[1918-19] All ER Rep 306
Court of Appeal
The defendants, wishing to sell two steamships to the plaintiffs, gave them particulars in writing of the ships, which stated, inter alia, that the dead-weight capacity of each ship was 460 tons. The particulars further contained the words "not accountable for errors in description." The plaintiffs, relying upon the particulars, agreed to buy the ships, and a memorandum of the contract was signed by the parties on 9 December 1915. The contract made no direct references to the particulars. The dead-weight capacity of each ship was subsequently found to be only 360 tons. The plaintiffs, having accepted the steamers, claimed damages on the ground that the statement se; to the capacity of the ships was a condition of the contract, or, in the alternative, a warranty. Bailhache, J, held that the statement in the particulars as to the dead-weight capacity of the ships formed part of the contract, but as the statement was a warranty and not a condition, the defendants were protected by the words "not accountable for errors," and were not liable. The plaintiffs appealed.
Pickford LJ
'I take a different view from that reached by Bailhache, J, as to whether the particulars were intended to be made part of the contract. I do not think that they were. The document of 9 December 1915, was, I think, intended to be a memorandum of the terms of the contract, and, if so, the particulars were not part of the contract. They merely contained a representation made innocently as to the dead-weight capacity of the ships, which may have induced the plaintiffs to enter into the contract, but which afforded no ground for a claim for damages for breach of contract…'