## Facts

- Hicks, a theatre manager, organized a beauty contest where entrants submitted photographs to be judged by public vote, leading to a final selection round.
- Chaplin qualified for the final round but was notified too late by Hicks due to his failure to take reasonable steps to inform her.
- Chaplin was consequently denied the opportunity to participate in the final round.
- Chaplin sued Hicks for breach of contract, seeking damages for the lost opportunity to compete and potential prize earnings.

## Issues

1. Whether Chaplin could recover substantial damages for losing the chance to compete in a final selection, notwithstanding the uncertainty of outcome.
2. Whether damages for such a lost opportunity were too remote or incapable of proper assessment.
3. Whether the award of damages for the loss of chance required proof, on the balance of probability, that Chaplin would have won the competition.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal rejected Hicks' argument that damages were too remote or speculative to award.
- It held that Chaplin was entitled to substantial damages for the loss of the chance to compete, despite uncertainty regarding whether she would have ultimately won.
- The Court established that the value of the lost opportunity could be assessed even if not precisely quantified.
- The decision clarified that the uncertainty of outcome does not absolve the wrongdoer from compensating for the breach.

## Legal Principles

- A right to an opportunity under a contract is a valuable right, and loss of that chance due to breach is compensable.
- Damages can be awarded for loss of chance even if it is not proven, on the balance of probabilities, that the claimant would have obtained the benefit had the chance not been lost.
- The fact that damages cannot be assessed with certainty does not prevent their award.
- The case distinguishes contractual loss of chance from the approach taken in tort, as highlighted by contrast with Hotson v East Berkshire HA [1987] AC 750.

## Conclusion

Chaplin v Hicks [1911] 2 KB 786 confirmed that a claimant deprived of a valuable chance by breach of contract is entitled to damages, even in the face of outcome uncertainty, making loss of chance a foundational principle in contract law.
