Cases - Webb Resolutions Ltd v ESurv Ltd

Record details

Name

Webb Resolutions Ltd v ESurv Ltd

Date

[2012]

Citation

EWHC 3653 (TCC)

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

The claimant had assigned to it the claims of a mortgage lender, and sought damages against the defendant surveyors in respect of the valuation of 2 residential properties P1 and P2 by 2 of its valuers. The correct approach to liability was to focus on the valuation rather than the methodology. There was a permissible margin of error or bracket, to be calculated by reference to the correct valuation figure. Although it did not follow automatically that a valuation outside the bracket was negligent, it provided a prima facie case to answer. For a standard residential property the margin might be as low as + or – 5%, for a one-off property this might be 10%, and if the property had exceptional features it could be 15% or higher. The appropriate margin in this case was 5%, the valuations were more than 10% higher than the correct figure, and for this and other reasons were negligent.