A pre-contractual letter of offer is admissible as an objective surrounding circumstance for the purpose of construing a subsequent deed, regardless of whether the letter gave rise to a binding agreement; what matters is that it constitutes an objective fact known to both parties. A deed of release may vary the parties' pre-existing rights under an insurance policy, and the court will not strain the language of the deed to conform to those pre-existing rights where the objective circumstances demonstrate the parties intended to depart from them.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 12 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 12 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.