Introduction

It is common for victims of traffic accidents to suffer both personal injuries and damage to property, such as their vehicle. In such circumstances, could the victim claim for both types of damages in one single action? In Chan Chiu Tung and Cheng Ka Fai Philip and Others [2023] HKCA 1277, the Court of Appeal held that the victim shall sue for both types of damages in the same legal action, if they resulted from the same tortious act.

Background

This Plaintiff and the 1^st Defendant (“D1”) were involved in a road traffic accident in 2014, in which the private vehicle driven by D1 collided with the motorcycle driven by the Plaintiff. As a result, the Plaintiff suffered personal injuries and his motorcycle was damaged. D1 was convicted of careless driving.

In June 2017, the Plaintiff commenced legal proceedings in the High Court to claim damages against D1 and the 2^nd Defendant (“D2”), who is the registered owner of the private vehicle driven by D1, for his injuries (“Personal Injuries Claim”) and damage to his motorcycle (“Property Damage Claim”). The 3^rd Defendant (“D3”), who is the insurer of the vehicle, was later joined as a defendant in the proceedings.

Following the increase in the civil jurisdiction of the District Court in 2018, it has jurisdiction to handle claims which fall within the range of HK$75,000 - HK$3,000,000. As a result, the case was transferred to the District Court in 2020.

In June 2021, the Plaintiff and D3 reached a settlement, pursuant to which D3 paid the sum of HK$1,900,000 for his Personal Injuries Claim.

The Plaintiff also made an open offer to D1 to settle the Property Damage Claim by D1’s payment of HK$11,421 and costs of the action. As no reply was received from D1, the Property Damage Claim proceeded to trial in the District Court.

Decision of the District Court

The central issue was whether the District Court has jurisdiction to try the Property Damage Claim which was for the sum of HK$11,421, an amount that normally fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Small Claims Tribunal (i.e. claims not exceeding HK$75,000).

The principle submissions of the Plaintiff were:

1.       the Personal Injuries Claim and the Property Damage Claim were different aspects of the single cause of action in negligence;

 

2.       there was no dispute that the claim was properly commenced in the High Court, and properly transferred to the District Court after its jurisdictional limit was increased to HK$ 3 million; and

 

3.       notwithstanding the settlement with the 3^rd defendant, the plaintiff’s claim had not been ousted from the jurisdiction of the District Court.

 

On the other hand, D1 argued that the Property Damage Claim should be struck out as it fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Small Claims Tribunal.

The Judge drew the attention of counsel to Brunsden v Humphrey (1884) 14 QBD 141, which supported the view that a personal injuries claim and a property damage claim, even if arising out of a single traffic accident, were two separate causes of action. Accordingly, the Judge was of the view that the Personal Injuries Claim and the Property Damage Claim could not be regarded as giving rise to one single cause of action just because they both happened to be based on the tort of negligence.

The Judge further held that as the Property Damage Claim was under HK$75,000, the Plaintiff’s claim against D1 fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Small Claims Tribunal, and the District Court has no jurisdiction to hear it. As the District Court has no power or jurisdiction to transfer an action to the Small Claims Tribunal, the Judge struck out the action.

Appeal to the Court of Appeal

Grounds of appeal

One of the grounds of appeal raised by the Plaintiff is:

In the modern law of negligence, does one tortious act resulting in two types of damage gives rise to a single cause of action, and was the Judge correct to follow Brunsden v Humphrey and to hold that the Property Damage Claim should have been separately commenced or maintained in the Small Claims Tribunal?

Decision

In deciding this issue, the Court considered case authorities subsequent to Brunsden v Humphrey in England and other jurisdictions such as Canada, the USA and Scotland, and concluded that the decision in Brunsden has been doubted in subsequent cases. Since there were no binding authorities in Hong Kong which applied Brunsden, the Court decided that Brunsden should not be followed.

The Court then considered case authorities which discuss the meaning of “cause of action”, and concluded that it means “a factual situation which gives the claimant a right to remedy”. As such, it is inapt to split a single factual situation into several legal situations. The Court then held that in the present case, the cause of action or factual situation entitling the Plaintiff to claim against the defendants is the negligent driving of D1 which caused damage. The injury to the Plaintiff’s person and the damage to his motorcycle flow from one single act of negligence, and they serve only as yardsticks for measuring the damages which the negligent act caused. Hence, the Personal Injuries Claim and the Property Damage Claim shall be dealt with in the same action.

As such, the Court allowed the Plaintiff’s appeal and set aside the order made by the District Court Judge.

Key takeaway

The Court of Appeal affirmed in Chan Chiu Tung that when one tortious occurrence results in two types of damages, it gives rise to one single cause of action only. Victims of tortious act are reminded to pursue his or her claims for different types of damages in the same legal action, instead of commencing separate actions for each of the claims, provided that the damages resulted from the same tortious act.

 

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Important: The law and procedure on this subject are very specialised and complicated. This article is just a very general outline for reference and cannot be relied upon as legal advice in any individual case. If any advice or assistance is needed, please contact our solicitors.

Published by ONC Lawyers © 2024