The plaintiff contracted with the defendant for the defendant to install equipment on the premises of one of the claimant’s subsidiaries. The equipment was to be used by the subsidiary. The equipment was defective and damage was suffered by the subsidiary in consequence. The claimant sought to recover in a breach of contract action the loss caused to its subsidiary.
Held: The claim was allowed. The Prudential Assurance case did not bar the action.
Judge Hicks QC said: ‘Each scheme was criticised by the proponents of the other. Neither had been designed in full detail, so acceptance of either is, to some extent, dependent, first, on a judgment as to the ability of the designer, with the assistance of the specialist knowledge of the relevant manufacturer and a contractor experienced in using the system, to devise suitable detailed treatment of all the potential trouble-spots and, second, on an assessment of the guarantees and bonds offered by the manufacturer and contractor. Since Soladex would be so much the cheaper, and cannot be said to be the more detrimental to the appearance of the buildings – I should have thought, if anything, the reverse – it must clearly be preferred unless the criticisms of its expected effectiveness are, taking the above considerations into account, made good on the balance of probabilities.’
Judges:
Judge Hicks QC
Citations:
[1998] 61 ConLR 85, [1995] 1 BCLC 260
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Johnson v Gore Wood and Co HL 14-Dec-2000
Shareholder May Sue for Additional Personal Losses
A company brought a claim of negligence against its solicitors, and, after that claim was settled, the company’s owner brought a separate claim in respect of the same subject-matter.
Held: It need not be an abuse of the court for a shareholder . .
Cited – Iggleden v Fairview New Homes (Shooters Hill) Ltd TCC 1-Jun-2007
The claimants bought a newly built home from the defendants. Defects were alleged and admitted, but the defendants said the claimants had failed to mitigate their losses or accept offers to have work done. The claimants now sought leave to add . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Professional Negligence, Damages
Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.252497