TRADE ASSOCIATION DID NOT OWE DUTY OF CARE IN RESPECT OF INFORMATION ON ITS WEBSITE

Patchett v Swimming Pool & Allied Trades Association Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 717, [2009] All ER (D) 152

In Patchett v Swimming Pool & Allied Trades Association Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 717, [2009] All ER (D) 152 (Jul) the Court of Appeal held, by a majority, that the defendant trade association did not owe a duty of care to the claimants who alleged that they had employed a contractor in reliance upon information to be found on the defendants’ website. The principal reason for concluding that a duty of care was not owed was that the website encouraged readers to make further inquiry, in particular to obtain an information pack which would have warned the claimants of the risks which they were running.