Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon
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''Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon'' EWCA Civ 4
is an
976
EWCA Civ 4
is an English contract law case, concerning Misrepresentation in English law">misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant'' [1931] Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...
. It holds that the divide between a statement of opinion and fact becomes more factual if one holds himself out as having expert knowledge.


Facts

Mr Mardon was buying a petrol station franchised by
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...
Petroleum Co Ltd. Esso told him they had estimated that the throughput of a petrol station in Eastbank Street,
Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
, would be 200,000 gallons a year; however, the local council had made a decision regarding planning permission which meant that there would be no direct access from the main street and therefore fewer customers. The estimate provided by Esso did not take this into account despite their knowledge of the decision. Mr Mardon bought the petrol station and business did not go well. From 1964, Mr Mardon negotiated a lower rent with Esso but was still losing money. Esso then brought an action for possession against Mr Mardon, who counterclaimed for damages of Esso's breach of warranty or negligence under '' Hedley Byrne''. Lawson J held there was no contractual warranty and damages for negligent misstatement were limited to losses before 1964. Mr Mardon appealed.


Judgment

Lord Denning MR Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister and judge. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he w ...
held there was a contractual warranty and damages were not limited. Lord Denning MR distinguished '' Bisset v Wilkinson'' because each party was 'equally able to form an opinion.' The damages awarded were for the loss suffered, not the loss of a bargain. He went on and said, if there had been no warranty (which there was) there would still be negligent misrepresentation liability in
tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...
. It was argued that when a contract resulted, there was no tort liability, relying on ''Clark v Kirby-Smith'', when Plowman J said a negligent solicitor was not liable in tort, only contract, based on Sir Wilfrid Greene MR in ''Groom v Crocker''. But these were old and the tort duty 'is comparable to the duty of reasonable care which is owed by a master to his servant, or vice versa'.''
Lister v Romford Ice and Cold Storage Co Ltd is an important English tort law, contract law and labour law, which concerns vicarious liability and an ostensible duty of an employee to compensate the employer for torts he commits in the course of employment. Facts Martin Lister and his fat ...
''
957 Year 957 ( CMLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * September 6 – Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I, dies of a violent fever near Pombia (it is rumored from a laten ...
AC 555, 587 per Lord Radcliffe
There is a duty to negotiate with care, Ormrod and Shaw LJJ concurred.


See also

*
English contract law English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
*
Misrepresentation in English law In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a false or misleading'' R v Kylsant'' 931/ref> statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then inducing that other party to enter into a contract. The ...


Notes

{{ExxonMobil English misrepresentation case law Lord Denning cases 1976 in United Kingdom case law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases ExxonMobil litigation Standard Oil