Darbishire v Warran: CA 30 Jul 1963

Damages were claimed for a damaged car.
Held: Pearson LJ said: ‘It is vital, for the purpose of assessing damages fairly between the plaintiff and the defendant, to consider whether the plaintiff’s course of action was economic or uneconomic, and if it was uneconomic it cannot (at any rate in the absence of special circumstances, of which there is no evidence in this case) form a proper basis for assessment of damages. The question has to be considered form the point of view of a business man.’ and ‘The true question was whether the plaintiff acted reasonably as between himself and the defendant and in view of his duty to mitigate the damages.’

Judges:

Pearson LJ

Citations:

[1963] 1WLR 1067, [1963] EWCA Civ 2, [1963] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 187, [1963] 3 All ER 310

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedAerospace Publishing Ltd and Another v Thames Water Utilities Ltd CA 11-Jan-2007
A substantial private archive of valuable books had been damaged when the defendant’s water mains burst. The court was asked to assess the value.
Held: The water company’s appeal failed save to a small extent. The articles were of substantial . .
CitedCopley v Lawn; Maden v Haller CA 17-Jun-2009
The parties had been involved in a road accident. The insurer for the liable party offered a car for use whilst the claimant’s car was being repaired. The claimants had rejected that offer, and now appealed against a refusal to award them the cost . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Damages

Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.247683