Email - sending - proof of sending/receipt - paranoid aspect

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This is not to do with ticking a read receipt box on your email - unfortunately my free email service doesn't have that.

I know there's a law on sending letters via real post/snail mail - something along the lines of if the person says they sent it then that's it, the law accepts they did send it unless the intended recipient can prove otherwise.

Is there something like this for email?

Paranoia - I often think people pretend they haven't received my email and usually this doesn't really matter. I get them on the phone and send it again while talking to them etc etc

A couple of times lately though, I sent people emails when they were on the phone and they said they hadn't got them.... eventually they appeared a few hours later...

To get to the point and ease my paranoid tendencies, is there any assumption in law regarding email communications - such as if proof of an email from a sent box is provided - then it is deemed sent unless the intended recipient can prove otherwise?

An example could be, my car goes in for a service I get an email from the garage about a broken electric window motor with two cost options for repair.

I email back specifying the more expensive branded item.

When I get to the garage they have put in the cheaper item because they say they didn't get my email... and then want to charge extra labour to put in the item I wanted.

This is more a general principle question rather than specific to that scenario - is there any legal precedent in law about when an email is deemed to have been sent/received?

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That sounds interesting on the whys and why nots...

If I had a scenario where someone was delaying paying me for work and for example, I emailed saying I'd expect payment or the goods returned within 7 days.

It's a consummable item which he hasn't started using yet.

I don't receive payment and I contact on day 8 and ask are you sending the good back.

He says, I didn't get your email, I've used half the goods but I won't be able to pay until it's all used - that kind of thing.

Okay, I'll probably get payment eventually, but basically I'd rather have had the goods back unused.

It's not going to happen/help me in this example but for the future, is there any legal assumption that governs email communications?

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bladebloke said:

footnote said:

I know there's a law on sending letters via real post/snail mail - something along the lines of if the person says they sent it then that's it, the law accepts they did send it unless the intended recipient can prove otherwise.

I can't answer your specific question but in case it helps for perspective, I think you're probably referring the to the "postal rule" in contract law here. And if so, it's not as wide as you think. it only applies to a contractual acceptance that was posted but might not have arrived, the logic behind it being that the person who made the offer would be able to make enquiries if he didn't receive an acceptance of it when he might expect to.

I am not aware of any general rule that says 'if posted, deemed received'. And certainly not one where if somebody "says" they posted it, it's deemed received.

It's common for (sophisticated) contracts to have provisions along the lines of 'if you can prove you posted it correctly addressed, it's deemed received' but note that the burden of proof there falls on the poster. And of course it's no general rule, just specific to the contracting parties.

Thanks - that's what I had in mind.

So, it would seem that emails are fairly 'deniable' - saying you didn't get it throws responsibility back on to the sender in the sense that even having a read receipt and an email in the sent box counts for little in the evidential sense