I work as a self-employed agent for a merchant services company that provides card machines for business to accept card payments from their customers. Typical contract term is 48 months.
When I sign up a customer (merchant), this company pays me commission. Typically I have no previous relations with these business as sometimes I have to called call or arrange a meeting with the business owner and then pitch my sale.
Finding customers and pitching the sale is very hard work. Few of my signed up customers have defaulted on their monthly payments (monthly card machine rentals) and now this company is asking me to pay back the commission they paid me based on the following clause in the contract I signed for when I agreed to work with them:
"In the event of a Sale Reversing within the first year, [company] reserves the right to claw back any Commissions paid to the Agent (in full). [company] reserves the right to determine whether such amounts are to be deducted from any current or future amounts owed to the Agent or whether they are to be repaid in full without offset. In the event that [company] determines that the amounts are to be repaid in full without offset, such amounts are to be repaid to [company] within seven days of [company] issuing an invoice to the Agent".
I believe this clause is unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Every few months some merchants are defaulting and the list gets bigger, so the more customers I sign up the bigger my liability becomes. I need some advise please.
When I sign up a customer (merchant), this company pays me commission. Typically I have no previous relations with these business as sometimes I have to called call or arrange a meeting with the business owner and then pitch my sale.
Finding customers and pitching the sale is very hard work. Few of my signed up customers have defaulted on their monthly payments (monthly card machine rentals) and now this company is asking me to pay back the commission they paid me based on the following clause in the contract I signed for when I agreed to work with them:
"In the event of a Sale Reversing within the first year, [company] reserves the right to claw back any Commissions paid to the Agent (in full). [company] reserves the right to determine whether such amounts are to be deducted from any current or future amounts owed to the Agent or whether they are to be repaid in full without offset. In the event that [company] determines that the amounts are to be repaid in full without offset, such amounts are to be repaid to [company] within seven days of [company] issuing an invoice to the Agent".
I believe this clause is unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Every few months some merchants are defaulting and the list gets bigger, so the more customers I sign up the bigger my liability becomes. I need some advise please.
Comment