"And it is the general intention of the law that, in giving damages for breach of contract, the party complaining should, so far as it can be done by money, be placed in the same position as he would have been in if the contract had been performed… That is a ruling principle. It is a just principle"
Bollenback v Continental Casualty Company
Modern Restitution: Can receive deducted partial consideration + definitions
Issue
Ratio
Notes
P has health insurance with D for several years
Attempts to make a claim
D claims his policy laps due to nonpayment (an error) several years back
In a claim of restitution and rescission in a contract for ongoing services, the plaintiff is entitled to recover to the extent that it returns the plaintiff to the moment at which the defendant stopped performing
P recovers up til the moment D stopped covering him
Purpose of rescission and restitution: - to return parties as near as possible to their positions before the formation of the contract so that the parties can find the desired performance elsewhere
-I gave you something … I want it back
Purpose of an action for damages:
- to put the injured party as near as possible to the position where he could have been if the contract had actually been performed
Anglia Television Ltd. v Reed
Reliance damages: Denning awarding wasted expenditure for breach of contract
Issue
Ratio
Notes
P contracted
Reliance Damages: A Plaintiff can claim damages for wasted expenses incurred prior to the formation of the contract if it can be reasonably held that those expenses were in the contemplation of the parties as likely to be wasted if the contract was broken and the contract was in fact broken by reason of the defendant's breach of contract
Plaintiff must have attempted to mitigate loss
Issue here is that reliance damages can put the plaintiff in a better position than at the start of the contract
D claims no one would believe that claim was a warranty
D had made promises because he wanted to experiment with skin grafting (promise to induce
The measure of damages for a breach of warranty is the value of the thing, if it had corresponded with the warranty and its actual value, together with such incidental losses as the parties knew, or ought to have known, would probably result from a failure to comply with its terms.
Damages for breach of warranty = (the value of the promised thing – the things actual value) + Incidental losses due to breach
Costs required to get the promised thing are not included (necessary expenditures... like the pain the plaintiff had to go through)
Hairy Hand
17.Problems in Measuring Damages
Cost of Substitute Performance or Economic Value?
Carson v Willitts
How should damages be rewarded if assessing amount is difficult
Tied to Jacob Young, if only partial performance is given the court tries to give the party what they contracted for: the court awards damages in the amount of the difference of the value of the thing constructed and what should have been constructed -> the figure for this type of contract is the hypothetical peak of accomplishment
Dissent argues that to reward more than economic compensation would be giving the plaintiff more money than the land is worth -> In order to receive this the land should be for some personal or unique purpose, not for ordinary economic purposes like sale
