The Court of Appeal has adjourned the appeal hearing of
Swift v Carpenter to allow the parties to file additional
expert evidence. The Personal Injury Bar Association was also
granted permission to intervene as an interested party.
Further directions have been made granting all parties
permission to obtain expert evidence and to lodge further
written submissions. Indications are that the appeal hearing will
be heard in early 2020.
First instance
Since the decision in Roberts v Johnstone [1989] Q.B.
878, the cost of future accommodation has been calculated on the
basis of compensation for the loss of use of capital used to
purchase a more expensive property.
Whilst the claimant retains an appreciating asset in the
property, the capital tied up would not have produced any return of
investment and so a claimant is compensated for this loss. Until
2017, these calculations involved a positive discount rate.
