Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd
Encyclopedia
South Australia Asset Management Corpn v York Montague Ltd and Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd [1996] UKHL 10 is a joined English contract law
case (often referred to as 'SAAMCO') on causation remoteness of damage. It arose out of the property crash in the early 1990s, whereby banks were suing valuers for overpricing houses in order to recover the lost market value. Owners themselves had often little or no money, since they had fallen victim to negative equity
, so mortgage lenders would pursue a valuer instead to recover some losses.
English contract law
English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...
case (often referred to as 'SAAMCO') on causation remoteness of damage. It arose out of the property crash in the early 1990s, whereby banks were suing valuers for overpricing houses in order to recover the lost market value. Owners themselves had often little or no money, since they had fallen victim to negative equity
Negative equity
Negative equity occurs when the value of an asset used to secure a loan is less than the outstanding balance on the loan. In the United States, assets with negative equity are often referred to as being "underwater", and loans and borrowers with negative equity are said to be "upside down".People...
, so mortgage lenders would pursue a valuer instead to recover some losses.
Facts
In the South Australia case, a valuer had (in breach of an implied term to exercise reasonable care and skill) negligently advised his client bank that property which it proposed to take as security for a loan was worth much more than its actual market value. The question was whether he should be liable not only for losses attributable to the deficient security but also for further losses attributable to a fall in the property market. The House decided that he should not be liable for this kind of loss.Judgment
The House of Lords held that the valuer was not liable for the losses resulting from market fluctuations. Lord Hoffmann gave his judgment as follows.Significance
The effect of the Saamco case was to exclude from liability the damages attributable to a fall in the property market notwithstanding that those losses were foreseeable in the sense of being “not unlikely” (property values go down as well as up) and had been caused by the negligent valuation in the sense that, but for the valuation, the bank would not have lent at all and there was no evidence to show that it would have lost its money in some other way. It was excluded on the ground that it was outside the scope of the liability which the parties would reasonably have considered that the valuer was undertaking.See also
- English contract lawEnglish contract lawEnglish contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...
- Transfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping IncTransfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping IncThe Achilleas or Transfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping Inc [2008] is an English contract law case, concerning remoteness of damage.-Facts:...
[2008] UKHL 48 - Haugesund Kommune v DEPFA ACS Bank [2011] EWCA Civ 33, a bank's loss due to the impecuniosity of the counterparties to swap transactions or their unwillingness to abide by the decision of the English court was not within the scope of the duty of solicitors who had advised erroneously on the capacity of the counterparties to enter into the transactions.
External links
- Lindsay MacDonald and Catherine May, ''Professional Negligence: Same horse, different rider?' (20.3.2008) legalweek.com