Vanbergen v St Edmunds Properties Ltd: CA 1933

Where a variation to a contract agreed upon enables one party to alter its performance under the existing agreement, for it to amount to consideration it must be of some benefit to the other party, and if the variation is introduced entirely for the benefit of the party otherwise in breach it will not constitute good consideration.
Lord Hanworth MR said ‘It is a well established principle that a promise to pay a sum which the debtor is already bound by law to pay to the promisee does not afford any consideration to support the contract.’

Judges:

Lord Hanworth MR

Citations:

[1933] 2 KB 223

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedIn Re Selectmove Ltd CA 21-Dec-1993
Promisse to Pay Tax due is not Consideration
The company appealed against an order for its winding up, saying that the debt was disputed, an accomodation having been reached with the Revenue.
Held: The court declined to regard a promise to the Revenue by a company to pay its existing . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract

Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.396766