L'Estrange v F Graucob Ltd
A person who signs a contractual document is bound by its terms, whether or not they have read them.
Facts
Miss L'Estrange ran a café in Llandudno. She bought an automatic cigarette vending machine from Graucob, signing an order form headed Sales Agreement. The form contained, in very small print, a clause stating that any express or implied condition, statement or warranty was excluded. The machine jammed soon after it was installed and did not work properly despite repairs. Miss L'Estrange sued for breach of the implied condition that the machine was fit for its purpose. The county court judge found that she had not read the clause and that it had not been brought to her attention, and gave judgment in her favour.
Legal principle
The Divisional Court allowed Graucob's appeal and held that Miss L'Estrange was bound by the exclusion clause. Scrutton LJ said that when a document containing contractual terms is signed, then, in the absence of fraud or misrepresentation, the party signing it is bound, and it is wholly immaterial whether he has read the document or not. The rules about reasonable notice of terms in unsigned documents, such as tickets, did not apply to a signed document. The harshness of the rule has since been reduced by legislation such as the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Related cases on terms of the contract
- Arnold v Britton [2015] UKSC 36, [2015] AC 1619
- Barton v Morris [2023] UKSC 3, [2023] AC 684
- Bettini v Gye (1876) 1 QBD 183
- Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd [2015] UKSC 17, [2015] 1 WLR 1661
- Bunge Corp v Tradax Export SA [1981] 1 WLR 711
- Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon Homes Ltd [2009] UKHL 38, [2009] 1 AC 1101
- Dick Bentley Productions Ltd v Harold Smith (Motors) Ltd [1965] 1 WLR 623
- Hongkong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26
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