Turks and Caicos Islands – A manager sought to claim that the power of attorney, which authorised him to enter into possession of and manage an estate in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and to receive rents and profits and pay debts due by the owners, was irrevocable because he had separately undertaken at their request to guarantee the payment of a debt secured by mortgage over the estate. He argued that if he was called upon as surety, the power would enable him to recover any amount paid.
Held: His appeal failed because the authority when conferred was not ‘expressed or intended to be used for the purpose of subserving [the manager’s] interest as guarantor and had no connection with it’
Lord Atkinson observed that to allow an agent to exercise his authority after it has been revoked would amount to the specific enforcement of a relationship which is by its nature not specifically enforceable.
Lord Atkinson contiued: ‘ . . the essential distinction between this case and those cited is this, that in each of the latter power and authority were given to a particular individual to do a particular thing, the doing of which conferred a benefit upon him, the authority ceasing when the benefit was reaped, while in this case, as already pointed out, nothing of that kind was ever provided for or contemplated.’
[1906] UKPC 18, [1906] AC 254, (1906) 94 LT 383
Bailii
Commonwealth
Cited by:
Cited – Bailey and Another v Angove’s Pty Ltd SC 27-Jul-2016
The defendant had agreed to act as the claimant’s agent and distributor of the claimant’s wines in the UK. It acted both as agent and also bought wines on its own account. When the defendant went into litigation the parties disputed the right of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Agency
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.419741