The defendant company allowed one of its directors to act as the Managing Director and to give instructions to the Plaintiff to do work on its behalf.
Held: The fact that he had never been formally appointed as Managing Director was of no consequence. The other directors knew the facts, the Company had effectively held out that individual as having the powers of the Managing Director, and the fact that he may have gone outside his actual authority did not affect the fact that he had apparent (or ostensible) authority to do what he did, and the Company was bound.
Diplock LJ stated: ‘An ‘apparent’ or ‘ostensible’ authority . . is a legal relationship between the principal and the contractor created by a representation, made by the principal to the contractor, intended to be and in fact acted upon by the contractor, that the agent has authority to enter on behalf of the principal into a contract of a kind within the scope of the ‘apparent’ authority, so as to render the principal liable to perform any obligations imposed upon him by such contract . . The representation which creates ‘apparent’ authority may take a variety of forms of which the commonest is representation by conduct,, that is by permitting the agent to act in some way in the conduct of the principal’s business with other persons. By so doing the principal represents to anyone who becomes aware that the agent is so acting that the agent has authority to enter on behalf of the principal into contracts with other persons of the kind which an agent so acting in the conduct of his principal business has usually ‘actual’ authority to enter into.’
Diplock LJ
[1964] 2 QB 480, [1964] 1 All ER 630, [1964] 2 WLR 618
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Evans v James (Administratrix of the Estate of Thomas Hopkin Deceased) CA 5-Jul-1999
Before the parties called evidence, and having read the papers, the court considered that there was no real defence shown, and invited submissions. Negotiations for the grant of a tenancy had been terminated by the sudden illness of the proposed . .
Cited – Computer 2000 Distribution Ltd and others v ICM Computer Solutions Plc CA 17-Nov-2004
The claimant delivered computer equipment against a fraudulent invoice issued in the name of the defendant.
Held: The loss here had to fall on an innocent party. Having delivered the equipment to the site requested, the claimant had done all . .
Cited – CRJ Services Ltd v Lanstar Ltd (T/A CSG Lanstar) TCC 19-Apr-2011
The claimant hired out recycling plant and equipment and the defendant had been a customer. A local agent of the defendant had properly entered into certain contracts with the claimant acting as the company’s agent, but then created three long term . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 08 October 2021; Ref: scu.188878