Cases - Mannai Investment Company Ltd v Eagle Star Life Assurance Company Ltd

Record details

Name

Mannai Investment Company Ltd v Eagle Star Life Assurance Company Ltd

Date

[1997]

Citation

AC 749

Keywords

Landlord and tenant – break clause – mistake in notice - whether notice to break a lease exercised effectively

Summary

A tenant had the right to break a lease on 13 January 1992. By mistake, the tenant's break notice served on the landlord stipulated 12 January instead of 13 January. The landlord argued that the notice was invalid and, accordingly, the break right had not been exercised effectively.

The House of Lords disagreed, holding that the mistake was immaterial. Even though it contained a mistake, the notice was valid because it was sufficiently clear and unambiguous to leave a reasonable recipient (in this case, the landlord) in no reasonable doubt over how it was intended to operate.