Explain what is meant by the term 'standard form contract'.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using standard form contracts in business?
1. (a) Explain what is meant by the following saying:
'The terms of a contract must be certain or capable of being made certain.'
(b) Consider the legal position in each of the situations given below:
(i) Sally, an actress, accepts an offer to play Ophelia in a new London production of Hamlet 'at a West End salary to be mutually agreed'. Sally and the producers cannot agree on an appropriate salary.
(ii) Gary agrees to buy a motorcycle from Speedy Garages Ltd 'on usual HP terms'. Gary has now learnt that he will be required to pay a 50 per cent deposit. He has not saved up enough money.
(iii) After lengthy negotiations for the sale of a flat, Anne, the purchaser, writes to the vendors, 'I accept your offer to sell 12A Sea Terrace, Sandy Bar, for £150,000, subject to the usual conditions of acceptance appropriate to this kind of sale.' Anne has been offered a job 100 miles away and now wishes to withdraw from the purchase.
(iv) Mercurial Property Co Ltd grants a five-year lease on shop premises to Frosted Foods Ltd at a rent of £10,000 a year. It is agreed that Frosted Foods Ltd will be able to extend the lease by a further three years 'at such rent as may be agreed between the parties', and that any dispute should be referred to arbitration. The parties have failed to agree the rent for the extension of the lease.