Offer & Acceptance

    Cards (7)

    • An OFFER is a statement of the terms upon which a person is prepared to be bound by the offerer to offeree.
      • A bilateral offer requires both parties to do something(Taylor v Laird)
      • A unilateral offer requires just the offeror to do something(Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball)
      • An invitation to tender will be classed as a unilateral offer, if the lowest/best price/bid is to be accepted/all tenders are to be considered (Blackpool Aero Club v Blackpool BC)
    • An invitation to treat is not an offer and so cannot be accepted. It is an indication that one person is willing to negotiate, encouraging a bilateral offer from another. Examples are:
      • an advertisement (Partridge v Crittenden)
      • goods on display (Fisher v Bell Pharmaceutical Society of GB v Boots)
      • an auction with a reserve (British Car Auctions v Wright)
      • giving information in response to a request, for example stating the price of something (Harvey v Facey).
      NB – if there is an invitation to treat, do not continue to apply.
    • An offer must be communicated to the offeree (ie. the offeree knows about it) - Taylor v Laird
      For an offer to remain open until a particular date/time, the offeree must give consideration to the offeror, such as a deposit (Routledge v Grant)
    • An offer will usually end with a rejection or an acceptance.
      It can also end:
      • with a counter offer (Hyde v Wrench)
      • revocation (Byrne v Van Tienhoven) {If an offer ends through revocation, it must be communicated before acceptance, either by the offeror or a third party (Dickinson v Dodds).} [If a party is aware that goods have been sold, this also counts as revocation.]
      • lapse of time (Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v Montefiore - 4 months)
      • death (Bradbury v Morgan).
    • The ACCEPTANCE must ‘mirror the offer’ ie. reflect it exactly without modifications.
      • It must be unconditional and communicated to the offeror by positive conduct and not silence (Felthouse v Brindley)
      • Where acceptance is required to be made in a certain way, it will generally be sufficient if it is made in any other way, as long as it does not disadvantage the offeror (Manchester DC v Commercial and General, Yates v Pulleyn)
      • Acceptance can also be communicated through conduct (Reveille v Anotech).
      • An offer can be accepted even if the claimant was unaware the offer existed (Gibbons v Proctor).
    • An exception is under ‘the postal rule’ where acceptance is communicated at the time of posting, not when the offeror receives it, (Byrne v Van Tienhoven). It does not 6 need to arrive, but the postal rule will not apply if the offeree makes a mistake in posting (Getreid v Contimar). The postal rule can be excluded by the agreement of the parties (Holwell Securities v Hughes)
    • For electronic methods, acceptance takes place when the offeror receives it, although the law is unclear and the exact time of acceptance depends on sound business practice and what is the reasonable expectation of the parties (Brinkibon v Stahag Stahl).
    See similar decks