Tomcsanyi v National Australia Bank Ltd

[2017] WASCA 140

Western Australia Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Contract
2. › Construction
3. › Settlement deed
4. › Independence of obligations
5. › Whether breach by one party excuses performance by the other
6. › Whether obligations conditional or interdependent
1. Contract
2. › Breach
3. › Causation of damage
4. › Whether breach caused or materially contributed to loss
5. › Failure to refinance debt
6. › Intervening cause — plaintiff's own inaction
1. Equity
2. › Unconscionability
3. › Special disadvantage
4. › Whether bank acted unconscionably in entering settlement deed
5. › Whether special disadvantage existed
6. › Australian Consumer Law
1. Equity
2. › Fiduciary relationships
3. › Banker and customer
4. › Whether fiduciary relationship arose between bank and borrower in context of settlement deed

Quick Take

A borrower's obligation to repay a debt under a settlement deed is not excused by the lender's breach of an administrative obligation to amend account records, where the obligations are independent. A borrower who takes no meaningful steps to refinance a debt cannot attribute the failure to repay to the lender's breach in generating incorrect statements. The banker-customer relationship is not inherently fiduciary, and arm's length settlement negotiations between represented parties do not give rise to fiduciary obligations.