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Chapter 2

Acceptance must involve some act on the part of the offeree

There must be some act to indicate acceptance; silence cannot be presumed to
amount to acceptance.

Illustration 5 – Acceptance

FELTHOUSE V BINDLEY 1862

Facts:

The claimant wrote to his nephew offering to buy his horse. In his offer he stated
‘If I hear no more about him, I consider the horse to be mine’. The nephew did
not reply.

Held:

The offer had not been accepted as the nephew’s silence was not sufficient to
give acceptance.

3.1 The Postal Rule

This is the exception to the rule that acceptance must always be communicated. The
postal rule states that acceptance is complete as soon as the letter is posted.

The rule only applies where the letter is properly stamped and addressed and if it
would not be unreasonable to use the post (it would be unreasonable, for example,
during a postal strike).

The postal rule applies even if the letter is never received by the offeror but not if the
offeror states he must actually receive acceptance.

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