The employers of a workman who had been totally incapacitated by accident admitted liability under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906, tendered the compensation due, the amount of which was not in dispute, and asked the workman to sign a receipt which stated-‘At the first or any subsequent payment liability is admitted only for the compensation to date of payment. Further liability, if any, will be determined week by week, when application for payment is made.’ The workman, maintaining that he was entitled to an unqualified admission of liability such as he could embody in a memorandum of agreement, refused to sign the receipt, and initiated arbitration on the ground that there was a ‘question’ as to the duration of the compensation. The employers challenged the competency of the arbitration proceedings.
Held that there was a question, unsettled by agreement, as to the duration of the compensation, and that arbitration was therefore competent.
Lord Chancellor (Haldane), the Earl of Halsbury, Lord Kinnear, and Lord Shaw
[1913] UKHL 518, 50 SLR 518
Bailii
Scotland
Personal Injury, Employment
Updated: 04 January 2022; Ref: scu.632738