The law has created several exceptions to this rule

The law has created several exceptions to this rule:
" Payment of a smaller sum along with something else (e.g. agreement to perform labour) will
discharge the debt.
" Payment of a smaller sum before the debt is due will be enforceable.
" Payment of a smaller sum at a different place or in a different currency can operate as a legally
enforceable discharge of a debt.
" Signing a deed of release may discharge the debt.
" Payment may be made by a" third party who is not bound by the contract.
" Agreeing to perform any other act that the debtor is not bound by the contract to perform may
result in a legally enforceable discharge.
" By relying on the defence of promissory estoppel, in some circumstances a contract can be
altered despite a lack of consideration being provided for the altered promise. This is due to
the doctrine of promissory estoppel (see the definition below) that requires several elements
" to be satisfied:
" -the promisee has altered their position in reliance on a new promise

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" -it would be impossible for the promisee to return to their original position without
detriment
" -it would be unfair for the promisor to renege.
The doctrine of promissory estoppel was developed in the following case.
Central London Property Trust Ltd v. High Trees House Ltd [1947] KB 130
FACTS: In 1937 in England, the plaintiff leased a block of flats to the defendant for ninety-nine years
at £2500 per annum. War broke out and it became difficult to fill all the flats. The plaintiff agreed to
reduce the rent to £1200 for the duration of the war. When the war ended, the rent reverted to £2500,
but the plaintiff claimed the full rent for the whole period.
DECISION: The court held the plaintiff was not entitled to claim the full rent for the whole period
(including the war years), despite the fact the defendant had given no consideration for the plaintiff's
promise not to demand the full rent entitlement.
Where one party to a contract, by its behaviour, leads the other party to the contract to believe a certain
state of affairs exists between them, the courts will support that state of affairs rather than the terms of
the contract. It is not possible at a later time for one party to seek to deny the state of affairs. This is
called the doctrine of promissory estoppel.
The High Court of Australia confirmed the doctrine applied in Australia in 1983

Time to think about what you have read
A contract that one of the 'parties is entitled to rescind is:
The two major categories of formal contracts are: Agreements classified as 'social' or 'domestic' are presumed:
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