Restitutionary damages CASES
In English law, restitutionary damages are monetary awards designed to prevent unjust enrichment by recovering benefits unfairly retained by a party at another’s expense.
Definition and Principles
Restitutionary damages differ from compensatory damages, focusing on reversing unjust enrichment rather than merely compensating losses. They’re awarded when a party unfairly profits from a wrongful act or breach.
Common Examples
- Recovery of profits gained through breaches of fiduciary duties.
- Unjust enrichment scenarios involving wrongful use of property or services.
- Contracts void due to mistake or duress where benefits unjustly retained.
Legal Implications
- Awarded irrespective of claimant’s actual financial loss.
- Calculated based on the defendant’s gain rather than claimant’s harm.
Practical Importance
Understanding restitutionary damages ensures fair remedies, deterring unjust enrichment and ensuring accountability in contractual and fiduciary relationships.
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A developer breached a restrictive covenant by building more houses than permitted by the contract. The landowner suffered no financial loss. The Court of Appeal awarded only nominal damages, holding that damages for breach of contract are compensatory, not restitutionary. Facts The plaintiffs, Surrey County Council and another council, sold two plots of land to the defendant developers, Bredero Homes Ltd. The sale incorporated restrictive covenants in the deeds. One covenant stipulated that the defendants would not develop a plot (the ‘red land’) with more than 72 houses. The defendants subsequently obtained a new planning permission and built 77 houses
