The Postal Acceptance Rule

In the Common Law system, “the Mailbox Rule is an alternate term for the Postal Rule; when mailed, an acceptance of an offer to contract is valid from the moment it is deposited into a mailbox; on dispatch.” The Mailbox rule is an exception to the general rule that a contract is created when acceptance is directly communicated to the offeror. The mailbox rule provides that the contract is formed when the letter of acceptance is placed in the mailbox. This rule was established by the case of Adams v. Lindsell (1818) B& Ald 68. In this case, Judge Law said that if that were

Accordingly, the Legal Department sets out below a general background and practice of Postal Acceptance Rule (PAR) and its application to the business world at present in Australia. We enclose with the modification of PAR in response to ongoing changes in transaction acts and technology nowadays. Regarding Conditional Acceptance, the case of Master v Cameron will be utilized as an example and set as background for recommendations for our business.

An agreement is the essence of every contract. The parties to a contract are the offeror (who makes an offer) and the offeree (to whom the offer is made). If, through the process of offer and acceptance, an agreement is reached, and the other elements are present (consideration, capacity, legality), a valid contract is formed.

Any legal contract must contain certain elements. First, it must contain an offer. The offer is what someone is going to do, such as lease you a tractor, sell you a guitar, paint your house, or simply pay you (The Basics of Contract Law, 2017). Second, the offer must be accepted. Acceptance means that you agree to what is offered, without any changes. (If you make changes to the offer, it is typically considered a “counter-offer.” which must itself be accepted) Third, it must represent the intent of both parties to enter into a legally binding agreement (The Basics of Contract Law, 2017). In other words, both parties have to be aware that the agreement could be enforced by law.

Contracts can be defined through promises between parties that are enforceable through law. We know that both parties agreed verbally, an oral agreement was made to hold the car for one day with a hundred-dollar deposit and Stan agreed to the terms that the deposit was refundable. Contracts can be in in two form which are written or oral. Based on the elements of contracts, many fundamentals factors are considered mandatory to form a contract that is binding on parties and are primarily outlined through the following:

Offer and acceptance are fundamentals required for the development of a lawfully binding agreement: the appearance of an offer to agreement on positive terms by one person to another person and suggestion by the offered of its acceptance of those relationships. The further fundamentals traditionally required for a legally binding

To have a complete understanding of what a contractual agreement entails, it is imperative one knows first what exactly a contract is. A contract is best defined as a written or verbal agreement, usually regarding employment, sales, tenancy, or promises between two or more parties. Because most contracts are legally binding, the breaching of these contracts can result in legal action being taken against the party at fault. “No Magic Words, Or How to Read a Contract” written by Duke University’s Director of Scholarly Communications Kevin Smith, discusses the issues that may arise from contracts, as well as the importance of appropriately choosing contracts on a case by case basis. Smith states early that contracts are “private law arrangements intended to do specific things that the parties to the contract have decided on through clear language” (Smith, 2012, Para. 2).

Accordingly, the Legal Department sets out below a general background and practice of Postal Acceptance Rule (PAR) and its application to the business world at present in Australia. We enclose with the modification of PAR in response to ongoing changes in transaction acts and technology nowadays. Regarding Conditional Acceptance, the case of Master v Cameron will be utilized as an example and set as background for recommendations for our business.

Many individuals do not understand the full significance of the terms outlined in a contract until they find themselves at the receiving end of litigation. In addition, they do not recognize that a contract can be established with as little as a verbal agreement between parties which can, as with a written contract, become the basis to award damages in the event that one or more members default on the agreement. When individuals make purchases they form contracts with the entity whose business they patronize. Formation of a contract for sale need only entail an offer and acceptance between parties and is legally binding when agreement and consideration are ascertained. The purpose of this paper is to address legal

This paper looks to explain what constitutes a valid contract under English law it is necessary by considering the key aspects involved with formation of a legally binding agreement between two or more different parties along with the impact of a number of associated nuances and what the case may be with regard to different forms of contract. To achieve this it was necessary for this paper to look to consider a combination of different case law decisions to have been decided by the courts along with

An agreement or acceptance is also required to form a contract. In order to form the contract, the acceptance must be written, spoken or by conduct. The acceptance must be unequivocal. In scenario one, there is no obvious acceptance.

When forming a contract, the requirements of offer and acceptance have to be met. Offer; intimation of a willingness to enter a legally binding contract, is the first step to enter into an agreement. Additionally, the second requirement is acceptance, when the offeree must accept the offer. A fundamental requisite in order to establish and finalise an agreement is that offer and acceptance must correspond between the parties. Here, we encounter the intricacies of dealing with contract formation, specifically “the battle of the forms”. Whereby at the time of entering a contract, both parties attempt to impose their respective standard terms and conditions. In

Nevertheless, the postal rule of acceptance is subject to some limitations. In Enthores v. Miles Far East Corp (1955) it was held that the postal rule did not apply to telexes and it was confined to non-instantaneous forms of communication. This solution is logical. The question is to know whether the latest QuickPost private letter delivery service could be regarded as an instantaneous form of communication. The delay between posting and delivery is very short (2 days) but there is however a delay. That is why the postal rule of acceptance should be applied in that case. Even if the private letter delivery service is quicker than a regular post service it can not be regarded as an instantaneous form of communication.

The law of contract requires a firm offer and acceptance to be in place and acceptance of an offer by post is referred to as the postal rule. This rule was created in 1818 and is a non instantaneous method of communication. The postal rule will be examined alongside offer and acceptance and the effectiveness of the postal rule today will be analysed. Other methods of communication such as email and faxes will also be explored. Relevant cases will be provided as evidence for any points made. A conclusion will be reached with the evaluation of the effectiveness of the postal rule today.

Contractual agreement has always been viewed in terms of offer and acceptance. The universal principle to contract law has always been parties may get into an agreement in whichever way they deem fit and they are subject to certain terms as they choose. As far as legal requirements vital to their formation are binding contracts may be formed. Moreover a binding agreement may be manifested in terms of writing or in verbal form.