Surveyors, estate agents & valuers

Surveyors, estate agents & valuers

The huge increase in litigation brought by lenders against surveyors and valuers arising from over-valuations during the property boom and bust of the late 1980s and early 1990s largely came to a halt almost as quickly as it began. Members of our team were heavily involved in that litigation at the time and, despite the general downturn in the volume of cases, remain active in dealing with professional negligence claims against surveyors and valuers.

Although the government has drawn back from making them compulsory, from June 2007 anyone selling a property may produce a Home Information Pack which will include a home condition report. Surveyors, valuers and estate agents involved in preparation of the packs will owe duties of care to the seller, the buyer and his/her mortgagee. If introduced, HIP's are therefore likely to create an increased risk of Professional Liability claims.

We have substantial experience in acting for surveyors and estate agents, dealing with not only valuation issues, but other common professional negligence complaints. The case load has included:

• Successfully defending Strettons in respect of a multi-million pound claim brought against them arising from a shopping development valuation.

• Defending various building societies (e.g. Bradford & Bingley, Alliance & Leicester and Nationwide) in respect of numerous claims against their in-house lawyers.

• Defending numerous small to medium sized firms of surveyors and estate agents under a designated scheme in respect of over-valuation claims in addition to individual claims arising from rent reviews, property management and structural surveys.

Key contacts:

Kenneth McKenzie
020 7293 4085
kmckenzie@dac.co.uk

Philip Murrin
020 7293 4476
pmurrin@dac.co.uk