New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Interest on damages

Legal area

Court

6 Oct 2023

MORSE v VAST INVESTMENT LTD [2023] NZHC 2790

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2790
Court

High Court

Liability was established and summary judgment on liability granted; however the deposit must be taken into account when assessing damages, the plaintiffs have not yet proven that a 10% interest rate is reasonable, and further valuation and evidentiary steps are necessary before summary judgment on quantum can be granted, so the Court issues interim directions to obtain a valuer's report and further evidence before determining quantum.
29 Jul 2021

KELLER v DAISLEY [2021] NZCA 351

Citation

[2021] NZCA 351
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal allowed the Kellers' appeal in the main proceedings: the High Court's award of $541,721 as equitable compensation for failure to issue Ark shares was set aside because the claim for non-issuance was not pleaded, was raised only in closing without formal amendment and caused procedural unfairness and prejudice; moreover there was no basis to characterise the contractual obligation to procure share issue as a fiduciary obligation. The Depot appeal was allowed in part (increase to fence panel damages by $577.50) and the chattel conversion appeal otherwise dismissed; the appea…
6 Mar 2020

FAAGUTU v DERHAMY [2020] NZHC 404

Citation

[2020] NZHC 404
Court

High Court

The Court set aside the Ali Mudharaba entered December 2014: the deceased and his wife were subject to undue influence and entered an unconscionable bargain facilitated by the first defendant; the relationship was fiduciary in scope and the first defendant and his company breached fiduciary duties by failing to disclose material facts and misapplying funds; plaintiff entitled to equitable compensation of $288,000 (principal net of dividends) plus interest (rate and period to be determined) and $10,000 general damages; ancillary accounting and procedural directions ordered.
11 Nov 2019

FRUCOR BEVERAGES LTD v ILAN BLUMBERG [2019] NZCA 547

Citation

[2019] NZCA 547
Court

Court of Appeal

Appeal dismissed. Court held claimant(s) could recover reasonable replacement hire charges from the wrongdoer as mitigation of loss of use even though the credit‑hire company did not intend to enforce immediate payment; the hire agreements were not champertous or an unenforceable assignment; the hirings were reasonable and R2D's charges were within market range; repairer delay did not break causation; interest on the judgment payable was properly awarded under statutory principles.
23 Oct 2019

MILK NEW ZEALAND (SHANGHAI) CO. LIMITED v MIRAKA LIMITED [2019] NZHC 2713 [23 October 2019]

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2713
Court

High Court

The court affirmed the Arbitrator's construction that the UHT Agreement's liquidated damages provisions applied only to the expressly identified scenarios (first season and peak months) and did not displace the ordinary common law remedy for whole-season shortfalls where the contract was silent; on the facts MNZ's failure to comply with the notification regime caused the seasonal shortfalls and Miraka's obligation was thereby excused or reduced to best endeavours as to orders, so Miraka was entitled to damages for Seasons Two and Three; however the Arbitrator erred in law to the extent he awa…
6 Sept 2019

PERERA v SINGH [2019] NZHC 2246

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2246
Court

High Court

Court found the 1991 Agency Agreement created fiduciary obligations (not a legally enforceable commercial contract) in respect of the Northland Property and insurance; Mrs Singh participated in management; the Krull Street property was not part of the agency; the March 2004 Power of Attorney created additional fiduciary duties; defendants breached fiduciary duties by making numerous unauthorised transfers, failing to account, withdrawing insurance funds and failing to make/notify premium payments; Limitation Act defences failed; plaintiff entitled to equitable compensation of principal loss a…
19 Jun 2019

MOANAROA v RUWHIU [2019] NZHC 1406

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1406
Court

High Court

The court found Vernon Ruwhiu owed a fiduciary duty to Ms Moanaroa and breached that duty by diverting her funds into a trust he controlled without her informed consent, causing loss; Denise Ruwhiu and Bonnie Ruwhiu were liable for knowing receipt of trust assets traceable to Ms Moanaroa; appropriate relief is repayment of the trust monies (as specified), interest at 5% from relevant dates, $25,000 general damages and costs, with a contingent judgment against Bonnie recoverable only if sums are unrecoverable from Vernon and Denise.
13 Dec 2018

HALL’S GROUP LIMITED v ROWE & ROWE [2018] NZHC 3302

Citation

[2018] NZHC 3302
Court

High Court

No uplift for refusal of the settlement offer was warranted because, at the time of the offer, the defendants had a reasonable basis to contest liability absent the pivotal expert evidence (Dr Laven); scale costs were allowed on a 2B basis with specified reductions for duplicated discovery and limited document inspection, second counsel was not certified so second counsel costs disallowed, senior out-of-town counsel travel/accommodation were recoverable as reasonable disbursements, an Investigation Services Ltd invoice of $95 was disallowed, and the interest award at 5% from 22 April 2014 was…
26 Nov 2015

BODY CORPORATE 160361 v BC 2004 LIMITED AND BC 2009 LIMITED [2015] NZHC 2979

Citation

[2015] NZHC 2979
Court

High Court

The Court held plaintiffs were entitled to recover wasted costs measured by the methodology of the parties' quantity surveyor (Mr White) and awarded those wasted costs plus interest at the prescribed rate; issue estoppel precluded relitigation of the choice of wasted costs as the measure of compensatory loss; pleading deficiencies did not bar wasted costs because the claim for economic loss was of the same kind and defendants had notice and opportunity to address quantum and adduced/exchanged expert evidence by consent; increased costs as a separate adjustment were accepted in principle but t…
11 Jun 2014

QBE INSURANCE (INTERNATIONAL) LTD v STEWARD MOTORSPORTS EUROPEAN LTD [2014] NZHC 1309

Citation

[2014] NZHC 1309
Court

High Court

Leave to appeal was refused because the disputed issues are primarily factual credibility findings properly decided by lower courts, no question of law or public importance arises to justify a second appeal, and the cost and delay of further litigation outweigh any benefit.