express terms

• Express terms are those which have been agreed by both parties, either verbally or written down.
• Parol evidence rule: Where a contract is written it is presumed that this contains everything the parties wanted to include as part of the agreement.
• L'estrange V Graucob- if you sign a written document containing contractual terms then you are bound by those terms even if you haven't read them.
• Grogan V Robin Meredith- the document must be of a "contractual" nature, signing a timesheet was not a contractual document.
• incorporation by notice: sometimes it might be argued that a party has been given notice of terms which could have been found elsewhere
• parker V south east railway- reasonable steps must be taken to bring the terms to the attention of the other party. Ticket said "see back", for the T&C's customer knew there was writing on the back but chose not to read them.
• Thornton V Shoe Lane Parking- Notice of the terms must be given before or at the time of the contract being made. T parked his car after taking a ticket from the ticket matching ticket said "subject to conditions of issue.." **however there was a sign that said they excluded liability to injured customers and T was later injured, wasn't a term as it was communicated after T had brought the ticket therefore after the contract had been made.
• Interfoto V Stiletto- If a term is particularly harsh/ unusual MORE NOTICE must be given to the other party. I sent photos to S via post in bag, imposed a £5 a day holding fee, S never opened the bag and received a £3000 bill. However, this was an unusual clause which had not been brought to S's attention so it was not apart of the contract.
• Verbal statements- are the most common form of communication. 3 factors which the courts consider when deciding whether a verbal statement is a contract are: (1) the importance of the statement (2) special skills/ knowledge (3) time between the statement and making the contract
• Verbal statements 1- importance of the statement- the more importance attached to the statement the more likely it is to be a term. Case: Bannerman V White: Buyer asked if hops had been treated with sulphur seller said no which was a lie, it was a term of contract that the hops were untreated.
• Verbal statements 2- special skill and knowledge- if the person making the statement has special skill/ knowledge it is more likely to be a term. Dick Bentley V Harold Smith Motors- Car dealer had said a car had done 20,000 miles when in fact, it had done over 100,000 miles. Statement was a term of the contract. Car dealer was the expert
• Verbal statements 3- The longer the delay between the statement and the contract, the less likely it will be a term. Routledge V McKay: Seller said motorbike was a 1942 model, but was acc much older. A written contract prepared a week later didn't mention the age of the bike. Not a term of the contract, given the delay.