5 Authority Deriving from Agency of Necessity

Subject(s):

Apparent authority — Usual authority — Creation of agency — Nature of agency — Principal’s liabilities

This chapter considers agency in situations where one party has acted on behalf of another in the course of an emergency—so-called ‘agency of necessity’. This occurs when one party (the ‘agent’) is confronted with an emergency that poses such an imminent threat to the property or other interests of another person (the ‘principal’) that there is insufficient time for the former to seek the latter’s authority or instructions before acting. The ‘agent’ elects to act for the benefit of the ‘principal’, without prior authority, in order to preserve or protect that person’s property or interests. However, not all cases falling within the designation ‘agency of necessity’ can be considered true cases of agency. Hence the chapter emphasizes the distinction between true cases of agency of necessity, and what is termed ‘necessitous intervention’.