STRESS, VEXATION AND INCONVENIENCE: DAMAGES AGAINST SURVEYOR FOR ANNOYANCE CAUSED BY AIRCRAFT NOISE

Farley v Skinner (unreported, 6 April 2000, CA)

The Court of Appeal has, by a majority, disallowed an award against a surveyor of £10,000 by way of damages for the inconvenience and discomfort suffered by the buyer of a weekend house whom the surveyor failed to warn about local aircraft noise which, following purchase, substantially impaired the client’s enjoyment of the property. The Court held that the claim should fail because (a) mere annoyance of this type did not constitute physical inconvenience and discomfort, and (b) the object of the contract between the client and the surveyor was not to provide enjoyment or relief from stress. With both those avenues closed, the case fell back within the general rule that a contract breaker is not liable for vexation, stress, disappointment or loss of pleasure caused by the breach, no matter how predictable a consequence those phenomena may be.