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11 December 2008 / Evelyn Reid
Issue: 7349 / Categories: Features , Property
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Face value?

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What happens when surveyors are hoodwinked into valuing the wrong property? Evelyn Reid reports

How was it that a surveyor was misled into valuing the wrong property? That was only one of the questions raised in Platform Funding Ltd v Bank of Scotland Plc (formerly Halifax Plc) [2008] EWCA Civ 930, [2008] All ER (D) 422 (Jul) a case which had all the ingredients for confusion and deceit.

The claimant, Platform Funding Ltd, had been approached by a borrower for a loan to be secured by a mortgage on 1 Bakers Yard, Belchmire Lane, Gosberton, Lincolnshire. The defendant, the Bank of Scotland plc (formerly Halifax plc) but at the relevant time trading as Colleys, purportedly provided Platform Funding Ltd with a valuation of the property, and it advanced a sum of money to the borrower based on that valuation.

Shell shock
The valuer’s report contained a certificate stating that the property had been inspected by the valuer, and the valuation given was a fair indication of the current open market valuation. The borrower’s address as stated

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