Thames Water Utilities has succeeded in blocking a claim for increased compensation after flood damage wrecked property at Cockspur Street in London.
The Court of Appeal originally awarded £37,500 to Skandia Property (UK) and Vala Properties, but the companies applied to the Court of Appeal for an increase to £297,954.
The property had undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment just prior to the 1991 flood, they said.
Thames Water admitted responsibility for the flooding.
However, in a decision upheld by the appeal judges, the High Court accepted that surveyors for the property companies had been wrong to advise that the render on the building had been damaged and needed repairing. The damages awarded were appropriate.
Skandia Property (UK) Ltd and another v Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Court of Appeal (Lord Woolf (MR), Henry and Waller LJJ) 27 July1999
PLS News 28/7/99
