ABSTRACT
Consideration Consideration is an essential ingredient within a contract. Quite simply, if there is no consideration, there is no contract. The law requires that, for an agreement to be binding, the promisee must provide some kind of payment for the promise they have received. Thus, a gratuitous promise is generally not enforceable. The term ‘payment’ is used widely here. Payment need not be of monetary value; whilst some ‘detriment’ on behalf of the promisee is required, the detriment can take the form of giving something up, for example, stopping smoking. The promisor need not receive any tangible part, so a promisee made by the offeror to pay an overweight associate a sum of money upon losing a specified amount of weight would be enforceable.
