Explain in details each of the following questions.

1. Consider whether a valid contract has been formed in the following circumstances.

a) Iraj sees the following advertisement in his local newspaper: 'For Sale: Rose Bushes only 12.99 for

five. Hurrylimited supplies. Send cheque to Beautiful Gardens Ltd., PO box 123'. Iraj sends a

cheque but is told the bushes are sold out.

b) Dave writes to Peter, 'You mentioned that you would like to buy my red sports car. You can have it

for 5,000. If you want it let me know by the end of the week.' The following day Dave sells his car

to Jane. Peter learns of the sale and immediately tells Dave he accepts his offer.

c) Mary sent out a circular to all interested businesses in her area offering for sale her fleet of company cars for which tenders were invited. Jane's tender turned out to be the highest but Mary has

refused to sell her the cars.

d) Strait and Co, a manufacturer of vitamin pills, states in an advertisement that the regular use of its

'Vito' pills will increase a user's energy levels in two weeks. Slouch takes 'Vito' pills every day for two

weeks but notices no improvement in his energy.

e) Penelope writes to Quentin offering to buy his car for 2,000 and says that if she has not heard

from him within a week she will assume that he has accepted. A week elapses and Penelope has

heard nothing from Quentin.

f) On Monday Teresa sends a fax to Ursula offering to sell her diamond necklace at a knock down

price of 10,000 for a quick sale. Ursula sends a letter back the same day accepting the offer. On

Tuesday, before Ursula's letter arrives, Teresa agrees to sell the necklace to another person.

g) James offers to sell his laptop to David for 750. David offers to pay 500. James refuses to accept

500. David agrees to pay 750.

h) Paul sees a lawn mower in a shop window with a price tag of 100. He says that he will buy the lawn

mower but the shop assistant says that the price tag should read 200 and refuses to sell it to him

for 100.

i) Lin books a train to Exeter using Simplerail's internet service. Although she put in her credit carddetails when she booked the train, she has had no confirmation of her booking.

2. Andrea decides to sell her car and puts a notice on the back windscreen of the car. The notice reads,

'This car is for sale, excellent condition, low mileage, bargain at 2,000. Please phone Brighton 678123 or

call in at 8 Hove Street.'

On Monday morning Bob telephones Andrea and offers to buy the car for 1500. Andrea refuses to

accept his offer. Later that day Bob changes his mind about the car and telephones Andrea. She is out

so he leaves a message on her answerphone saying, 'I agree to give you the full asking price of 2000

for your car and will be round to collect it tomorrow'.

On Tuesday morning, Carl sees Andrea's car and writes a letter of acceptance to Andrea enclosing a

cheque for 2,000. He immediately puts the letter in the post box. On Tuesday afternoon Debs calls

at 8 Hove Street but Andrea is out, so she puts a note through the letterbox stating, 'I have had a good

look at your carit is just what I wantI enclose a cheque for the full asking price of 2,000'.

Explain to Bob, Carl, and Debs if they have a valid contract to purchase Andrea's car, giving full reasons

with case illustrations.

3. Fully explain the difference between 'an offer' and 'an invitation to treat'. In contract law, is an advertisement in a newspaper treated as 'an offer' or 'an invitation to treat'?

4. 'Acceptance must be communicated to the offeror by the offeree'. Discuss what this phrase means and

consider any exceptions to the rule.

5.

a) Every week, Amy and Jim and their daughter, Sophie, enter the National Lottery, each contributing

1 for 3 lucky dip numbers. Sophie always fills in the form, pays over the money to the newsagent,

and keeps the ticket. Last week five of their numbers came up and the ticket paid out 5,000.

Sophie refuses to share the 5,000. Advise Amy and Jim.

b) Discovering the kitchen on fire, Bella telephoned the fire brigade. On their arrival she told Sam, the

officer in charge, that she would give each fireman 50 if they prevented the fire from damaging

her living room which contained valuable antiques. The firemen extinguished the fire and confined

its effects to the kitchen. Bella has refused to pay. Advise the fire brigade.

c) Alice is travelling to Oxford when her car gets a puncture. The driver of a passing van stops and

offers to change the wheel of Alice's car. When he has finished he says 'That will be 100 please. I'm

part of the Blue Flag rescue service. I have a garage just down the road.' Explain to Alice if she is

legally obliged to pay the 100.

d) While Paul is away on holiday his neighbour, Jim, mends Paul's garden fence. When Paul returns he

is so pleased he promises to give Jim a case of French wine. This was two weeks ago and Jim has

still not received any wine. Has a contract been made between Paul and Jim?

6. Anthony entered into a contract with Bruce to refurbish a block of 100 flats; the work was to be completed in three months. The contract stated that late completion would be charged at 5,000 per day.

Anthony sub-contracted with Clive to install the fitted kitchens and bathrooms in each of the flats for a

fixed price of 100,000. After a month it became obvious to both Anthony and Clive that Clive had grossly

underpriced the cost of the materials and he would be in financial difficulties if he completed the job.

Consequently, Anthony offered to pay Clive an additional 300 per flat provided they were finished before

the completion date. Clive carried on with the contract and completed the work in time. Anthony is now

refusing to pay him the additional money. Advise Clive.

Questions

In social and domestic agreements what presumption is made with regard to intention to create legal

relations? How does this differ from the approach to intention in business agreements? Give examples

from case law.

4. Explain what is understood in contract law by the statement 'Consideration must be sufficient but

need not be adequate'