Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon [1976] EWCA Civ 4
Citation:Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon [1976] EWCA Civ 4
Rule of thumb:If you profess to have specialised skill, is a higher legal duty imposed? Yes, if a person claims to be a specialist then they will be expected to perform a higher standard of service than the ordinary level.
Judgment:
‘Now I would quite agree… it was not a warranty - in this sense - that it did not guarantee that the throughput would be 200,000 gallons. But, nevertheless, it was a forecast made by a party - Esso - who had special knowledge and skill. It was the yardstick… by which they measured the worth of a filling station. They knew the facts. They knew the traffic in the town. They knew the throughput of comparable stations. They had much experience and expertise at their disposal. They were in a much better position than Mr Mardon to make a forecast. It seems to me that if such a person makes a forecast, intending that the other should act upon it - and he does act upon it, it can well be interpreted as a warranty that the forecast is sound and reliable in the sense that they made it with reasonable care and skill. It is just as if Esso said to Mr. Mardon, “Our forecast of throughput is 200,000 gallons”. You can rely upon it as being a sound forecast of what the service station should do. The rent is calculated on that footing. If the forecast turned out to be an unsound forecast such as no person of skill or experience should have made, there is a breach of warranty’, Lord Denning MR
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