Terminating a Contract – Tread Carefully

Terminating a contract may be the way forward especially when the other party has blatantly failed to meet its obligations. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that terminating a contract is straightforward. Giving the correct notice and reasons for terminating a contract is a process to be carefully navigated if the adversely affected party wants to claim all possible compensation.

Examples of improper approaches to terminating a contract can be dramatic. In the case of Phones 4u Ltd v EE Ltd [2018], EE denied themselves a £200 million claim because of a badly drafted termination notice. Given the potential consequences it is generally assumed that an aggrieved party will take legal advice before going ahead with termination.

Most importantly you must act. Even a repudiation, meaning the most serious breach of contract, does not automatically end a contract. Termination rights can also be lost by delay. By the time an aggrieved party decides to assert itself it may be too late.

Things to be most wary of when terminating a contract

Terminating a contract without the right to do so

• By terminating a contract you are refusing to perform any duties which may arise after termination.
• If not justified by a contractual or common law right this refusal to perform is usually itself a repudiation.
• The other party could accept the repudiation, terminate the contract and sue for damages.

Giving the wrong grounds for termination

This is what happened in the Phones 4u.  In that instance EE terminated its contract with Phones 4u on the basis of its rights to terminate for the other party’s insolvency. EE did not explicitly state in its termination notice that Phones 4u were in breach of contract. Even though EE had reserved its rights in the termination notice the judge nevertheless ruled that EE’s £200 million claim against Phones 4u for breach of contract could not now be pursued.

Not following the contractual termination procedure

• The basic rule is that a party serving a notice to exercise a right must comply strictly with the contract.
• Failing to comply may render a termination invalid even if the requirement is meaningless or pointless.
• In the case Zayo Group Internaitonal Ltd v Ainger and other [2017] the court ruled that a requirement to leave the termination notice at a party’s old address was still valid. Because the notice wasn’t left at the old address on time the claim failed.
• Serving an ineffective notice of termination could amount to a repudiatory breach as it communicates an intention to stop performing and may be accompanied by such action.

You can’t take it back

It is also important to note that you cannot take back a termination notice:

• Serving a termination notice communicates a party’s decision to exercise its termination right, which is not compatible with keeping the contract alive.
• In two employment cases, the employee who gave a clear unequivocal notice to resign was then unable to withdraw that notice after an hour in the case of Riordan v War Office [1959] and a day in Southern v Frank Charlesly & Co [1981].

Terminating a Contract – Common Law Rights

Aside from express or implied termination clauses it is also important to consider common law rights when contemplating grounds for termination. The common law gives every contracting party the right to terminate on repudiation. A repudiation comes in different forms:

• Breach of a condition.
• Repudiatory breach of an intermediate term (or innominate term).
• Renunciation, defined as, a party’s outright refusal to perform all or substantially all its obligations under a contract.
• Impossibility, if a party makes it impossible to perform the contract.

Understanding repudiatory breaches of intermediate terms is key when assessing your possible right to terminate a contract. Generally speaking, a breach of an intermediate term is repudiatory if it deprives the aggrieved party of substantially all the benefit of the contract. This deprivation must also coincide with the time that the aggrieved party chose to terminate.

Final word

Terminating a contract must be done carefully if the aggrieved party wants to retrieve as much compensation as possible. As we say above the consequences of not doing so can be severe. Please get in touch with Neil Williamson or Sasha Bark Jones if you need any help.