Also known as: prima facie unconscionability · unconscionable on its face
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A presumption that a contractual limitation or exclusion of consequential damages for personal injury is unconscionable when the goods are consumer goods. The presumption does not apply when the loss is commercial.
Priya Prasad purchased a home dialysis machine for personal use. The sales contract limited the seller's liability to repair or replacement and excluded all consequential damages for medical complications. The machine malfunctioned and caused Priya serious health complications. The exclusion of damages for her personal injuries is prima facie unconscionable.
Peter Park bought tires for his family car. The purchase agreement excluded consequential damages for personal injury. A tire failed and caused an accident that injured Peter. The limitation on damages for his personal injuries is prima facie unconscionable under the governing rule.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A limitation of consequential damages for personal injury is prima facie unconscionable when the goods are consumer goods. The same limitation is not prima facie unconscionable when the loss is commercial.
Supporting sources
The presumption applies when the goods function as consumer goods for the patients who suffer personal injury. The immediate buyer being a commercial entity does not remove the presumption when the harm is personal injury from consumer goods.
Supporting sources
The party seeking to enforce the limitation must overcome the presumption of unconscionability. In consumer personal-injury cases the presumption shifts the practical burden to the seller.
Supporting sources
The rule protects end users who suffer personal injury from consumer goods even when the immediate buyer is a commercial clinic or hospital. The focus is on the nature of the goods and the type of harm rather than the identity of the first purchaser.
Supporting sources
…it would. Indeed, the Uniform Commercial Code expressly recognizes this distinction by providing that limitation of damages is prima facie unconscionable in personal injury cases, but not in cases of commercial loss. (Com. Code, § 2719.) Plaintiff contends that, even though the law of warranty governs the economic relations between the…