At the Expense of the Claimant

Abstract

Abstract Where the claimant wishes to obtain restitution from the defendant on the ground of unjust enrichment, it is not enough to show that the defendant has been enriched in circumstances which fall within one of the grounds of restitution. The claimant must also establish that this enrichment was obtained at the claimant's expense. This requires the claimant to establish a connection between the receipt of an enrichment by the defendant and the claimant's loss so as to justify the restitutionary claim against the defendant. One important question is whether the claimant's gain must correspond with the defendant's loss. This chapter discusses the privity principle and exceptions to this principle, including restitutionary claims to vindicate the claimant's proprietary rights, restitutionary claims founded on wrongdoing, agency, and the principle of interceptive subtraction. The issue of whether non-money benefits received by the defendant were received at the claimant's expense is also considered.