Distress, the ancient remedy of seizing chattels from a debtor so as to obtain payment for a debt, is becoming unpopular in some quarters. The Lord Chancellor’s department has published a consultation paper on distress recommending reforms and the Law Commission has recommended its abolition. Even the courts intend to curtail its application.
Last year, KSB acted for the defendants in the case of Fuller v Happy Shopper Markets Ltd and another [2001] 25 EG 159, the facts of which are as follows:
The Claimant entered into a lease of premises. Under the terms of the lease, if the premises were rendered unfit for occupation due to an insured risk, the rent would be suspended. In January 1994 a storm damaged the roof of the premises rendering part of the premises unfit for occupation, although the Claimant continued to pay rent until December 1995 when he claimed that the rent should be suspended under the terms of the lease. In February 1997 the Defendant instructed bailiffs to
