Decided against Contract

[McHammer]

I've been offered a start date with a volley of emails between myself and agent, no contract yet. I've now changed my mind am I legally obliged to attend.

Do the emails equate to a contract?

[NotAllThere]

No. Because all your verbal/email agreements have the subtext - "subject to agreement of a signed contract".

[northernladuk]

No. Because all your verbal/email agreements have the subtext - "subject to agreement of a signed contract".

Unless they don't have that subtext in which case (in theory) it is binding. Verbal contracts do have a standing in law although they are extremely problematic and can be argued either way. We've got plenty of threads on here where posters have a verbal agreement and want it to stick. We've advised many times they've got a good case because it's verbal so it's not quite as black and white as a simple No. It appears it's a case of flexing the situation to suit. If you want out we say it's not binding, if you want in we advise you've got a case.

Forget the law though as it's resolved through negotiation every time. Regardless of the point of law just tell them you don't want the gig anymore and move on. The agent will be really pissed but that's all that's going to happen. Same could be said even if you had a contract. Plenty of agents have cancelled gigs before they've started even with a signed contract and we've got plenty of examples of contractors turning them down even though a contract exists. None of them ever go legal.

At the very worst you invoke notice and the contract expires before you've even started. Don't worry about the legalities, negotiate the outcome you want.

[northernladuk]

Because all your verbal/email agreements have the subtext - "subject to agreement of a signed contract".

But to re-iterate this point. Always use the subject to agreement option. It avoids all sorts of problems such as this.

[Hobosapien]

If you've not seen the contract yet then up to that point you're negotiating the terms of it.

Once they've emailed the contract to you then unless specifically withdrawn by either party it could be legally binding without either party having signed it. As NLUK says there's a point where the contract becomes verbally binding but I wouldn't class that as happening until I get the contract in writing to check all that was discussed in emails/phone calls was included to my satisfaction.

Best thing is to be up front with the agency and see what their stance is. Then you can worry about if further action is required.

[LondonManc]

Can you provide a willing and able substitute?

[TestMangler]

If I was you, I wouldn't touch 'dis

[PerfectStorm]

Agents have very few tasks in the running of an ongoing contract, but producing the paperwork (the contract ffs) is one of them. Pull out and you should find it magically appears. Then get it reviewed, as chances are it will have some stuff that will contain IR35 or other difficulty

[barrydidit]

Agents have very few tasks in the running of an ongoing contract, but producing the paperwork (the contract ffs) is one of them. Pull out and you should find it magically appears. Then get it reviewed, as chances are it will have some stuff that will contain IR35 or other difficulty

Which question are you answering, because it's certainly not what the OP asked about?

[kaiser78]

Get the contract, then treat it seriously. Simples.