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Which of the following is included in an agent’s ostensible authority?
A.The authority that the 3rd party expects the agent to have
B.The authority that the agent states that they have
C.The authority that is usual in the circumstances and what the principal impliedly gives the agent
D.The authority that the principle explicitly gives the agentRespected Sir, Please help me with this question.
The answer given at the back of the BPP kit is C which is contradicting with the book that defines ‘implied authority’ as what is said in option C.
What is the correct answer? Also my mind is more towards option A as the right one.I’m looking at chapter 10 in a BPP study text, paragraph 3.4. This states that ‘apparent or ostensible authority ….. occurs when a principal holds it out to be so to a third party’
My copy of the study text is from 2017 so the reference may have changed by the time we get to 2019 … but it’s unlikely to have changed by much!
OK?
So Is C ostensible authority? What is implied authority then
Please elaborate sir
Implied authority is authority that is not express
Where I appoint an agent in writing, that will confer express authority. There’s no question or doubt about that appointment
But, equally, I can appoint an agent simply by oral appointment and that, too, is express
However, that could be difficult to prove in a court of law!
But there are situations where a person acts as agent on behalf of a principal and the authority of that person’s actions may only be implied from the specific situation
Where I own a restaurant and appoint an employee to be chef, is it not reasonable for the local fruit and vegetable wholesale market to believe that that person has the authority from me to buy fruit and vegetables for the restaurant
I believe that that situation would be an example of ostensible / apparent authority
Does that make it any better for you?
Thanks a ton sir for making the concept 100 times clearer to me… and your explanation definitely confirms the answer given behind the book (C) to be wrong.
In the above question, option c) seems to suggest implied authority because of the word implied and what is usual in the circumstances. I read that usual authority is another word for implied authority whereas for ostensible authority it is apparent authority. I think in order for option c) to be correct it should include what is beyond normal in the circumstances and not what is normal or usual in the circumstances. There does not seem to be any key word to not conclude that it is implied authority. What really is the key word that suggests that it is ostensible authority.
There isn’t a magic word – sorry
Check out the case Freeman & Lockyer v Buckhurst Park Properties
OK?
I still probably don’t get it, option c) seems to be the definition of implied authority and not ostensible authority. It seems to be a definition question and the definition given in option c) seems to fit well with implied authority.There is not enough information in option c) to conclude that it is ostensible authority at all.
Of the 4 options given, which of the options a, b and d better fits the situation of ostensible authority?
It seems to me that you are hooked on the use of the word ‘impliedly’ within the question
Not only curious about the word impliedly but also about the words : usual in the circumstances.
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