GOVERNMENT INSURANCE OFFICE OF NSW v MORGAN [1991] NSWCA 118

GOVERNMENT INSURANCE OFFICE OF NSW v MORGAN SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

SAMUELS, CLARKE JJA and Hope AJA 12, , 13 February 1991 [1991] NSWCA 118

DAMAGES — EXCESSIVENESS — IMPAIRMENT OF EARNING CAPACITY — NO QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE

Clarke JA On 29 June 1989 Judge Lloyd Jones directed the entry of a verdict for the plaintiff, who is the present respondent, in the sum of $129,590 in compensation for injuries she received in a motor vehicle accident in which she was involved on 29 September 1986.

The appellant who was the defendant at the trial has appealed from that judgment upon the basis that the award was excessive in all the circumstances. Although there is a general attack on the amount awarded, during argument it became clear that a number of the components which went to make up that amount were not challenged. In essence, the complaint was that the award of $37,500 for general damages and the award of $60,000 for impairment of earning capacity in the future were excessive.

The respondent was, at the time of the accident, a married lady with three children. She had been married since October 1970, that is about 16 years. During the latter years prior to the accident her husband had not been working and it would seem that she was the wage earner in the family. In 1984 the family bought a house in Cowra and moved there from the Gosford area. During the period while she was at Cowra prior to the accident she had a number of employments but it is not necessary to itemise each of those in this judgment. It is sufficient to indicate that for a period of about seven months ending in March 1986 she worked for Young Broadcasters Pty Limited and thereafter worked parttime for Oliver and Davidson, Produce Merchants, as a casual cleaner, Cooperware as a dealer in pottery, and Tupperware as a dealer.