england-and-wales small-claims-court
Splitting a claim into several small claims
<p>UK, small claims court question.</p>
<p>Is it permissible to split a large claim into several small claims, against multiple defendants, arguing a different cause of action in each?</p>
<p>Consider this hypothetical and entirely fictional case:</p>
<p><strong>Adam</strong> inherits a valuable piece of art (e.g. a painting).  <strong>Adam</strong> has no interest in art, and decides to sell.</p>
<p><strong>Bill</strong> contracts to handle the sale. He promises to sell the painting for a minimum of £120,000, and to charge a commission of £10,000.</p>
<p><strong>Charlie</strong> is a professional art restorer. <strong>Bill</strong> hands the painting to <strong>Charlie</strong> for cleaning. But <strong>Charlie</strong> makes a mistake, and damages the painting, reducing the value. It subsequently sells for £90,000.</p>
<p><strong>Bill</strong> deducts £20,000 from the sale price, double the agreed commission, and sends <strong>Adam</strong> the balance of £70,000.</p>
<p><strong>Adam</strong> is outraged. He had been expecting a payment of £110,000 but has ended up £40,000 down.</p>
<p><strong>Adam</strong> consults <strong>Dave</strong> the lawyer. <strong>Dave</strong> advises that he might have to spend £50-60,000 to recover the loss, might not win, might not recover costs, etc.</p>
<p>So <strong>Adam</strong> considers a claim in the small claims court. The UK small claims limit is £10,000, but <strong>Adam</strong> has a plan. He will make three separate claims, asking for maximum damages in each.
First, he will sue <strong>Charlie</strong> for damaging the painting.
Second, he will sue <strong>Bill</strong> for damaging the painting. (vicarious liability)
Third, he will sue <strong>Bill</strong> for overcharging on the fees.</p>
<p>Is <strong>Adam</strong>'s plan legally permissible? Basically, is it allowed to</p>
<ol>
<li>sue two different people  for the same negligence, and</li>
<li>sue one person twice for two different things.</li>
</ol>
<p>Can a big claim be split up into smaller claims like this?</p>
<p>Note - for clarity,  I'm not interested in <strong>Adam</strong>'s dispute. I don't need to know about overcharging and the law of contracts, or liability for damage in tort law. Just the point about splitting up the case. And the case I described is just an example. Make the answer as general as possible, not restricted to this particular case.</p>
<p>And, as a final reminder, the jurisdiction is England and Wales.</p>
<p>Not asking for legal advice, you are not my lawyer, etc.</p>

<h2>You can only sue once on the same facts on the same defendant</h2>
<p>The issue here is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Res_judicata" rel="nofollow noreferrer">res judicata</a> - once a case between 2 parties has been resolved, that matter can never be litigated again. So Adam cannot split his litigation against Bill.</p>
<h2>Adam has suffered no damage from Charlie</h2>
<p>If Adam now had an artwork of reduced value as a result of Charlie’s negligence he would. But he doesn’t have a damaged art work so Charlie has caused Adam no harm.</p>
