The plaintiff claimed damages for personal injuries, and in particular the loss of profits from his driving school business. He lost the opportunity to lease a driving simulator which would have enabled his company to earn a continuing profit. In due course he was able to buy a simulator at such a knock down price that the saving on the price exceeded the profit he would have made had he leased a machine in the meantime.
Held: The claim for loss of profits from using a simulator must give credit for the capital benefit obtained by purchase of the machine. The court applied the principle that it was necessary to look at any additional benefits which the plaintiff acquired as a result of the incident and to ‘balance loss and gain’ in an action for damages for personal injuries in which steps taken by the plaintiff to mitigate the loss to his business had produced additional gains.
Judges:
Forbes J
Citations:
[1973] 1 QB 304
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Dimond v Lovell HL 12-May-2000
A claimant sought as part of her damages for the cost of hiring a care whilst her own was off the road after an accident caused by the defendant. She agreed with a hire company to hire a car, but payment was delayed until the claim was settled.
Cited – Fulton Shipping Inc of Panama v Globalia Business Travel SAU (Formerly Travelplan SAU) of Spain ComC 21-May-2014
The former owners of the ‘New Flameno’ appealed from an arbitration award. A charter of the vessel had been repudiated with two years left to run. The owners chose to sell. They made a substantial profit over the price they would have received after . .
Cited – Globalia Business Travel Sau of Spain v Fulton Shipping Inc of Panama SC 28-Jun-2017
The court was asked how to assess damages arising out of the repudiation of a charterparty by charterers of a cruise ship, the ‘New Flameno’. The charter ending two years early, the owners chose to sell, and in the result got a much better price . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Damages
Updated: 15 August 2022; Ref: scu.195966