Henthorn v Fraser [1892] 2 Ch 27 is a decision of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

 dealing with the postal rule in English law of contract formation

Offer and acceptance

Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in contract law used to determine whether an agreement exists between two parties. Agreement consists of an offer by an indication of one person to another of the offeror's willingness to enter into a contract on certain terms without...

.

Facts

The claimant received a note from the defendant

Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...

 with an offer

Offer

Offer may refer to:* Settlement offer, an offer to end a civil lawsuit out of court* Offers, a 2005 Dutch television film* Office of Electricity Regulation , a forerunner of the current Office of Gas and Electricity Markets in Great Britain...

 to purchase a certain property within 14 days. The claimant responded to the offer with an acceptance

Acceptance

Acceptance is a person's agreement to experience a situation, to follow a process or condition without attempting to change it, protest, or exit....

 posted the next day via mail. The defendant withdrew the offer before receiving the acceptance, but after the acceptance was posted.

Judgment

The Court of Appeal ordered that the claimant was entitled to specific performance

Specific performance

Specific performance is an order of a court which requires a party to perform a specific act, usually what is stated in a contract. It is an alternative to award/ for awarding damages, and is classed as an equitable remedy commonly used in the form of injunctive relief concerning confidential...

. Lord Herschell argued: "Where the circumstances are such that it must have been within the contemplation of the parties that, according to ordinary usage of mankind, the post must be used as a means of communicating the acceptance of an offer, the acceptance is complete as soon as it is posted."

Significance

The case is based on a line of decision starting with Adams v Lindsell (1818), according to which the acceptance was valid at the time of posting. The importance of this decision's ratio is that a postal acceptance will only be valid at the time of posting if it is reasonable for the offeror to expect an acceptance by post. It follows that if an offer is brought by hand to a neighbour or sent by fax or telegram, the offeror expects an acceptance by comparable means.

See also

• Offer and acceptance
  Offer and acceptance
  Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in contract law used to determine whether an agreement exists between two parties. Agreement consists of an offer by an indication of one person to another of the offeror's willingness to enter into a contract on certain terms without...
  
  
• Mailbox rule
• Adams v. Lindsell
  Adams v. Lindsell
  Adams v Lindsell [1818] , is an English contract case regarded as the first case towards the establishment of the "postal rule" for acceptance of an offer...
  
  
• Dunlop v. Higgins
  Dunlop v. Higgins
  Dunlop v Higgins 1 HL Cas 381 was an early decision confirming the postal rule in the English law of contract formation. The decision was based on the earlier case of Adams v...
  
  
• Household Fire Insurance Co v. Grant