Contract Law: Formation, Terms and Remedies
Contract law tests whether a promise is enforceable and what happens when it fails. ACA questions focus on formation, consideration, intention, terms, misrepresentation, discharge and remedies, with consumer contracts governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Formation
An offer must be definite and intended to be binding on acceptance. Advertisements and displays are usually invitations to treat. Acceptance must be communicated; the postal rule applies where post is contemplated, so acceptance is effective on posting, while email/instant messages generally take effect on receipt. Consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate; past consideration is not good. Intention to create legal relations is presumed in commercial deals and rebutted in social ones. Terms may be express, implied by fact/law/statute/custom, or incorporated by signature, notice or course of dealing.
Terms, breach and remedies
Exemption clauses are construed contra proferentem and subject to UCTA 1977 (business) or CRA 2015 (consumer). Misrepresentation can make a contract voidable; remedies depend on type. Breach discharges if the term is a condition; innominate terms depend on consequences. Damages aim to put the claimant in the position as if performed, subject to remoteness (reasonably foreseeable) and mitigation. Specific performance and injunction are discretionary.
Worked example: A offers by letter to sell a machine for £10,000 and states acceptance by post. B posts acceptance on Monday; A revokes on Tuesday before receiving it. Acceptance is effective Monday under the postal rule, so revocation is too late. A is in breach if he refuses to deliver.
Traps: calling a display an offer; forgetting past consideration; treating all terms as conditions; confusing damages with debt; missing consumer status under CRA 2015.