Sleight v Beckia Holdings Limited

The plaintiffs, Joan Margaret Fraser Sleight and Alan Leithfield Sleight, brought an action against Beckia Holdings Limited, Orange H Management Limited, IAG New Zealand Limited, and QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited, in the High Court of New Zealand. The plaintiffs sought damages and other remedies for breach of contract and negligence related to the defective repair of their home. The legal issues the court was required to decide included the apportionment of costs and the calculation of interest on the judgment sums awarded to the plaintiffs. The court found that the plaintiffs were entitled to a payment of costs from the defendants, as they were the successful party in the proceeding. The court also found that the plaintiffs were entitled to an award of interest on the judgment sums awarded to them at the prescribed rate of five per cent per annum from 19 June 2015 to the date of judgment, 30 October 2020, to compensate them for the delayed payment by IAG. The court rejected the argument that no interest should be awarded because damages were assessed based on costs current at the time of trial. Instead, the court found that the factors supporting the award of interest included the fact that the plaintiffs' claim against IAG arose in contract under their insurance policy, and IAG had been in breach of a direct payment obligation since June 2015. The court concluded that the award of interest was necessary to achieve a just result for the plaintiffs, who had been deprived of their contractual policy entitlement for the intervening period. The court ordered that the defendants pay the plaintiffs' costs and interest as determined.