Refund Guarantees
2
Definitions and characteristics
Introduction
2.1
There are essential differences under English law between different types of guarantee instruments. There are two different types of guarantee contracts, which are relevant in the context of refund guarantees, both of which come within the general heading of ‘contracts of suretyship’. The first is a contract of guarantee; the second is a contract of indemnity. The nature of the instrument in question is a matter of construction of the instrument as a whole,1 and the description of an instrument as a ‘guarantee’ is never of itself determinative.2