have the effect of excluding liability for negligent misrepresentation. It can have this effect but in order to achieve it clearer words must be used than those contained in the clause in the present case.