Suit upon quantum meruit

Quantum meruit. The Latin phrase means as much as he has earned. The claim is not for damages, which compensate for a breach; it is restitutory, asking to be paid the value of what one party has done or supplied and the other has accepted. Where one person has served another on the understanding of both that the service would be paid for, though no fee was fixed, the law implies a promise to pay a reasonable sum. The claim requires that the original contract has been discharged, and it is brought by a party who is not in default.

Circumstances in which a suit upon quantum meruit lies (examples our own):

1. One party wrongfully prevents the other from completing: a publisher engages an author for a twelve-chapter book and cancels without cause after six chapters are delivered; the author recovers a reasonable sum for the work done.
2. An indivisible contract for a lump sum is completely but badly performed: the lump sum is payable, less a deduction for the bad work. A painter who finishes a flat for ₹40,000, but leaves defects costing ₹3,000 to put right, recovers ₹37,000.
3. An agreement is discovered to be void, or a contract becomes void: a person who has received a benefit under it must pay for what he has received.
4. The contract is divisible and the other party has had the benefit of part performance: a caterer engaged to serve lunch for thirty days stops after twenty; the client, who has had twenty days' lunches, pays for them.
5. Something is done without any intention of doing it gratuitously: a florist delivers flowers to a hotel by mistake, and the hotel uses them at a function knowing they were not a gift; it must pay a reasonable price.