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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Contracts legislation - Contractual mistakes

26: Decision to enter into contract not influenced by mistake if party aware of it

You could also call this:

“You can't claim a mistake if you knew about it before signing the contract”

If you make a mistake when deciding to enter into a contract, but you become aware of that mistake before you actually enter into the contract, you can’t ask for help under section 28 later. This is because you had the chance to change your mind and not enter into the contract when you found out about the mistake, but you chose to go ahead anyway. This rule applies whether or not you ask for help later.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844081.

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25: Mistake does not include mistake in interpretation of contract, or

"A mistake in understanding a contract's meaning is not the same as other contract mistakes"

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27: Mistake caused by party seeking relief, or

"When you make a mistake in a contract, the court looks at how much it was your fault"

Part 2 Contracts legislation
Contractual mistakes

26Decision to enter into contract not influenced by mistake if party aware of it

  1. For the purposes of relief under section 28 in respect of a contract, the decision of a party to the contract to enter into it is not made under the influence of a mistake if, before the party enters into it and at a time when the party can elect not to enter into it, the party becomes aware of the mistake but elects to enter into the contract despite the mistake.

  2. This section applies whether or not an application for relief is made.

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