Yorkshire Dale Steamship Co Ltd v Minister of War Transport [1942] AC 691
Citation:Yorkshire Dale Steamship Co Ltd v Minister of War Transport [1942] AC 691
Rule of thumb:What is the standard for proving the cause of a loss? The cause of a loss is just common sense – it does not have to be an expert proving what caused a loss. An expert report on cause of loss does not require to be lodged in order to make a claim under insurance.
Judgment:
In determining the cause of a loss for insurance there has to be a common sense ‘man on the street’ approach taken, with expert evidence only supplementing this, rather than the other way round.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘This choice of the real or efficient cause from out of the whole complex of the facts must be made by applying common sense standards. Causation is to be understood as the man in the street, and not as either the scientist or the metaphysician, would understand it. Cause here means what a business or seafaring man would take to be the cause without too microscopic analysis but on a broad view,’ Lord Wright at 706
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