Deceit

Reliance on the misrepresentation-Scope-Defrauded representee did not have to necessarily prove that it was induced into an settlement agreement because it believed that the misrepresentations were true

Representor could make a false and fraudulent misrepresentation, with the intention of influencing the representee to act on it to its detriment, without the representee necessarily believing it to be true

Question as to 'whether defrauded representee had been induced/influenced to act to his detriment was a question of fact which went to the issue of causation

Where the representor succeeds in his object of influencing the representee to act on the representation to its detriment, there will be the concurrence of fraud and deceit in the representor and resulting damage to the representee

In principle, the representee should therefore be entitled to a remedy in deceit.

To establish the tort of deceit it must be shown that the defendant dishonestly made a material false representation which was intended to, and did, induce the representee to act to its detriment

Elements essential for liability were the making of a materially false representation (the defendant's conduct element); the defendant's accompanying state of mind (the fault element); and the impact on the representee (the causation element)

Where liability was established, it remained for the claimant to establish the amount of any resulting loss (the quantum element).

For such a claim it must be shown that the defendant made a materially false representation which was intended to, and did, induce the representee to act to its detriment

As a matter of law, it was not necessary to prove that the representee believed that the representation was true

However, that was not to say that the representee's state of mind may not be relevant to the issue of inducement; indeed, it may be very relevant e.g. if the representee did not believe that the representation was true, he may have serious difficulty in establishing that lie was induced to enter into the contract or that he had suffered loss as a result.