Offer & Acceptance

Question 1

Define offer and acceptance

Answer 1

Offer is a firm indication of terms upon which a party is willing to agree
An acceptance is a clear acceptance of those terms
The offer and acceptance usually need to mirror eachother

Question 2

Gibson v MCC

Answer 2

Words need to be clear to be an offer- other wise it may just be an invitation to treat
Context: Gibson completed the form but the council refused to sell after council said they “may be prepared to sell the house to you if you would like to make a formal application”

Question 3

Fisher v Bell

Answer 3

Shop displays are usually only invitations as shopkeeper should have right to refuse sale
Context: flick knives with prices displayed

Question 4

Partridge v Crittenden

Answer 4

Advertisements are usually only invitations

Question 5

Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co

Answer 5

Advertisements can be an offer when clear and firm in their terms
Context: company said if anyone used smoke all correctly still got the flu the company would pay them £100 and said they put aside £1000 for this

Question 6

Harvey v Facey

Answer 6

Exchanging information and replies are not offers

Context: Harvey asked lowest price for Facey’s farm and then took that as an offer and accepted

Question 7

When do offers end?

Answer 7

• acceptance
• rejection/refusal
• death
• counter offer
• lapse of time
• withdrawal/revocation

Question 8

Hyde v Wrench

Answer 8

If an offeree varies terms of an offer this is a counter offer which ends original offer and restarts negotiations- meaning original offer cannot be accepted
Context: Wrench offered Hyde £1000 for farm. Hyde offered £950. Wrench refused. Hyde agreed to pay original offer of £1000 but Wrench no longer wanted to sell to him

Question 9

Ramsgate Hotel v Montefiore

Answer 9

An offer can end if a reasonable amount of time has passed or if a specified time period has passed
Context: June offer was made on shares for hotel- November it was accepted but Montefiore no longer wanted to sell

Question 10

Routledge v Grant

Answer 10

An offer can be revoked (even if meant to stay open for a period of time) so long as it has not been accepted
Context: Grant made offer he said stood for 6 weeks but then no longer wanted to sell before 6 weeks were over

Question 11

Dickenson v Dodds

Answer 11

Revocations can be made by a reliable third party

Context: Dodds told reliable third party that the offer for the house was off the table. The third party told Dickinson

Question 12

Death of offeror

Answer 12

If offeree knows offeror has died the offer dies with them. If offeree doesn’t know they are dead the offeree can accept unless a person service is required of the offeror

Question 13

Yates v Pulleyn

Answer 13

Offeror can specify acceptance should be made in a particular way

Question 14

Felthouse v Bindley

Answer 14

Silence or inactivity cannot be acceptance. Acceptance has to be communicated
Context: a letter sent ‘if I hear no more, I consider the horse mine’

Question 15

Carlill

Answer 15

Unilateral contracts can be accepted through performing the conduct if terms are clear enough

Question 16

Adams v Lindsell

Answer 16

The postal rule(only applies for acceptance): letter can count as acceptance as soon as posted as long as
1. Post is expected means of communication
2. Letter is correctly addressed and stamped
3. Offeree can prove letter was posted
Context: selling wool offer letter was delayed and so they assumed offeree wasn’t interested. Offeree sent letter of acceptance and before offeror received they had sold to someone else

Question 17

Holwell v Hughes

Answer 17

Postal rule won’t apply if receipt has been specifically requested by the offeror (requests ‘notice in writing’)

Question 18

Instantaneous forms of communication- Entores v Miles Far East Corp

Answer 18

Acceptance occurs when received, not sent

Question 19

Instantaneous forms of communication- Brinkibon

Answer 19

Emails/telephone messages left on an answer phone machine outside of office hours can only be effective if it’s the intention of the parties
Messages are effective during office hours even if not read/heard
If a message is left outside of office hours it becomes effective once office hours resume

Question 20

Article 11 of E-Commerce Regulations 2002

Answer 20

Advertisement on website= invitation to treat
Placing of an order by the buyer= offer to buy
Seller will usually acknowledge offer with email (order had been ‘received’), this is usually not acceptance but could be depending on seller’s terms
Acceptance usually from email saying goods have been ‘dispatched’
This email will be acceptance when they’re able to access that message