A unilateral contract is open and available to anyone where only one party makes a promise, and the other is required to perform the action against that promise. This type of contract is mostly sometimes applicable to advertisements made to the public at large. On the other hand, a bilateral contract is a type of contract where two parties enter into an agreement and agree to fulfil the promise from both sides to do something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A unilateral contract is a one-sided contract, and hence the offeror agrees to complete the agreement when the other party, the offeree, performs an action. Unlike bilateral contracts in unilateral contracts, the agreement is not made in exchange for a promise made from the other party. However, the offeror is obligated and bound by the action if performed by the other party to fulfil the contract, whereas the offeree is not obligated to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While a contract is made in which the consideration is given\nin exchange for a promise, in the case of the unilateral contracts, there is a\nconsideration, but there is an absence of promise. These contracts are\ndeveloped to cater to the unique interests of some service providers, contest\nmanagers, and advertisers. There are some instances of unilateral contracts\nwhich are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Insurance Contracts:<\/em><\/strong> In an insurance contract, if their\nproperty<\/a> is lost or damaged, the insurer offers to compensate people in a\nspecified way. The customer makes very few legally enforceable promises, and\nnormally his responsibility is limited to paying the premiums. In case the\nproperty is damaged, and the insurance company refuses to compensate the\ncustomer, then customers can sue for breach of the contract, whereas the\ninsurance company cannot sue its customer generally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertisements:<\/em><\/strong> Advertisements are not bilateral contracts, but\nhowever, the advertisements may be constituted as a unilateral contract. For\ninstance, Mr. A publishes an advertisement in the local newspaper promised to\npay Rs.1000 as a reward to anyone who finds his missing wallet. The\nadvertisement may constitute a unilateral contract. Mr. B, a member of the\npublic, brings his lost wallet; therefore, Mr. A is obligated to pay the\nRs.1000. However, Mr. B was not under any obligation to Mr. A. In case Mr. A\nrefuses to give Mr. B the Rs.1000 as a reward, then Mr. B can sue Mr. A for\nbreach of contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One-Sided:<\/em><\/strong> The main characteristic of a unilateral contract is that\nonly one party to the contract makes a promise. And the other party is not\nobligated to fulfill that contract. For example, J asks K to take her car to\nthe repair shop. She promises to pay K Rs.200 if he takes her car. If he does\nnot take her car, then she is not obligated to pay him, but if he takes the car\nto the repair shop, then she is obligated to pay the Rs.200 to fulfill as a\npromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breach of Contract:<\/em><\/strong> There is no generally breach of contract in\nthe case of unilateral contracts as no promise is made by both the parties. But\nit can be breached when the offeree, performs certain action and in return, no\npart promise is completed by the offeror then offeree can sue for breach of\ncontract. Breaching a unilateral contract can be enforced by bringing a\nlawsuit. In case of a lawsuit, the aggrieved party has to prove that the\ncontract existed between both parties, and the person who made the offer is only\nresponsible for not performing his part of the promise, and the other person\ngot suffered a loss in the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rewards and Contests:<\/em><\/strong> Many unilateral contracts are based in the form of rewards and contests. For example, an advertisement agency makes an announcement to award a person who found the lost car of the owner. The person accepts the announcement as an offer and founds the car of the owner. In this case, a unilateral contract is made by the owner through an agency. The person who has found the car needs to be awarded by the owner. If there was no one who has found the car, then the agreement<\/strong> becomes void. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are basic elements that are required to be made to\nmake the contract legally binding upon both parties. A contract is legally\nenforceable; if all these elements are exist<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agreement:<\/em><\/strong> The one party needs to present an offer to another party. Both parties may negotiate until the other accepts the offer. While making an agreement<\/a><\/strong>, there must be no coercion or duress from either of the side. A contract becomes void if it is found that one party’s ability to agree was compromised. An example is where a small business agrees to the terms of a contract after being pressurized to do so by a bigger company.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCharacteristics of Unilateral Contract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Characteristics of Bilateral Contract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n