It is over 10 years since an English court, in Jarvis v. Swans Tours Ltd.,1 first clearly awarded mental distress damages in an action for breach of contract. Prior to this decision, it had been thought that Addis v. Gramophone Co. Ltd.2 precluded an award of such damages. Since Jarvis, there have been several reported cases in which damages for mental distress have been awarded in actions for breach of contract. There is therefore no doubt that such damages can now be granted: but what is far less clear, and what potential defendants no less than plaintiffs need to know, is precisely when they will be granted. It is with that question that this article is concerned.

It is convenient to look first at three cases which seem to indicate that there are now no special restrictions on the availability of damages for mental distress; rather, that mental distress damages are in principle recoverable whenever the mental distress caused is not too remote a consequence of the breach of contract.

In Cox v. Philips Industries Ltd.,3 the defendant employers contracted to give the plaintiff a better job in their company, with greater responsibility and an increased salary. This they initially did but later, in breach of that contract, they relegated the plaintiff to a position of lower responsibility with very vague duties. As a result, the plaintiff suffered mental distress, for which damages were awarded. Lawson, J., thought that there was

In Heywood v. Wellers,5 the defendant firm of solicitors in breach of contract had negligently failed to gain an injunction to stop molestation of the plaintiff by her former boyfriend. As a result, the plaintiff suffered further molestation causing mental distress. In an action for breach of contract the plaintiff was awarded, inter alia, damages for that mental distress. James, L.J., thought that,