Description
Contract law : Answer any TWO questions.
The answer to each question must not exceed 1500 words.
The total word limit for the completed assessment is 3000 words.
Full referencing and standard legal citation of material must be given
Answer any TWO questions.
1. ?An unexpected term can be implied if and only if the court finds that the parties must have
intended that term to form part of their contract; it is not enough for the court to find that such a
term would have been adopted by the parties as reasonable men if it had been suggested to
them?
Lord Pearson, Trollope & Colls Ltd v North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board [1973] 2 All
ER 260 at 268
Critically discuss this statement, illustrating and supporting your discussion with decided cases.
2. Having given the matter much thought, Mike decided to have a conservatory built on to the
back of his home. He had researched the project thoroughly on the internet, before contacting
Ideal Conservatories, a local specialist company who he had used some years previously to
construct a porch on the front of the house.
Ideal Conservatories sent a salesperson and a technician to Mike?s home, to discuss the project
and collect the measurements etc necessary for the company to provide a written quotation for
the job. Within a few days, Mike received the quote, detailing price, starting date for the project
etc. He contacted the company to say that he was happy to go ahead with the work, but stressed
the importance of his choice of style and materials, as he considered that this was crucial to
complement the existing style of his property.
Two weeks later Mike received a further letter from Ideal Conservatories headed ?Confirmation
of Order?, which referred to the company?s ?standard terms and conditions?, to be viewed on
their website. The company?s standard terms and conditions actually contain the following:
– Ideal Conservatories reserve the right to make such changes to the style of the conservatory as
may be necessary to facilitate the building work.
– Ideal Conservatories will not be responsible for any damage to persons or property, howsoever
caused.
– All accounts to be settles within two weeks of completion, or late payment penalties would be
applied (although there was no indication of what those penalties would be).
Whilst delivering building materials for the project, an employee of the company negligently
dropped a glass panel on Mike?s car, causing considerable damage to the bodywork of the car.
Once the conservatory was complete, Mike was rather disappointed with the overall style, as it
was not what he had envisaged from the detailed drawing provided to him by the company.
Mike had taken the decision to delay payment for the work until the issue of the car and the
design were resolved and was surprised to receive a letter, two weeks after completion, stating
that a ?1000 penalty clause had been activated and that the account would attract a weekly rate
of interest of 10% until the bill was settled.
Advise Mike in relation to the contractual issues raised.
3. Moira recently moved to a new house. The garden was seriously overgrown and was bordered
by a hedge, which was in poor condition. She therefore decided to employ a landscape gardener
to clear the garden, rip out the hedge, erect a new fence and lay out a new garden. She obtained
estimates from several contractors. Most were for sums in the region of ?5000 – ?6000. However,
without seeing the site, Trevor offered to do the work for only ?2000. Moira pointed out that the
site was seriously overgrown, but Trevor assured her that it would pose no problem and Moira
therefore accepted his offer. Trevor agreed that the work would be completed in time for Moira?
s birthday in October when she planned to hold a garden party in celebration. Moira, who is a
keen environmentalist, stipulated that Trevor should only use peat free compost in the planting.
All went well at first. Trevor began work and initially made good progress. However, at the
beginning of September he told Moira that he had run into some problems. He explained that on
clearing some of the undergrowth from the site he had discovered a bed of concrete under a thin
layer of topsoil. It was therefore necessary for him to clear the soil, break up the concrete and lay
a new layer of top soil before replanting the site. In addition, there is a layer of rock under the old
hedge, which would make erecting the planned fence much more difficult than anticipated and
require the hire of specialist equipment. He indicated that as a result he could not finish the
project for the original agreed price, but would need an additional payment of ?2000 plus ?500
to cover the cost of hiring the necessary equipment.
Since it was so close to the date of her planned party, for which she had already sent out
invitations, Moira reluctantly agreed to Trevor?s request. Trevor therefore went ahead and
completed the work. He then submitted an invoice for ?4500. Moira, who had spent a good deal
more than planned on her party, said that she could only afford to pay ?3500 and offered that
sum ?in full and final settlement?. Trevor complained bitterly, but since he too was under
financial pressure, agreed to Moira?s terms and accepted the cheque for ?3500.
Moira has now discovered that contrary to the terms of her agreement with Trevor, he used peat
based compost for much of the planting in the garden. She is greatly distressed although there is
virtually no difference in value between peat based and no-peat based composts. Trevor is now
claiming the balance of ?1000.
Advise the parties.
4. As Bingham LJ stated, in The Super Servant Two [1990], the doctrine of frustration has
developed to:
?mitigate the rigour of the common law?s insistence on literal performance of absolute
promises?, with the object being, ?to give effect to the demands of justice, to achieve a just and
reasonable result, to do what is reasonable and fair, as an expedient to escape from injustice?.
Critically consider the modern position of frustration in an age of the Force Majeure clause
illustrating and supporting your discussion with decided cases.
5. Having decided to move house and ?down-size?, Jim thought that he had found the perfect
new home in the picturesque village of Peak Dale. Unfortunately, the move would require him to
get rid of much of his fine collection of antique furniture. Hoping to make the task as painless as
possible, he placed an advert in the May edition of Antique Home magazine stating, ?Large
collection of much loved period furniture for sale, no reasonable offer refused?. The advert
contained his home phone number and email address.
Soon after the May edition had hit the shops Jim came home to see that he had received a
message on his answer phone. As he was rather tired, he put off listening to it for a few days. The
message was from Edna, and stated that she was willing to buy the whole collection if it were
18th century furniture. She added, ?I am a dedicated collector and will pay your price, no need
to reply, I will assume that it is mine and collect next month?. In fact, most of Jim?s collection
was 19th century.
Anxious to get things moving, Jim wrote to two northern collectors, Pete and Ian, that he had had
previous dealings with, stating, ?My whole collection for sale, asking price ?10,000. Please let
me know by 31st May?.
Pete was on holiday until 31st May, but telephoned Jim when he returned, leaving a message on
Jim?s answer phone saying that he would take the whole collection for the full price.
Unfortunately, Pete?s house has rather ancient plumbing and the rumbling of the pipes in the
background made it very difficult for Jim to hear the message.
Ian knew that Jim needed to sell quickly, so sent a letter stating that he would pay ?800. Although
Ian posted the letter in plenty of time, it was lost in the post.
The more that Jim thought about his precious collection, the less convinced he was that moving
house was the right thing to do. On the morning of 25th May, he contacted the estate agents
withdrawing from the purchase and taking his own house off the market.
Advise the parties.
END OF QUESTION PAPER
Assessment Information A
Submission deadline: Monday 31st January, by 3:00pm
Task 1: Summary of a paper
Word Limit: 500
Describe your understanding of what Mills means by ‘the
sociological imagination’ in no more than 500 words
Task 2: Literature Searching Task
Length: 20 references
1. Work through the Harvard referencing tutorial on the
library website.
2. Pick one of the following topics: mobile phones,
being a pedestrian, security, consumerism, or social
networking sites.
3. Do a Google Scholar Advanced Search to draw up a
preliminary survey of the literature, producing a list of
20 references that you think are relevant to a
sociological consideration of your chosen topic. At
least 10 of the references should be electronically
available.
4. Format the references into a bibliography following
the guidance on the library website.
Task 3: Literature Report
Word Limit: 500
Using at least five of the sources discovered through the
literature searching task, write a 500 word report on the
main themes that appear in the texts. What are some of the
points in common, and what debates or controversies are
there in the field?
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