CLAIM AGAINST SURVEYORS HELD TO BE TIME-BARRED

McKillen v Russell [2002] PNLR 653

In McKillen v. Russell [2002] PNLR 653 the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland held that the plaintiffs’ cause of action against the defendant surveyors was a unitary one, namely for the diminution in value of the property they had purchased in reliance upon the report prepared by the defendants. This being the case, the plaintiffs had sufficient knowledge to start the clock ticking when they became aware that the property had been over-valued as a result of the surveyor’s negligence. At this point the plaintiffs may not have known the extent of their claim but they knew that they had a cause of action and this was sufficient. Plaintiffs must therefore take great care before settling a claim against a surveyor because they may not be able to bring another claim in the event that they discover subsequently that the surveyor had failed to identify another defect in the property (which defect had not been taken into account when settling the earlier claim).