DAMAGES FOR INCONVENIENCE, ANXIETY AND DISTRESS

Gemma Ltd v Gimson and Anor [2004] EWHC 1982 (TCC); [2004] All ER (D) 59 (Aug)

In Gemma Ltd v Gimson and another [2004] EWHC 1982 (TCC); [2004] All ER (D) 59 (Aug), the owners of a house successfully claimed damages from a builder for inconvenience, anxiety and distress suffered as a result of the latter’s breach of contract. Judge Anthony Thornton QC held that this was ‘one of the worst cases of distress’, intensified by the ‘extreme hostility’ shown by the builder to the owners, and therefore awarded a sum of £10,000, which was broken down into payments of £50 per week for the two owners for the period of the dispute and lump sum payments of £250 for each of their four children.