Jennings v Rice
Encyclopedia
Jennings v Rice [2002] EWCA Civ 159 is an English contract law
case concerning proprietary estoppel
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, died on August 11, 1997 aged 93, without a will or children. Mr Jennings had worked as her gardener since 1970, but from the late 1980s had increasingly begun to care for her, doing washing, helping dressing, shopping and going to the toilet. She was running out of money and could not continue to pay him. She told him he need not worry about that since “he would be alright” and that “this will all be yours one day”. Mr Jennings claimed that either there was a claim under the Inheritance Act 1970, or there was a contract, or that he had a right to the house under the doctrine of proprietary estoppel. The administrator contested the payment. The High Court awarded him £200,000 taking into account the payments Mr Jennings had forgone on the basis of proprietary estoppel, after rejecting the IA 1970 claim, and stating that Mrs Royle's words had been too vague to make a contract. Mr Jennings appealed arguing that he should get the full sum even under proprietary estoppel, while Mr Rice argued that although the full value of the house was the maximum awardable, the court should take into account the actual detriment experienced.
English contract law
English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...
case concerning proprietary estoppel
Proprietary estoppel
Proprietary estoppel is a legal claim, which may arise in relation to rights to use the land of the owner, and may even be effective in connection with disputed transfers of ownership.-Outline:Proprietary estoppel can be broken into a number of steps...
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Facts
Mr Jennings, a gardener, sued the administrator of his former employer, Mr Rice, to have a large house worth £435,000 conveyed to him on the ground that he had been given an assurance he would get it. Mrs Royle, who lived at Lawn House, Shapwick, SomersetShapwick, Somerset
Shapwick is a village on the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.-History:Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC....
, died on August 11, 1997 aged 93, without a will or children. Mr Jennings had worked as her gardener since 1970, but from the late 1980s had increasingly begun to care for her, doing washing, helping dressing, shopping and going to the toilet. She was running out of money and could not continue to pay him. She told him he need not worry about that since “he would be alright” and that “this will all be yours one day”. Mr Jennings claimed that either there was a claim under the Inheritance Act 1970, or there was a contract, or that he had a right to the house under the doctrine of proprietary estoppel. The administrator contested the payment. The High Court awarded him £200,000 taking into account the payments Mr Jennings had forgone on the basis of proprietary estoppel, after rejecting the IA 1970 claim, and stating that Mrs Royle's words had been too vague to make a contract. Mr Jennings appealed arguing that he should get the full sum even under proprietary estoppel, while Mr Rice argued that although the full value of the house was the maximum awardable, the court should take into account the actual detriment experienced.