Olley v. Marlborough Court Hotel

"Olley v Marlborough Court Hotel" [1949] 1 KB 532 is a famous English case on exclusion clauses in contract law. The case stood for the proposition that a representation made by one party cannot become a term of a contract if made after the agreement was made. The representation can only be binding where it was made at the time the contract was formed.

Mrs Olley left a fur coat at the coat-check of the Marlborough Court Hotel. The coat was stored in a locked room but was stolen. Olley sued the hotel for the loss of her coat. The Hotel argued that they were protected against the suit under a contract of service where they had disclaimed liability for theft. Within each bedroom there was a notice stating the hotel would not be liable for theft.

The Court found that the disclaimer was not part of the contract and the hotel could not rely upon it. The contract for the storage of the coat was formed at the reception desk. There was no way that Olley could have been aware of the disclaimer at that point and so it could not be part of the contrct.

The hotel could only rely on the exclusion clause if it was a term of the contract.The court held that it was made at the reception desk before the Olleys went up to their room. Therefore, the exclusion clause could not be a term.

ee also

* Parker v. South Eastern Railway Company