4: Drafting the SLA and Key Clauses
91
M & J Polymers Limited v Imerys Minerals
Limited [2008] EWHC 344 (Comm)
Take or pay clause was deemed a penalty (i.e. a
clause which requires the other party to pay for a
minimum volume even if they did not order that
volume, was declared unenforceable).
It is, however, important to note that in SLAs the
service credits (or compensation due for a breach
of the SLA) are sometimes not particularly high in
view of the contract value as a whole.
Because of this it is unlikely that an organisation
will sue a supplier for non-payment of service
credits, since the whole point of pre-agreed service
credits is to avoid litigation.
The point is that, provided you agree service
credits with the supplier which are ...