A woman’s claim against her ex-partner for failing to take her to the airport, causing her to miss a flight, has been dismissed by a New Zealand tribunal. The woman, identified only as CL, alleged that her then-boyfriend, HG, breached a “verbal contract” to take her to the airport, stay in her house, and look after her dogs.
According to legal documents, CL asked HG to collect her from her home and take her to the airport between 10:00 and 10:15 am, but he failed to do so. As a result, she missed her flight and incurred additional costs for travel and boarding her dogs.
The couple had been in a relationship for six and a half years before the dispute arose. The tribunal examined whether HG had entered into a contract to fulfill the obligations outlined by CL, including covering the costs of a ferry trip to visit her sons.
Ultimately, the tribunal found that the promises made between CL and HG were part of a normal give-and-take in an intimate relationship and did not constitute a legally binding contract. Referee Krysia Cowie stated that while friends may suffer financial consequences when promises are broken, they may not be entitled to compensation for those losses.
The tribunal’s decision, made in March, was only published recently, highlighting the complexities of personal agreements within relationships and the limitations of legal enforcement in such cases.
