Wisely v John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd (No.2)
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 21 July 1998 |
| Date | 21 July 1998 |
| Docket Number | No 87 |
| Court | Court of Session (Inner House - First Division) |
Inner House of the Court of Session
Before the Lord President (Lord Roger), Lord Sutherland and Lord Caplan
Scots law - damages - interest on damages for loss of earnings - social security benefits to be disregarded
Social security benefits recoverable in terms of the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 should be disregarded in determining those damages on which interest fell to be included in any judgment.
The First Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session so held, determining the issue reported to it in an action of damages at the instance of James Wisely against John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd.
Mr James Peoples, QC and Mr Brian Fitzpatrick for the pursuer; Mr Michael Jones, QC, for the defenders.
THE LORD PRESIDENT said that following proof the defenders had been found liable in damages to the pursuer for injuries as result of an accident on December 10, 1990.
Those damages included damages for past loss of earnings on which interest would fall to be awarded. The case had been reported to the Inner House as there were two conflicting Outer House opinions on the approach to be adopted to such interest.
The question was whether interest should be applied to the whole sum of damages for past loss of earnings as had been held in Spence v Wilson (1998 SLT 688) or only to that part of the court's award of loss of earnings which represents the difference between that award and the amount of the income support which the pursuer had received, as in George v George C Peebles & Son (1998 SLT 685).
The duty of the court to include interest arose at the stage when the court pronounced an interlocutor discerning for payment of damages of personal injuries. The interest to be awarded related to the period up to the date of decree.
Section 1(1A) of the Damages (Scotland) Act 1958 seemed to require that the sum for interest should be included as part of the sum consisting of or including damages in respect of personal injuries.
The time of payment of damages to the pursuer was important not just because in certain cases it might have the effect of determining the amount of benefits which the defender had to pay to the secretary of state in terms of the 1997 Act; but also because in all cases, it fixed the moment when the defender actually became liable to pay the secretary of state the amount equal to the total amount of recoverable benefits.
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Wisely v John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd; Wadey v Surrey County Council
...a few introductory words - what I shall have to say in this speech applies equally to both of them. 4The Scottish case is Wisely v. John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd., 1998 S.C. 910. The pursuer sustained personal injuries as a result of an accident in the course of his employment with the defend......
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Wisely v John Fulton (Plumbers) Ltd; Wadey v Surrey County Council
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