Formation of a Contract- Acceptance

Question 1

What must acceptance be?

Answer 1

Acceptance must be positive (final) and unqualified (unconditional) to all of the terms within the offer.
It must mirror the exact terms of the offer.

Question 2

What does Consensus ad idem mean?

Answer 2

meeting of the minds.

Question 3

When will there be no acceptance?

Answer 3

If the offeree replies with a counter-offer (Hyde v Wrench), or a request for further information (Harvey v Facey) , there will be no acceptance.

Question 4

How can acceptance take place?

Answer 4

Acceptance can take place verbally, in writing or by a person’s conduct.

Conduct is usually required for acceptance of unilateral offers - Carlill.

Question 5

How must acceptance be communicated?

Answer 5

Acceptance must be effectively communicated to the other party.
The offeror must know that the offeree has accepted the offer.

Question 6

Give a case for communication of acceptance.

Answer 6

Entores v Miles Far East Corporation [1955]

Question 7

Can silence be acceptance? Give a case.

Answer 7

The offeror cannot generally take silence for acceptance.
There usually has to be some positive act for acceptance to take place.

Felthouse v Bindley (1862)

Question 8

Where the offeror requires a specific method of acceptance, the general rule is that?

Give a case.

Answer 8

The general rule is that acceptance must be given in that way.

Yates Building Co Ltd v Pulleyn & Sons (York) Ltd [1975]

Question 9

What is the final requirement of acceptance?

Answer 9

A final requirement is that acceptance must be communicated by someone authorised to accept.

Question 10

Give a case for the final requirement is that acceptance must be communicated by someone authorised to accept.

Answer 10

Powell v Lee [1908]

Question 11

In a nutshell what are the exceptions to rules on communication?

Answer 11

There are some exceptions to the general rule that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror for it to be valid.
These are:
Acceptance by conduct;
Acceptance of unilateral offers; and
Acceptance by post.
There are further considerations as well when dealing with more modern forms of acceptance, e.g. email.

Question 12

What is acceptance by conduct? Give a case.

Answer 12

The offeree can accept an offer by their conduct, rather than directly communicating the acceptance.

Brogden v Metropolitan Railway [1877]
Reveille Independent LLC v Anotech International (UK) Ltd [2016]

Question 13

Explain the acceptance of unilateral offers (with the main case included <3).

Answer 13

In unilateral contracts, acceptance is completed by performing the requested action rather than by words and the need to tell the offeror of an intention to accept is waived by implication.

Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. Ltd [1893]

(acceptance was rejected by the court.
The way in which the company had made its offer implied the need for communication of the acceptance had been waived.
The key issue here, then, is to identify what the specific required action is within a unilateral offer.)

Question 14

What happens with acceptance by post?

Answer 14

Where acceptance is communicated to the offeror by post, the contract is generally considered to have been made as soon as the letter is posted, even if it is delayed or never reaches the other party.
The ‘Postal Rule.’

Adams v Lindsell [1818]

Question 15

What is the limitations of the postal rule?

Answer 15

The potential inconvenience of the rule is greatly reduced by the following exceptions:
It applies only when the letter is correctly stamped and addressed;
The parties can exclude the rule if they want to, and this can be done by implication;
It applies only when it is reasonable to use the post; and
The rule will not be applied if it would lead to manifest inconvenience and absurdity.

Question 16

Give a case for the limitations of the postal rule.

Answer 16

Holwell Securities Ltd v Hughes [1974]

Question 17

What is position on modern methods of communication?

Answer 17

The position on modern methods of communication are less clear than traditional methods, such as email or fax.

Question 18

What did less clear than traditional methods, such as email or fax.
Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl [1982] say on modern forms of communication?

Answer 18

The general rule is, if the communication is sent during normal office hours, it will have effect as soon as it is received, regardless of when it is actually read. Otherwise, it will have effect at the time when the sender could reasonably expect it to be read, e.g. when the office re-opens.