Acceptance has no legal effect until it is communicated to the offeror
(because it could cause hardship to the offeror to be bound without knowing
that his offer had been accepted). The general rule is that a postal acceptance
takes effect when the letter of acceptance is posted
5
(even if the letter may
be lost, delayed or destroyed6
). However, the postal rule will not apply if it is
excluded by the express terms of the offer. An offer which requires
acceptance to be communicated in a specified way can generally be accepted
only in that way. If acceptance occurs via an instantaneous medium such as
email, it will take effect at the time and place of receipt.7
Note that an offeror
cannot stipulate that the offeree's silence amounts to acceptance.