Action for Money Paid Law and Legal Definition
At common law, an action for money paid is an action by which the plaintiff could recover money paid to a third party, in circumstances in which the defendant had benefited.
The action for money paid was the appropriate action when the plaintiffs claim was in respect of money paid, not to the defendant, but to a third party, from which the defendant had derived a benefit. Historically, the plaintiff had to show that the payment was made at the defendant's request; but the law was prepared to 'imply' such a request on certain occasions, in particular where the payment was made under compulsion of law or, in limited circumstances, in the course of intervention in an emergency on the defendant's behalf.
