NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 11 — The Milimani Small Claims Court has ordered Lorenzo Dry Cleaners Limited to pay Sh114,616 after finding that a three-piece suit was damaged while in the company’s custody.
The court also awarded the claimant interest at 12 per cent per annum from July 13, 2026, until payment in full, as well as Sh20,000 in costs with a 30-day stay of execution.
The judgment delivered on September 8 followed a claim by Emmanuel Mumia over damage to his striped navy suit.
Mumia had claimed £1,064.95, equivalent to Sh183,826.66, as the value of the suit, which he said was damaged while being dry-cleaned.
According to the judgment, the suit was delivered to Lorenzo Dry Cleaners on March 16, 2026, and returned to Mumia’s residence on March 23. The company’s intake record listed only “ordinary dirt and lint” and did not record discoloration or other damage.
Mumia later reported that the jacket had developed three dark patches of discoloration and loose threads on the right sleeve.
He maintained that the suit had not been worn after it was returned and that the dry-cleaning tags were still attached when the damage was discovered. His wife reported the matter to the company through WhatsApp on June 26.
The company apologized, collected the jacket for assessment and indicated that it was “trying to work on it” before eventually declining to compensate Mumia.
Lorenzo Dry Cleaners disputed liability, arguing that Mumia had not proved the discoloration existed when the suit left its custody. It also pointed to its terms and conditions requiring complaints to be made within 24 hours of delivery.
The court, however, found the company’s response to the complaint relevant in assessing the competing evidence.
“These circumstances, considered cumulatively, make it more probable than not that the damage occurred while the suit was in the Respondent’s custody,” the Small Claims Court ruled.
The court further found that although Lorenzo’s terms and conditions were properly incorporated into the contract, they did not absolve the company of liability in the circumstances.
The court noted that an exclusion clause could not operate as a blanket exemption from liability for goods entrusted to a bailee’s custody.
It also found that the 24-hour complaint requirement did not determine when the damage occurred and that the lapse of the period did not, in the circumstances, relieve the company of liability.
On the value of the suit, the court rejected part of Mumia’s claim after examining the receipt he presented.
The Moss Bros receipt showed a total of £1,064.95 for several garments and a suit carrier. The court found that only the striped waistcoat, jacket and trousers corresponded to the damaged three-piece suit, with a combined value of £659. A further £5 for the suit carrier was also attributed to the suit.
Using the exchange rate pleaded in the claim, the court valued the proven loss at Sh114,616.36 and declined to award the balance of the amount claimed.
