Contract Law
...the following essential elements:
1. offer:
2. acceptance;
3. consideration;
4. capacity;
5. intention to create legal relations.
If any of these are absent any breach of the agreement will not have a cause of action at law.
An offer is a promise to be bound on particular terms, and must be capable of acceptance. An agreement is made between two parties when one of the parties makes an offer to the other and that party accepts the offer.
The offeree Reena wants to rewire her new flat and is looking for a competitive electrician. She is dealing with two parties, Quentin and Shockless. The participants generally communicate through mail and email. A few times the participants used the telephone but these cases will not affect the issue. In addition we will need to consider a virus on Quentin’s computer and a deadline stated by Shockless. These points will be most important when discussing this case.
In order for a response to an offer to constitute a valid acceptance, three main conditions must be satisfied:
1. The response must be an unqualified assent to the terms of the offer and
2. The offeree must know of the offer and
3. In general, the response must be communicated to the offeror.
(Duxbury R. 2003 p.7)
Reena decided to replace the wiring in her new flat where she has just moved. On 4th of October she telephoned Quentin to ask for a price. He offered to do the work for £3000. It was an offer which Reena did not accept by saying “I will think about it”. In law Reena made an invitation to treat. For example, if A makes an offer to B, since it is capable of acceptance by B, then once it is accepted, a contract arises between A and B. On the other hand, as in Reena’s situation, if A merely invites B to make an offer, then B’s reply, at best, can amount only to an offer, with the result that A and B are not yet in agreement. Quentin’s offer is...
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