The court was asked as to the effect of foreign regulations on the ownership of a right of action under an insurance policy, and for that purpose examined whether the plaintiff’s claim against the insurance company was a ‘mere right to claim damages’.
Held: Pearson J considered the meaning of ‘damages’: ‘The usual meaning of the word ‘damages’ is as stated in Halsbury’s Laws of England, 2nd Ed vol 10 p 82, where it is said: ‘Damages may be defined as the pecuniary compensation which the law awards to a person for the injury he has sustained by reason of the act or default of another, whether such act or default is a breach of contract or tort; or, put more shortly, damages are the recompense given by the process of law to a person for the wrong that another has done him.”
Judges:
Pearson J
Citations:
[1954] 1 WLR 139, [1953] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 760
Cited by:
Cited – Wight, Pilling, Mackey v Eckhardt Marine GmbH PC 14-May-2003
(Cayman Islands) An international bank went into liquidation in the Cayman Islands, with liabilities in Bangladesh. A new bank was created in Bangladesh, and the applicants sought to make the new bank liable, and through them the liquidators.
Cited – Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable and others ComC 20-Jun-2008
The authority insured its primary liability for compensation under the 1886 Act through the claimants and the excess of liability through re-insurers. The parties sought clarification from the court of the respective liabilities of the insurance . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
International
Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.183833
