Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
When an Offer is made with the intention of entering into a contract, the acceptance must be communicated to the offerer, unless the acceptance is by conduct (see: Unilateral contract). Acceptance by post (rather than delivery by hand) is usually acceptable, but there are some legal complexities. In particular, at what point does the law deed the acceptance to have occurred? The standard rule is that acceptance occurs when the acceptance is posted. There are clearly some problems here.
Because of these difficulties, it is not unusual for the parties to ‘contract out’ of the ‘posting constitutes acceptance’ rule by, for example, including a clause in the contract to the effect that acceptance is effected on delivery instead.
Note that the ‘posting constitutes acceptance’ rule does not apply to ‘instantaneous’ methods of communication like telex; therefore it is not clear at present whether in confirmation of acceptance by e-mail or fax the acceptance is on sending or delivery.
In addition, the offer itself does not become valid until is received by the offeree; posting does not constitute an offer.
To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.
Definitions for Acceptance Of Offer By Post are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:
This glossary post was last updated: 4th April, 2020 | 2 Views.