Solicitors Brent

What does waiver mean?

Waiver can be defined as a voluntary relinquishment of legal rights that a person or organisation would normally have if the waiver did not exists.  Although waiver is commonly referred to in contract law, it is a broad term which is applicable in other areas of law too.

What are some examples of waiver?

There are many.  In the context of contract law, typical examples of waiver might include loosing the right to insist on goods that are exactly as described; loosing the right to see a particular set of terms enforced in a contract; receiving payment in a form that was different to the form originally intended i.e. cheque instead of credit card.

How does a waiver come into existence?

For a waiver to come into existence, the person decided to forfeit their some of their rights must do so in an informed way, without duress and through words (verbal and written) or through conduct implying a waiver has come into existence.

What is waiver by election?

Waiver by election occurs where a person or organisation makes a choice between several rights (for example, choice of remedies) and communicates that choice through their conduct or words.  The conduct and words must be of such a nature that it is unequivocal that the party has chosen to exercise one right and abandon another.

What are waiver clauses?

Waivers are naturally uncertain, especially where the waiver comes into existence by spoken word or even conduct.  To overcome this drawback, waiver clauses can be inserted into contracts to govern the way in which waiver works.  In fixed-term employment contracts, for example, some employers may try to insert waiver clauses to prevent employees claiming unfair dismissal if their contract is not renewed.  However, such clauses are only valid where the contract of employment is for one year or longer.

What is the difference between waiver and variation?

Waiver does not actually vary the terms of a contract whereas variation does.  Variation, however, requires a much more formal approach than waiver – all the usual rules of forming a valid contract need to be followed, that is an offer to vary terms, acceptance of the offer, consideration (a legal term, but will usually be in the form of money) and intention of both parties for the variation to be legally binding.

What is the difference between waiver and estoppel?

In estoppel, one party represents to the other that it will not exercise certain legal rights.  The party that is represented to relies on this being the case.  The key differences are in the concepts of reliance and detriment.  In waiver, one party does not have to rely on a waiver by the other and suffer if the other party does not do as they said.  In estoppel, one party relies on the representation and the party making the representation is ‘estopped’ (prevented) from going back on their word because this would cause ‘detriment’ to the other party.