Cases - Wilson v Messrs DM Hall & Sons

Record details

Name

Wilson v Messrs DM Hall & Sons

Date

[2004]

Citation

ScotCS 268

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

In this Scottish case the claimant, a property developer, sought funding from a bank for the proposed construction of a block of 6 flats. The bank obtained a report on the proposal from the defendant valuers and passed on certain figures from their report (including the likely sale value of the flats when completed) to the claimant. When the block was completed, the flats proved impossible to sell at anything like the figure quoted by the defendants. The claimant failed to repay the loan to the bank, which repossessed the property.

The claimant then sued the defendants for negligence, alleging that they had negligently overvalued the flats and that, had they not done so, he would have marketed the flats at a lower price, at which they would easily have been sold. However, it was held that the defendants owed no duty of care to the claimant. It was said that the Smith v Eric S Bush principle should not be extended to a case of an experienced property developer, armed with full professional advice, entering into a commercial transaction.