Settlements Following Breach of Contract

Abstract

The defendant’s breach of contract may lead the claimant to compromise a claim by, or against, a third party. Biggin & Co Ltd v Permanite Ltd is the root of modern authority on the recovery of damages for losses under settlements. The theme developed in this article is that later cases have not necessarily followed Biggin strictly, but instead have applied the principles in a more obviously commercial and pragmatic manner. Attempts to reformulate the Biggin principles in terms of causation or remoteness or mitigation are, for the most part, unhelpful.

Keywords: breach of contract, damages, settlement, compromise, Biggin v Permanite

JEL Classification: K10, K12, K30