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Mon 25th January 2010
Tenant wins professional negligence claim against surveyor
A tenant has succeeded in a professional negligence claim against a surveyor even though the surveyor had told her he would no longer be able to act for her unless she paid his fee.
The tenant had retained the surveyor to act for her as she attempted to acquire an extended lease. The surveyor then served notice to the landlord of her intention on 8th May 2000. The landlord agreed all the terms except for the level of premium to be paid.
This meant an application would have to be made to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal for it to determine the level. This application had to be made by 8th November 2000 or the notice relating to the lease would be deemed to have been withdrawn.
However, on 1st August, the surveyor wrote to the tenant saying that he would be unable to continue acting for her unless she paid his invoice. Following that, no application was made to the tribunal by 8th November so the notice was considered to have been withdrawn.
The tenant brought a claim for professional negligence saying that the retainer had continued past the deadline and so the surveyor should have warned her of the need to make the application. He argued that he had terminated the retainer in August.
The Court of Appeal has now ruled in the tenant's favour. It held that the letter about the invoice in August did not terminate the retainer agreement and it was still in place on 8th November. The surveyor should therefore have warned her of the impending deadline and he had been negligent in failing to do so.
For advice or information please contact our dispute resolution team at lmilne@pwhmllp.com
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