THE MEANING OF ‘PAYMENT’ AND THE CIVIL LIABILITY (CONTRIBUTION) ACT 1978

Baker & Davies plc v Leslie Wilks Associates (a firm) [2005] EWHC 1179 (TCC); [2005] 3 All ER 603

In Baker & Davies plc v Leslie Wilks Associates (a firm) [2005] EWHC 1179 (TCC); [2005] 3 All ER 603, Judge Richard Havery QC held that the word ‘payment’ in ss1(2) and (4) of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 was capable of including a payment in kind, at least where the payment in kind is capable of valuation in monetary terms: it is not confined to payment in monetary form. On the facts of the case he held that the claimant was entitled to claim a contribution from the defendant notwithstanding the fact that the claimant had settled the employer’s claim against it by carrying out repair work at its own expense rather than by making payment of a monetary sum to the employer.