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Contract: Remedies

Damages for distress and disappointment

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 2 and 3

Overview

The general rule against damages for upset, the holiday and enjoyment exception from Jarvis v Swans Tours to Farley v Skinner, and the commercial cases that keep the exception narrow.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

What is the general rule on damages for distress in contract?

Numbers

Which case refused damages for the manner of a dismissal?

Key term

When can damages for distress be awarded?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is the general rule on damages for distress in contract?

    Model answer

    Damages are not normally awarded for injured feelings caused by a breach of contract. Watts v Morrow [1991] restated that general rule.

  2. 2

    Which case refused damages for the manner of a dismissal?

    Model answer

    Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] refused damages for the harsh manner of a dismissal. Compensation was limited to the wages and commission actually lost.

  3. 3

    When can damages for distress be awarded?

    Model answer

    Damages for distress may be awarded where an important object of the contract was pleasure, relaxation or peace of mind. The exception is applied narrowly.

  4. 4

    Which case awarded damages for a ruined holiday?

    Model answer

    Jarvis v Swans Tours Ltd [1973] awarded damages for the disappointment of a holiday that fell far short of the brochure. The Court of Appeal recognised that enjoyment was the whole point of the contract.

  5. 5

    What did Farley v Skinner [2001] decide?

    Model answer

    Farley v Skinner [2001] awarded damages against a surveyor who failed to report aircraft noise. Peace and quiet had been a specific object of the survey instructions.

  6. 6

    Must pleasure be the only object of the contract?

    Model answer

    Farley v Skinner [2001] held that pleasure need only be an important object rather than the sole object. The exception therefore reaches beyond holiday and wedding contracts.

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