First and foremost, an offer will lapse once the offeror withdraw an offer which is known as revocation of an offer. In the case, Payne v Cave, it establishes the principle that an offer may be withdrawn at any time up until it is accepted. In Routledge v Grant, the defendant made a provisional offer to buy the claimant’s house at a specified price, ‘a definite answer to be given within six weeks from date’. It was held that, regardless of this provision, the defendant still had the right to withdraw the offer at any moment before acceptance, even though the time limit had not expired. The rule that apply in relation to the withdrawal of offers is it must be communicated. In Byrne v Van Tienhoven, it was held that the withdrawal of an offer sent by telegram was communicated only when the telegram was received. However, communication need not be made by the offeror himself, it could be made through a reliable third party as shown in the case, Dickinson v Dodds where the plaintiff was told by a neighbor that a farm which had been offered to him had been sold to a third party. The court held that the offer had been validly revoked.
An offer may be terminated when reasonable time has lapsed as was in the case, Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v Montefiore where defendant offered to buy shares in the company. He heard nothing from the company, after five months, he was then informed the shares had been allotted to him. Defendant refused to take up the shares. The court held that offer had lapsed as five months were not a reasonable length of time for acceptance of an offer to buy shares with a rapidly fluctuating price. It would appear that where the offeror has not specified how long the offer will remain open, it will lapse after a reasonable length of time has passed. Exactly how long this will depends upon whether the means of communicating the offer were fast or slow and on its subject matter.
Next, when an offer was made subject to a precondition and it was found that the condition was not what had been expressed in the offer, the offeree can refuse the offer as expressed in the case, Financings Ltd Stimson. In this case, the defendant decided to buy a car on hire-purchase terms from a finance company. Car was stolen and returned badly damage before the plaintiff signed the written agreement. It was held that the agreement was an offer to make a contract with the plaintiff, which was subject to the implied condition that the car remained in good condition. The implied condition had been broken before acceptance, and therefore the offer was no long open.
In the case, Hyde v Wrench, it was a simple illustration on the proposition that a counter-offer is usually taken as rejecting the original offer by trying to change the terms of the original offer. An offer lapses when the offeree rejects it and the offeree cannot subsequently accept the original offer. In this case, the defendant offered to sell his farm at £1000, and the claimant responded by offering to buy it at £950. It was held that this was a counter-offer which terminated the original offer which was therefore no longer open for acceptance.
Lastly, it appears that the offer will lapse if the offeree knows that the offeror has died. If the offeree is unaware of the offeror’s death, it probably will not as stated in Bradbury v Morgan. If an offer requires personal performance by the offeror such as painting a picture, it will usually lapse on the offeror death.
In conclusion, based on the cases expressed, we can clearly see that an offer does not last forever, as an offer can be rescinded by either parties for the reasons outlined above.
by
rachelsia (student)
