''Simpkins v Pays''
9551 WLR 975 is a
precedent
Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...
case on
intention to create legal relations in the
English law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
of
contract
A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
.
Decided at Chester assizes in 1955, this case involved an informal
syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...
agreement between a grandmother, grand-daughter and a lodger. The three ladies regularly entered a fashion competition in the "Sunday Empire News" where 8 types of fashion attire were ranked. For a period of 7 to 8 weeks, the plaintiff lodger, the defendant grandmother, and the grand-daughter each contributed one forecast on the coupon.
The coupon in question was filled in by the lodger but was made out in the grandmother's name. The costs of postage and the 30-shilling entry fee were informally shared, being sometimes paid by one and sometimes by another. When the question of sharing winnings first came to be considered between the lodger and grandmother, the latter said that they would "go shares".
The coupon sent in for June 1954 was successful; but the grandmother refused to pay a third of the £750 prize money to the lodger, claiming that the arrangement to share any winnings was reached in a family association and was not intended to give rise to legal consequences, and that accordingly, there was no contract.
Decision
Sellers J'' said that the grandmother was required to give one-third of the winnings to the lodger. The judge, applying the
objective test
Objective tests are measures in which responses maximize objectivity, in the sense that response options are structured such that examinees have only a limited set of options (e.g. Likert scale
A Likert scale ( ,) is a psychometric scale named ...
, said that the informal agreement between the parties was binding and that the facts showed a "mutuality" between the parties, adding:
[This reasoning is an example of the application of Wambaugh's Inversion Test.]
If my conclusion that there was an arrangement to share any prize money is not correct, the alternative position to that of these three persons competing together as a "syndicate", as counsel for the plaintiff put it, would mean that the plaintiff, despite her propensity for having a gamble, suddenly abandoned all her interest in the competition in the ''Sunday Empire News
The ''Empire News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom.
The newspaper was founded in 1884 in Manchester as ''The Umpire''. A penny newspaper, it was the first successful provincial Sunday newspaper in England. Owned by H. S. Jennings, ...
''. I think that that is most improbable ... .
Sellers J added that, ''semble,'' the grand-daughter also would be entitled to as one-third share (even though she was not a party to the case, nor had she claimed against her grandmother).
Significance
*This case shows that in social agreements the presumption that parties do not want to enter a legal relationship can be rebutted.
*Although many sources treat "social and domestic agreements" as a single category, it is better to regard "family agreements" as a class separate from "social agreements", as the latter invokes ''no'' presumption, and ''only'' the
objective test applies.
See also
*''
Connell v MIB
''Coward v MIB'' was a 1963 Court of Appeal decision on intention to create legal relations, and on the liability of the Motor Insurers Bureau when a passenger in a vehicle is killed or injured through the driver's negligence.
The decision was ...
''
*''
Welch v Jess''
References
{{reflist
English contract case law