A plaintiff who suffers damage due to impecuniosity cannot recover the loss.
Damage that results from a plaintiff's own impecuniosity are not recoverable at law.
Roopam Fashions v. Greenwood General Insurance Agency Inc. 2008 BCPC 254 British Columbia Provincial Court D.G. Sanderson J.P August 8, 2008
The Claimant operated a clothing store that had three laminated glass windows broken by vandals. The Claimant had insurance coverage which provided a “glass contract” with a local glass contractor. in the event of breakage. The original glass contractor had gone out of business, and a second, Broco Auto Glass and Upholstery Ltd. (“Broco”) had assumed the obligations under the glass contracts.
The Claimant sued the broker who sold the insurance policy and the glass contractor for replacement of the laminated glass. In the meantime, the Claimant had replaced the windows at its own expense with non-laminated glass, because it could not afford laminated glass. Broco argued that it was not obliged to replace laminated glass because laminated glass was excluded by the glass contract. However, Broco was unable to point to any language in the contract excluding laminated glass. The court held that the Claimant was entitled to recover the cost to install laminated glass at its store. The Claimant was not entitled to recover the expense the Claimant incurred to install non-laminated glass, because “if a person’s own impecuniosity is the cause of the damage, then that damage is not recoverable
