Term or representation

• What are the 4 factors the courts consider when deciding whether a statement is a representation or a term ?

  1. Importance
  2. Time lag
  3. Expertise
  4. Whether there is a written contract
• What is the importance attached to the representation ?

  • Where a statement is obviously important to the contract, it will be seen as a term
  • Couchman v Hill
• What is specialist knowledge/skill of the person making the statement ?

  • Dick Bentley v Harold Smith Motors
  • Shows the importance of the skill expected of a person making a statement
• What happens where there is a time lag between the statement & the contract ?


  • Where a contract is made later & does not refer to the statement
  • It is likely that the statement does not become a term of the contract
  • Routledge v Mackay
• What happens where there is a written contract ?


  The courts tend to presume that everything the parties wanted to include as a term of the contract is put in the written contract