Many agreements are made out loud: a contractor agrees a price on site, a tenant agrees to pay arrears in instalments, a client agrees to extend the scope over the phone. In many jurisdictions a verbal agreement can be legally binding for many kinds of deal, though some types of contract must be in writing to be enforceable; check your own jurisdiction for what applies. The practical problem is rarely whether it counts. It is proving what was agreed. The answer: write it down straight away, send it to the other party, and keep their reply or their silence on record.
Step 1: note it immediately
Within the hour, write a note of the conversation while memory is fresh:
- Date, time, place or medium (in person, phone, video)
- Who was present or on the call
- What was agreed, in the words used where you can remember them
- Specific terms: amounts, dates, quantities, conditions
- Anything left open or to be confirmed
A contemporaneous note is far more persuasive than one written weeks later when a dispute has started. The method is the same as logging a phone call properly.
Step 2: send a confirmation
This is the step that turns your note into evidence. Send the other party a short message setting out your understanding:
"Thanks for speaking today. To confirm what we agreed: you will complete the roof repair by the 20th for the fixed price we discussed, payable on completion. Please let me know by Friday if anything here is not right."
Keep it plain and neutral. Do not add terms that were not discussed; that invites a dispute about the confirmation itself. Use a channel that leaves a dated record, such as email or a message, rather than another phone call.
Step 3: keep the response
- They agree: file the reply. You now have a written agreement in all but name.
- They correct something: note the correction, reply to confirm the corrected terms, and file both.
- They say nothing: file the sent message with proof of delivery. Silence is not always acceptance, but an unchallenged confirmation sent at the time is strong evidence of what was understood.
Step 4: keep evidence of performance
What people do after an agreement often proves it better than any note: the payment made on the agreed date, the work started, the goods delivered. Record these against the same matter so the story reads in order: conversation, confirmation, performance.
When to insist on a written contract
Some agreements should not stay verbal: anything high-value, long-running, involving property or employment, or where the law requires writing. If the other side will not sign anything, that itself tells you something. Record the refusal.
Recording calls
Recording a conversation can settle disputes, but the rules on consent to recording vary widely by jurisdiction. Where recording is permitted, tell the other party; where you are unsure, rely on notes and written confirmation instead. For statements from third parties who witnessed an agreement, see how to take a witness statement that holds up.
Keep it all together
The note, the confirmation, the reply and the evidence of performance only prove something when they can be read together, in order. File them all in the record for that matter as they happen, not in four different places.
