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 ordinary post and enclosed a copy of the letter of the same date delivered by hand to the defendant’s solicitors. The letter went astray, and the acceptance was not received before the date.
Held: An acceptance had to be communicated to the seller before the relevant time.
Judges:
Russell LJ, Buckley LJ, Lawton LJ
Citations:
[1973] EWCA Civ 5, [1974] 1 WLR 155, [1974] 1 All ER 161
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Holwell Securities Ltd v Hughes 1973
The court considered how the postal rule applied to the acceptance of an offer contained in an option. The option was to be exercised ‘by notice in writing to’ the grantor within the stipulated time.
Held: The exercise of the option was . .
Cited – British American Telegraph C v Colson 1871
. .
Cited – Dickinson v Dodds 1876
An offeree cannot accept a withdrawable offer after he has learnt, by whatever means, that it has been withdrawn. The communication of acceptance of an offer need not come from the offeree himself. . .
Cited – in Re 88 Berkeley Road, NW 9 1971
When considering the meaning of service of a notice under an option agreement, ‘served’ must mean ‘given’. . .
Cited – Household Fire Insurance Co v Grant CA 1879
. .
Cited – Hare v Nicoll CA 1966
In an option for the renewal of a lease, or for the purchase or re-purchase of property, the contractual right must be exercised strictly within the time limited for the purpose, otherwise it will lapse. Danckwerts LJ said: ‘The authority cited for . .
Cited – Bruner v Moore 1904
The seller had granted to the buyer a option in return for the payment of a sum of money. The option contract gave the grantee the right to require the grantor to sell if the grantee exercised the option within the stipulated period. The court . .
Cited – Henthorn v Fraser 1892
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 . .
Cited by:
Cited – Carmarthen Developments Ltd v Pennington SCS 24-Sep-2008
carmarthen_penningtonSCS2008
Contracts had been entered into for the sale of plots of land, which were conditional on planning permissions being approved by the purchaser. The buyer could waive the conditions to remove the sellers’ rights to resile. The buyer obtained the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.262742