The settlement of an ill-founded claim is nonetheless binding. However, that would not be the case where the claim was fraudulent. A forgoing of a bona fide but unfounded claim is good consideration for a payment made in settlement of it but not the forgoing of a fraudulent claim.
Cockburn CJ said: ‘It would be another matter if a person made a claim which he knew to be unfounded, and, by a compromise, derived an advantage under it: in that case his conduct would be fraudulent. If the plea had alleged that the plaintiff knew he had no real claim against the [defendant], that would have been an answer to the action.’
Judges:
Cockburn CJ, Blackburn, Mellor JJ
Citations:
(1870) LR 5 QB 449
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hayward v Zurich Insurance Company Plc CA 31-Mar-2015
The claimant sought damages alleging his back had been injured at work. The insurers accepted liability but said that the claimant had exaggerated the extent of his injury. The claim was settled, but later a neighbour of the claimants said that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 08 August 2022; Ref: scu.545144
