I and L Securities Pty Ltd v HTW Valuers (Brisbane) Pty Ltd B48/2001

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal from the Supreme Court of Queensland in a dispute between I and L Securities Pty Ltd (the appellant) and HTW Valuers (Brisbane) Pty Ltd (the respondent). The core of the dispute concerned the valuation of a property by the respondent, which the appellant alleged was negligent and caused it financial loss. The appellant had purchased the property based on the valuation provided by the respondent.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the respondent owed a duty of care to the appellant in conducting the valuation, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. This involved an examination of the principles governing the liability of a valuer for economic loss arising from negligent advice, particularly in circumstances where the valuer was engaged by a third party, not directly by the party who suffered the loss. The court also considered the scope of any such duty and the foreseeability of the loss claimed by the appellant.

The High Court, in a joint judgment, affirmed the principles established in *Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd* and subsequent cases concerning negligent misstatement and the assumption of responsibility. The court held that a duty of care could arise in such circumstances if the valuer knew or ought reasonably to have known that the advice would be relied upon by a specific person or a class of persons for a particular purpose, and that reliance was reasonable. In this instance, the court found that the evidence did not establish that the respondent had assumed responsibility to the appellant or that the appellant's reliance on the valuation was reasonable in the circumstances, thereby finding no duty of care owed.

The High Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the Supreme Court of Queensland and ordering that the appellant's claim be dismissed.