Cases - GMTC Tools and Equipment Ltd v Yuasa Warwick Machinery Ltd

Record details

Name

GMTC Tools and Equipment Ltd v Yuasa Warwick Machinery Ltd

Date

[1994]

Citation

CA 73 BLR 102

Keywords

Construction ? litigation ? loss and expenses ? measure of damages ? evidence of damages ? rolled-up claim ? judge should not interfere with party?s particularisation of claim

Summary

In this case, the claimants purchased a lathe from the respondents for the production of 'blanks'. These were necessary for the production of rotary cutters, which was core to the claimants' business. The lathe proved unreliable, so the claimants purchased a stock-pile of blanks for use in their manufacturing process on the occasions on which the supplied lathe was out of order.

The claimants sought to recover the cost of this stock-pile from the respondents, but the trial judge stated that the claim should be particularised, so that each loss could be identified against each head of claim (i.e., each occasion on which the lathe was out of order).

The Court of Appeal refused to uphold the judge's directions, deciding that each party was entitled to plead its case in the manner in which it saw fit. This decision should not be taken to mean that a claim pleaded as a rolled-up claim will necessarily be successful, but it indicates that the trial judge should not interfere with the party's wish to argue it in that way.