Cases - Philips v Ward

Record details

Name

Philips v Ward

Date

[1956]

Citation

1 AII ER 874, CA

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

The claimant purchased a house for £25,000, following a negligent survey by the defendant that failed to reveal timber infestations. The cost of repairing these defects at the date of purchase would have been £7,000 but the true value of the property (even with the defects) at that date was £21,000. The Court of Appeal held that the claimant was entitled to damages of £4,000, not £7,000 - to award the higher figure would in effect have allowed the purchaser to acquire a house worth £21,000 at a cost of only £18,000.