Negligence 2

Question 1

What are the types of economic loss?

Answer 1

Derivative - losses consequent on property harm or personal injury
Secondary - losses consequent on harm to property owned by a third party
Pure - Financial harm independent of any other form of loss

Question 2

Is derivative reparable?

Answer 2

recoverable subject to rules on remoteness

Question 3

Is secondary reparable?

Answer 3

not recoverable

Question 4

Is pure economic loss reparable?

Answer 4

may be recoverable where there is a precedent recognising a duty of care in analogous circumstances or where there is an assumption of responsibility by the defender for the financial interests of the pursuer.

Question 5

What is negligent misstatement?

Answer 5

Assumption of responsibility
Reliance on D by P to exercise skill required by circumstances
Reliance reasonable in circumstances
D knew or ought to have known that P relying on D’s statement
Disclaimer fatal to liability in this case

Question 6

What is assumption of responsibility?

Answer 6

Voluntary assumption of responsibility by D for interests of P
D knew P was relying on D’s skill and expertise
A disclaimer will prevent a duty of care from arising

Question 7

What is mental harm (nervous shock)?

Answer 7

Critical distinction between primary and secondary victims

Question 8

What are the Alcock rules and what type of victims are they concerned with?

Answer 8

Secondary victims
Close ties of love and affection between pv and 2v
Presence at event or immediate aftermath
Direct perception

Question 9

What are public authority defenders?

Answer 9

The same principles of negligence apply to public bodies as to other defenders i.e. where liability would arise at common law under the neighbourhood principle, where there is a precedent in point or where there is an assumption of responsibility towards the pursuer.

Question 10

Statutory powers, duties, and discretion

Answer 10

“This is a subject of great complexity and very much an evolving area of law. No single decision is capable of providing a comprehensive analysis. It is a subject on which an intense focus on the particular facts of the case and on the particular statutory background is necessary. On the one hand the courts must not contribute to the creation of a society bent on litigation, which is premised on the illusion that for every misfortune there is a remedy. On the other hand there are cases where the courts must recognise on principled grounds the compelling demands of corrective justice….that wrongs should be remedied.”

per Lord Steyn, Gorringe v Calderdale [2004] UKHL 15 para 2