Cockerill, Graham Douglas v Westpac Banking Corporation

The matter before the court was a preliminary issue in proceedings brought by Graham Douglas Cockerill, Arthur David Thomas Dingle and Valerie Jean Dingle against Westpac Banking Corporation. The applicants had become bankrupt in 1990 but had their bankruptcies annulled in 1992. The applicants had been customers of Westpac and had entered into a loan agreement with the bank in 1984. The applicants alleged that Westpac had pressured them to bring the offshore commercial loan onshore and that the applicants had been induced by misrepresentations to enter into an agreement releasing Westpac from any claims the applicants had against the bank. The applicants sought to rescind that agreement. Westpac sought to rely on the release agreement as a bar to the applicants' claims. The court was required to determine whether the release agreement operated to bar the applicants' claims. The court found that the release agreement was induced by misrepresentations and economic duress and was therefore voidable. The applicants had rescinded the agreement and the court found that the rescission was valid. The court ordered that the release agreement did not operate to bar the applicants' claims. The applicants were awarded their costs of and incidental to the hearing of the preliminary issue.