Hyde v Wrench
A counter offer rejects the original offer, which cannot then be accepted.
Facts
On 6 June 1840 Wrench offered to sell his farm to Hyde for £1,000. On 8 June Hyde, through his agent, replied offering £950. Wrench considered this offer for some days and then, on 27 June, wrote that he could not accept it. On 29 June Hyde wrote that he was now prepared to pay the £1,000 originally asked. Wrench did not agree to sell, and Hyde sued for specific performance, arguing that he had accepted Wrench's offer of 6 June.
Legal principle
Lord Langdale MR held that there was no contract. By offering £950, Hyde had made a counter offer, which had the effect of rejecting Wrench's original offer. Once rejected, the original offer was no longer capable of being accepted, so Hyde's later attempt to accept the £1,000 offer was itself only a new offer, which Wrench was free to refuse. The case established the rule that a counter offer kills the original offer.
Related cases on offer and acceptance
- Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald 681
- Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council [1990] 1 WLR 1195
- Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft mbH [1983] 2 AC 34
- Butler Machine Tool Co Ltd v Ex-Cell-O Corp (England) Ltd [1979] 1 WLR 401
- Byrne & Co v Van Tienhoven & Co (1880) 5 CPD 344
- Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] 1 QB 256
- Dickinson v Dodds (1876) 2 Ch D 463
- Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corp [1955] 2 QB 327
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