Definition of postal acceptance of offer
The parties had discussed the sale of properties to the plaintiff. The defendant wrote out an offer to sell and handed it to the buyer, who took it away to consider it. A new buyer turned up and a contract was concluded, the defendant writing to the buyer to withdraw the offer. Before that letter was received, the defendant had, through his solicitor written back to accept the first offer. The plaintiff sought specific performance.
Held: The contract had been made.
Lord Herschell set out the postal rule in contract situations: ‘It strikes me as somewhat artificial to speak of the person to whom the offer is made as having the implied authority of the other party to send his acceptance by post. He needs no authority to transmit the acceptance through any particular channel; he may select what means he pleases, the Post Office no less than any other. The only effect of the supposed authority is to make the acceptance complete so soon as it is posted, and authority will obviously be implied only when the tribunal considers that it is a case in which this result ought to be reached. I should prefer to state the rule thus: Where the circumstances are such that it must have been within the contemplation of the parties that, according to the ordinary usages of mankind, the post might be used as a means of communicating the acceptance of an offer, the acceptance is complete as soon as it is posted.’
Lord Herschell, Lindley LJ, Kay LJ
[1892] 2 Ch 27
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Holwell Securities Ltd v Hughes CA 5-Nov-1973
An option was to be exercised ‘by notice in writing’ before a certain date. The solicitors’ letter doing so was addressed to the defendant at his residence and place of work, the house which was the subject of the option to purchase, was posted by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.276453