Contracts and health crisis

Faced with the consequences of the health crisis, the following contractual subjects are to be studied by your company (beyond questions of cash, loans and partial unemployment).

1. Force Majeure Suspension. Either your company needs to invoke it against a co-contracting party to suspend the performance of your obligations, or one of your service providers-suppliers invokes it towards you to justify non-performance. Even if the State has declared that it accepts this in terms of public procurement, it must first (…)

2. request for renegotiation for hardship. The health crisis may have the effect of making the performance of a contract excessively onerous for you or for one of your co-contractors. Unless expressly waived in the contract (to be checked), a renegotiation may be requested under the visa of article 1195 of the civil code. Bearing in mind that: - for the duration of the negotiations, the parties must continue to perform their obligations, - the consequences of a refusal or failure of the negotiations are not insignificant (…)

3. sharp drop in orders: termination of relations without notice and without liability. A sharp drop in orders is in principle equivalent to a severance of commercial relations and implies giving notice when these relations are established. However, according to relatively extensive case law, a company does not incur liability if it imposes, without written notice, (…)

4. insurance. Remember to analyze your insurance policies to see if your possible operating losses can be compensated (…) Also remember to reread the methods for calculating your insurance premiums, (…)

For further details: demoulins@richelieuavocats.com