Conversion

In one line

Conversion is dealing with goods in a way that denies the owner's right to them, and the defendant pays their full value.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: conversion, also called trover, is an act of wilful interference with a chattel, done without lawful justification, by which the person entitled to it is deprived of its use and possession; the essence is a dealing inconsistent with the rights of the person entitled, the intention to challenge his title is not necessary, and the measure of damages is the value of the goods at the date of the conversion, so that the defendant is treated as though he had bought them.

The word

Trover is the old name of the action, from the French trouver, to find, because the plaintiff pleaded a fiction that he had lost the goods and the defendant had found them. The modern name, conversion, describes what the defendant does: he converts the goods to his own use.

The essentials

1. The plaintiff must have possession, or the right to immediate possession. A bailee in possession may sue; so may an owner entitled to immediate possession. An owner who has parted with possession for a fixed term cannot sue during the term.

2. A dealing inconsistent with the plaintiff's right. This is the heart of the tort. It is not enough to touch or move the goods; the defendant must deal with them as though they were his own, or in a way that denies the plaintiff's title.

3. No intention to challenge the title is needed. Honesty is no defence. A person who buys stolen goods innocently, or an auctioneer who sells them for a thief in good faith, converts them.

The ways conversion is committed

By taking, where goods are taken with the intention of exercising dominion over them.

By detention, where the defendant keeps the goods and refuses to deliver them on demand, which is also detinue.

By wrongful delivery, where a bailee delivers the goods to the wrong person.

By wrongful disposition, where the defendant sells, pledges or otherwise disposes of the goods.

By destruction or alteration, where the goods are destroyed, or changed so much that their identity is lost, as by making wine into vinegar.

By wrongful user, where the defendant uses the goods as his own, as where a bailee for storage drives the car.

What is NOT conversion: a mere assertion of a claim without an act, a refusal to deliver made in good faith to check the claimant's title within a reasonable time, and a bare failure to look after the goods, which is negligence.