Decision ID: 001763

In October 2005 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in July 2005 the Commercial Court in Lorient had rendered judgements in respect of seven claims from businesses in the tourism sector. It was noted that five of the claims had been accepted by the Fund in respect of losses in 2000, albeit sometimes for smaller amounts, but that the Fund had rejected claims in respect of losses in 2001, since there was not a sufficient link of causation between the alleged losses and the contamination. It was also noted that a sixth claim, by an estate agent, for loss of income in its letting activity and property sales was rejected by the Fund on the grounds that no loss in respect of the letting had been proven and that it had not been established that the incident had had a long-term impact on property sales. It was further noted that a seventh claim, by the owner of a campsite, had been assessed by the Fund at a lower amount than claimed and the claimant had not accepted the assessment. The Committee noted that in the seven judgements the Court had stated that it was not bound by the Fund’s admissibility criteria, which were internal to the Fund. It was further noted that although the Court had maintained that the fact that all traces of oil on the coast had disappeared by the end of the summer 2000 did not necessarily imply that there was no link of causation between the event that led to the damage and the losses suffered, it had nevertheless held that in respect of all seven cases the facts had not been established and had decided therefore to appoint an expert to assess whether the claimants had suffered losses in the periods covered by their respective claims and, if so, to determine whether they were due to the pollution.

Category: Pure economic loss (tourism)
Subject: Link of causation between the loss and the contamination