Often times, people confuse a mere invitation to Treat with an Offer.

The major difference is that the acceptance of Offer creates a binding contract, while a purported acceptance of An Invitation to Treat is does not create a binding Contract.

An invitation to treat, in the words of Andrew Burrows, is an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the party to whom it is addressed. ’Halsbury (2007) also commented that; ‘an invitation to treat is a mere declaration of willingness to enter into negotiations; it is not an offer, and cannot be accepted so as to form a binding contract.’

In Berliet Nigeria Ltd v. Francis,_ the appellant sent a notice to the respondent (who was a worker in the appellant company) that following company policy, workers were entitled to buy shares in the company. The respondent applied for shares and was given a receipt. The company didn’t award the shares to him. He sued and was successful in the high court. On appeal, the court of appeal held the first act of notifying the defendant was an invitation to treat. Thus, the subsequent application for shares was an offer which could be accepted or rejected by the appellant.

The rationale or wisdom behind the distinction between the two concepts is that we may have instances where a seller of a product (or service provider) will be unwilling to sell to a certain set of persons, or where he or she will make a mistake in labeling the product and will not want to be bound by contractual terms grounded on such mistake. See: Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd_ it is submitted that invitation to treat is a nursery or breeding stage to offer.

Invitation to Treat can only precede an Offer.

Simply put, invitation to treat is referred to as a preliminary move towards the offer. In all case, invitation to treat precedes the offer itself. This can be illuminated by a person waiting at the bus stop for a cab. This action in itself is referred to as an invitation to treat, the cab driver stopping at that same bus stop makes an offer to the individual and based on this, it is left to the person to accept or decline the offer.
Invitation to treat cannot result in acceptance but often on the other hand, initiates an acceptance.

To the rest: Visit www.legalify.ng/blog



Special Guest Post By Ikubuwaje Anthony Esq.


Thanks again for reading through. Please drop feedbacks and comments, or contact us with suggestions for topics you’d like to see written about — using our handle.

Twitter: @legalifyNg
Facebook: LegalifNg