OFFER

Offer Meaning

An offer is a crucial element of a contract or ingredient of forming a legally binding agreement between parties. The offer refers to a proposal by one party outlining the terms and conditions of a contract that they are willing to enter into with another party. The offer must be clear, definite, and communicated to the offeree with the intention of creating a legal obligation if accepted. Once the offer is made, the offeree can either accept, reject or try to negotiate the terms of the offer. An offer is distinct from a promise in that it is a pre-contractual statement that sets out the offeror's willingness to enter into a contract, whereas a promise is a statement made after the contract is formed.

Offer

"An offer is an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms made with the intention (express or implied) that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed." (Treitel)

In Contract Law, an offer is a declaration of a party's desire to enter into a binding agreement on certain conditions. It must have been formed with the purpose that it will become binding upon acceptance (that is, the intention to be legally bound); otherwise, it will not be valid. There should be no need for any more conversations or discussions. In order for an offer to be legally binding, the agreement outlined in the offer must be clear, and the recipient of the offer's acceptance must be made known.

Intention to Be Legally Bound

The intention to be legally bound is one of the elements that must be met. It is an agreement between the parties who hope that it may be enforced by a court (which is another way of saying that they intend to form legal relations as a result of the agreement). It is necessary for the parties to have the intention of entering into a legally binding arrangement in which the rights and responsibilities of the agreement are enforceable, similar to the case of Storer v Manchester City Council [1974] 1 WLR 1403 where the court held Despite the fact that the agreed-upon term date was missed, Lord Denning came to the conclusion that the contract was valid. In order to differentiate between an offer and an invitation to treat, one must look at what the parties' actions and words objectively and fairly imply about their intentions. The council's intention was for an offer to be made, which Storer, as the claimant, ultimately accepted; as a result, the contract was successfully constructed. The letter was sent with the intention of creating an offer.

Types of Offer

counter offer

A counter offer is an additional offer that is made by the offeree, and it serves as a rejection of the first offer that was made. The offeree will often try to tack on more conditions or modify the ones that are already there. According to Hyde v. Wrench (1840), 49 ER 132, in order to create a legally enforceable contract, this new offer must be disclosed to the offeror and accepted by the offeror. In Hyde v. Wrench the judge made a decision that sided with the defendant. The claimant's counter-offer effectively nullified the first offer that had been made. As a result, there was never a contract agreed upon by the parties.

Cross offer

The phrase "cross offer" refers to when two parties make the same offer to one another without being aware that they have already made the same offer to one another at that moment. For instance, you may make an offer to sell your automobile to a buddy for the price of £1,000, but your friend might not know that and instead make an offer to purchase your car from you for the same amount. According to the case of Tinn v. Hoffman (1873), 29 LT 271, a counteroffer does not constitute a legally enforceable contract. Regarding the iron, it was determined that there was not a contract between Mr. Tinn and Mr. Hoffman in this particular situation. The competing proposals were made at the same time, but neither party was aware of the other's existence; hence, this did not constitute a legally binding contract between the parties for the iron. There is a distinction to be made between an offer that is countered and one that is crossed out. Have a look at our free notes.

LAW BOOKS

Utilised on the LLB, SQE, PGDL, and GDL curricula, as well as the CILEX Qualification Framework and the University of London LLB curriculum. The volumes in the Contract Law Core Series will assist you in comprehending the intricacies of various legal issues. You won't have any trouble getting ready for exams if you use the approved answers that are provided in our Contract Law Q&A Series books. Excellent for students who are searching for comprehensive aid with their studies.