Röhlig (UK) Ltd v Rock Unique Ltd - Court of Appeal (Sedley, Moore-Bick and Aikens LJJ) - 20 January 2011

Contract - Freight forwarder contracting on BIFA terms - Customer claiming restitution of sums allegedly overpaid - Whether claim covered by BIFA anti set-off clause - Whether claim time-barred under BIFA terms - Whether relevant BIFA terms satisfied requirement of reasonableness

Rock Unique Ltd (“the defendant”) purchased a quantity of Indian sandstone from a seller on fob terms. Röhlig (UK) Ltd (“the claimant”) carried on business as a freight forwarder and was engaged by the defendant, on the claimant’s standard terms, to arrange the carriage of the stone from the port of loading in India to its destination in the UK. The two companies had done business together since 2005 and earlier.