Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Remedies for breach of contract / DAMAGES (remedy available for breach of…
Remedies for breach of contract / DAMAGES
remedy available for breach of contract depends on whether the terms of the contract that has been breached is a condition or a warranty.
breach of condition - the innocent party can regard the contract as terminated and/or seek damages;
breach of a warranty - does not terminate the contract, although the innocent party can still make a claim for damages
remedies available to the injured party are:
damages (nominal, restitutionary, exemplary)
specific performance
injunction
rescission
Damages - awarded to compensate the injured party for loss suffered
Nominal damages
small amount awarded where there has been a breach of contract but no loss suffered
acknowledgement that a breach has occurred, but to grant larger amounts would be perceived as 'unjust enrichment to the claimant'
Surrey County Council v Bredero Homes Ltd
Only nominal damages were payable. The plaintiff was entitled to be put in the same financial position he would have been in but for the breach. He had no losses.
EXCEPTIONS established by
Attorney General v Blake
the innocent party can recover in cases where they had not received the full value of the services contracted from the defendant, but for which the defendant had charged them
damages can be recovered where the party who broke the terms of the contract has obtained a profit through his breach
Restitutional damages
calculated based on the gains of the defendant rather than the plaintiff's losses
requires a defendant to forfeit gains that they have obtained unlawfully to the plaintiff
the intention - to place the injured party in the position he expected to be in if the contract had been performed properly
Wrothan Park Damages
Where an injured party has not actually suffered any loss, but the party who has breached the contract has been unjustly enriched, the court may award restitutionary damages, which seek to reverse the unjust enrichment by restoring the relevant benefit or enrichment to the claimant
Exemplary damages
awarded in excess of the claimant's loss
intended to punish the defendant rather than compensate the claimant
only available in precise and limited circumstances (where the defendant is guilty of oppressive or unconstitutional action or has calculated that the money to be made from his wrongdoing will probably exceed the damages payable
assessment the level of damages to be awarded - pecuniary and non-pecuniary loss
pecuniary
- the damages should leave the innocent party in the position they would have been in had the contract been performed in full
non-pecuniary
(mental distress) - damages are usually not awarded
EXCEPTION
- the purpose of the contract was to provide pleasure, relaxation, peace of mind, freedom from molestation
Jarvis v Swans Tours Ltd
Where a contract is entered for the specific purpose of the provision of enjoyment or entertainment, damages may be awarded for the disappointment, distress, upset and frustration caused by a breach of contract in failing to provide the enjoyment or entertainment.
Knut v Bolton
the object of the contract was to design a house, and any pleasure was incidental to this.
Farley v Skinner
allowed claims for non-pecuniary loss and acknowledged that the contract does not have to be for pleasure, relaxation or peace of mind, provided the pleasure is an important feature of the contract.