The defendant faced a claim for breach of warranties given by vendors in a company share sale agreement. The sought a contribution from the purchasers accountants who had prepared figures upon which the purchase decision was based. The defendants’ liability was strictly in contract, but the contribution they sought arose in negligence. The Act formulated the liability widely. However the damage arising from one claim, was not the same as the other, and no mutual discharge would apply. The request had been refused, and the defendant appealed.
Held: The judge had erred in holding that there would be no mutual discharge, and therefore the claim was capable of being subject to a claim for contribution. The fact that different sums might be payable did not mean that the claims were different. It was not correct to try to judge the issue of whether it would be just and equitable to make an order at an interlocutory stage.
Judges:
Potter LJ and Longmore LJ
Citations:
Gazette 08-Nov-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 1446, [2002] 1 WLR 642
Statutes:
Civil Liability (Contributions) Act 1978
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – The Carnival 1994
. .
Cited – Friends’ Provident Life Office v Hillier, Parker May and Rowden CA 1997
Friends Provident had participated in a development project on terms which required it to pay its share of the development costs as it proceeded. It employed Hillier Parker, a firm of surveyors, to check demands made from time to time for payment of . .
Cited – Howkins and Harrison (A Firm) v Tyler and Another CA 3-Aug-2000
Having paid out andpound;400,000 to a lender as damages for a negligent survey valuation after default in repayments by the defendant, the claimant also sought to recover the payment from the defendant under the Act. The application to stay the . .
Cited by:
Cited – Charter Plc and Another v City Index Ltd and others ChD 12-Oct-2006
An employee of the claimant had fraudulently spent several million pounds of the claimant’s money on personal bets through the defendant company. The claimant said that the defendants knew the origin of the funds and were liable to repay them. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Company, Professional Negligence, Damages
Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.166542