Misrepresentation

• Misrepresentation makes a contract voidable.
• It requires a false statement, which can be written, verbal, pictorial (Spice Girls), or a concealed fault (Gordon).
• Silence is generally not misrepresentation (Fletcher) unless it involves:

  1. a half-truth (Dimmock)
• Silence is generally not misrepresentation (Fletcher) unless it involves:

  2. a change of circumstances (With)
• Silence is generally not misrepresentation (Fletcher) unless it involves:

  3. A confidential relationship based on trust (Tate)
• Under the Consumer Insurance Act 2012, there is a duty to answer questions honestly and with reasonable care to avoid misleading statements (Lambert).
• The statement must be of material fact - not opinion unless dishonestly made (Bisset, Smith), or intention unless the maker knows they wont act on it.
• It must be made by a party to the contract or their agent and must have induced the other party to enter the contract (Atwood).
• Even if reliance on the statement was unreasonable, it is irrelevant (Redgrave)
• Under CRA 2015, failure to provide clear information is a misleading omission.