Acceptance Flashcards
Define acceptance
Unconditional agreement to all the terms of the offer
Does a request for information revoke the offer?
No
Case that shows a request for additional information does not revoke the offer.
Stevenson v McLean (1880)
Facts of Stevenson v McLean (1880)
Offer was for iron.
Offeree sent a telegram asking if he could pay in installments.
Offerer did not reply and sold the iron to a third party.
Offeree then sent a second telegram accepting the offer and the offerer could not supply the iron as it had been sold to someone else.
Offerer was liable for breach of contract as the offerees first telegram was a request for information not a counter-offer.
What forms can acceptance take?
Spoken word
Written word
Gesture
Does acceptance for a unilateral offer need to communicated?
No
Which case shows that for bilateral offers, the offeree must accept the offer, generally?
Felthouse v Bindley (1863)
Facts of Felthouse v Bindley (1863).
An uncle wanted to buy his nephew’s horse and wrote a letter saying: “If I hear no more about him, I shall consider the horse mine for £30.”
The nephew didn’t respond (although he did want to go through with the exchange) so there was no acceptance.
Which case shows that acceptance can, sometimes, be inferred from the actions of the parties?
Brogden v Metropolitan Railway (1877)
What is the postal rule?
States that a letter of acceptance taked effect from the moment of posting
What is the postal rule?
States that a letter of acceptance taked effect from the moment of posting
Case for postal rule.
Adams v Lindsell (1818)
Which 20th century case suggests that the postal rule does not apply to more modern technologies, for which acceptance only occurs when the acceptance is received?
Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Co. (1955)
First point Mondial Shipping and Chartering BV v Astarte Shipping Ltd (1995) clarified about postal rule for modern technologies.
- The postal rule does not apply for faxes, and the acceptance occurs at the moment of receipt.
Second point Mondial Shipping and Chartering BV v Astarte Shipping Ltd (1995) clarified about postal rule for modern technologies.
- What if fax has arrived but is not read?
A reasonable test is applied.
If it arrived in the middle of the night, this does not count.
If inside office hours, it does.