New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Damages calculation

Legal area

Court

24 Aug 2023

EASTERNMANOR DEVELOPMENT LIMITED v YESHE DEVELOPMENT LIMITED [2023] NZHC 2317

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2317
Court

High Court

Summary judgment granted for Easternmanor Development Limited. The Acanthus–EDL contractual restrictions on on-sale and marketing did not render the EDL–Yeshe contracts invalid and did not provide Yeshe an arguable defence. Post-contract WeChat communications did not establish a Fair Trading Act defence because they were post-contract and there was no demonstrated reliance causing Yeshe's conduct. Yeshe's removal from the Companies Register prevented settlement; loss is assessed at the date of cancellation; GST should be excluded from damages because a completed settlement would have been zer…
4 Nov 2020

TAHI ENTERPRISES LTD v TE WARENA TAUA & Ors [2020] NZHC 2891

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2891
Court

High Court

The Court declined to order discovery of the Te Kawerau ā Maki membership Register or hui attendance lists under r 8.19 because the Register's personal data was not materially relevant to the substantive issues (authority/agency) but only served to identify potential defendants; ordering discovery would intrude on the privacy/confidentiality of about 400 individuals and required the same weighing exercise already undertaken by Associate Judge Smith under r 8.20/Norwich Pharmacal, risking inconsistency and duplicative litigation. The Court also refused discovery of documents relating to the MO…
13 Aug 2019

BCH INVESTMENTS LTD v ZHU (NO 2) [2019] NZHC 2014

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2014
Court

High Court

Defendant defaulted; the valuer's affidavit satisfied evidentiary requirements and established market value of $300,000 per lot as at 5 August 2019; computing the difference between contracted price and current realizable value, adding interest and incurred costs, produced losses of $180,622 for Lot 64 and $180,620 for Lot 65, for which judgment is entered, with costs and disbursements apportioned between the two proceedings.
25 Jun 2019

BUSHLINE TRUSTEES LIMITED v ANZ BANK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2019] NZCA 245 [24 June 2019]

Citation

[2019] 3 NZLR 455
Court

Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal allowed appeal: ANZ made a misleading Fixed Cost representation about swaps and gave enforceable undertakings to monitor/advice and to maintain a 0.70% margin (as understood by parties) which ANZ breached; s 4 Contractual Remedies Act did not permit ANZ to rely on disclaimer/no-reliance clauses to defeat those claims on the facts; damages inquiry remitted to High Court; High Court costs order quashed and CA costs awarded to appellants.
13 Dec 2018

ROSS v SOUTHERN RESPONSE EARTHQUAKE SERVICES LTD [2018] NZHC 3288

Citation

[2018] NZHC 3288
Court

High Court

Leave under r 4.24 was granted to the Ross plaintiffs to bring the proceeding on behalf of a defined class of former Southern Response policyholders whose dwellings were damaged beyond economic repair, who received DRAs lacking the Office Use section and who settled prior to 1 October 2014; the Court declined to make an opt‑out order and directed an opt‑in procedure, and fixed the effective date of the representative order as 25 May 2018 to address limitation concerns.
10 Sept 2015

RML ENGINEEERING LTD v CHEESE SOLUTIONS NZ LTD [2015] NZHC 2288

Citation

[2015] NZHC 2288
Court

High Court

The expert determination that the Bega machine fell within the supply agreement was binding and establishes breach by Cheese Solutions; the plaintiff's independent expert accountant's loss calculation of $505,708 was accepted on the balance of probabilities; interest was ordered at the statutory prescribed rate from 1 November 2010; clause 13.1 indemnity entitled RML to recover legal and expert costs on an indemnity basis, totaling $106,648.54 excluding GST.
26 Sept 2014

KAWARAU VILLAGE HOLDINGS LTD v NEO and ORS [2014] NZHC 2402

Citation

[2014] NZHC 2402
Court

High Court

Defendants second, third, fourth and fifth breached their sale and purchase agreements by failing to settle after receipt of settlement notices; plaintiff validly cancelled the contracts and is entitled to damages equal to the purchase price less deposits and the market value at cancellation, plus contractual penalty interest for the period between settlement date and cancellation and statutory interest under s 87 from cancellation to judgment, together with costs.
4 Apr 2012

PUBLIC TRUST AS TRUSTEE OF THE ABRIE TRADING TRUST V ABRIE HC TAU CIV-2012-470-11

Citation

openlaw-ea21986b_8848_4aec_8574_5f0deda95128.pdf
Court

High Court

The court exercised its discretion under s 87 Judicature Act 1908 to award interest not as a blanket retrospective sum but based on the plaintiff's progressive calculation demonstrating periods of loss, and accepted those calculations resulting in an award of $196,275.59.
12 Oct 2009

LOKTRONIC INDUSTRIES LTD V S J DIVER AND ORS HC AK CIV 2008-404-004657

Citation

openlaw-37121855_00eb_4629_abc9_9aeb31a2248e.pdf
Court

High Court

The further costs information sought is potentially relevant under the Peruvian Guano test and therefore an order for particular discovery is granted against the third, fourth and seventh defendants (for the documents in para 1(f) and (g) as amended) and against the fifth and sixth defendants (para 3(a) as amended); inspection is limited to plaintiff's counsel and the plaintiff's expert on the basis of a non-disclosure undertaking; leave reserved to defendants if compliance proves impractical.
9 Mar 2009

WAIMAORIMANU LIMITED V KELSO HC AK CIV 2007-404-6915

Citation

openlaw-27ec1c5f_a83f_41f3_b9a6_8c2733a99f5a.pdf
Court

High Court

The valuer owed a duty of care to the nominee company and breached that duty by negligent valuation; damages are assessed by the Nykredit formulation (comparing loaned funds plus appropriate interest with the true value of the security and rights acquired); applying that measure and accounting for recoveries and a $1,000,000 settlement, the plaintiff suffered a net loss of $6,033,245 and is entitled to judgment for that sum plus costs.