Trigger event held to be an essential term


In Wells v Devani [2016] EWCA Civ 1106 the Court of Appeal held that an estate agent had not entered into a legally binding contract with the vendor of some properties because the parties had failed to identify the trigger event upon which the estate agent’s commission became payable. The identification of the trigger event was held to be something which the law requires as essential for the formation of legally binding relations. It was not possible for the court to fill the gap by implying a term into the contract because it was held to be wrong in principle to turn an incomplete bargain into a legally binding contract by adding expressly agreed terms and implied terms together. Consideration was also given by the court to the proper interpretation of s18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 which was held to be a form of consumer protection which sought to ensure that a person instructing an estate agent knows precisely what his liabilities to the estate agent are before he is legally committed.