Delay and delay

DELAY is a failure to meet the deadline for reasons beyond the control (not at fault) of the person concerned. DELAY is a failure of a person to meet the deadline due to dependent (at fault) reasons. EXAMPLE: The Bank leased a warehouse to the Company. The Company DID NOT PAY WITHIN TWO lease payments.

The Bank, relying on the provisions of the leasing agreement, terminated the contract with immediate effect. The relevant contractual clause entitled the Bank to terminate the contract immediately only in the event of delay. According to the Company, the untimely payment of installments was NOT AT FAULT by the Company: it resulted from the loss of cash flow caused by armed conflict in a key foreign market for the company (as a result of a sharp fall in the exchange rate). Two issues are relevant to the dispute and possible liability for damages of the Bank:
(a) whether the company’s failure to pay lease payments in a timely way was due to delay or delay
(b) whether the Bank acted with due diligence when denouncing the lease agreement, i.e. whether it investigated and duly assessed that there was a DELAY or delay, whether it acted recklessly or with negligence.

In the second case (i.e. lack of due diligence of the Bank) will come into play in addition to contractual liability also the liability of THE BANK FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF “termination” of the contract.