After you have signed a contract, you expect the person or business that you are working with to do what they agreed to. However, they may fall short of your expectations after you have made that agreement.
Your ability to defend your business and to ensure that other people uphold their agreements can often depend on the difference between material and immaterial breach of contract. While immaterial breaches are considered minor, material breaches could be grounds for a lawsuit.
Your legal options depend on the impact that the breach has.
Immaterial breaches of contract may be irritating or inconvenient, but they have minimal impact on your business and operations. Material breaches of contract, on the other hand, harm you. They might limit your ability to do business, cause you to be unable to uphold your commitments or impact your business’s profit.
For example, if a shipping company agrees to deliver supplies to your business but fails to perform according to the terms of your agreement, the specifics of this issue will make a difference. If they delivered those supplies a day late, that delay might have a minimal impact on your ability to continue the business. If they provide those supplies weeks late, your business may be unable to maintain your day-to-day operations in the interim; this would be a material breach of contract.
Has your business suffered after a breach of contract?
If someone has failed to uphold their part in an agreement, you could take legal action to make up for the damage that this failure has done to your business. Speak to an attorney to review your contract and hold the people and companies you work with responsible.
