Editing Indemnity (section)

===Distinction from guarantees===
An indemnity is distinct from a [[guarantee]], which is the promise of a third party to honor the obligation of a party to a contract should that party be unable or unwilling to do so (usually a guarantee is limited to an obligation to pay a debt). This distinction between indemnity and guarantee was discussed as early as the eighteenth century in ''Birkmyr v Darnell''.<ref>(1704) 1 [[William Salkeld (legal writer)|Salkeld]] 27.</ref> In that case, concerned with a guarantee of payment for goods rather than payment of rent, the presiding judge explained that a guarantee effectively says "Let him have the goods; if he does not pay you, I will."<ref>See also: ''Mountstephan v Lakeman'' (1871) LR 7 QB 196.</ref>