Retail Motor Law

Most websites are full of information. Websites are an ideal way to let potential customers and clients know about your business. But if accidental mistakes occur and errors creep in just how far can a visitor hold you to the information that’s on there? And if it leads to them incurring a financial loss, could they look to recover it from you?

This issue has just been considered by the Court of Appeal in Patchett v Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association Ltd 2009.

The Court of Appeal looked at this issue and whether or not a company’s website owes a “duty of care” to its visitors.

Misleading statements

Mr and Mrs Patchett (P) were looking for a contractor to build them a swimming pool at their home. On the website of the Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association Ltd (SPATA), whose membership includes most of the country’s leading installers, P obtained a quote from Crown (C).

SPATA’s website claimed that its members:

            (1) were fully vetted, with thorough checks made on their financial position,

                 experience and work; and

            (2) belonged to its “unique bond and warranty scheme” that protected

                 customers.

However C was only an affiliate member of SPATA and the safeguards it described applied only to its full members. C later went bust and P sued SPATA to recover their losses of £44,000 after it refused to pay out under its scheme.

The judgment

In considering the case the Court asked itself three questions:

1.         Was P’s financial loss reasonably foreseeable?

2.         Was the relationship between P and SPATA sufficiently close to create

            an automatic duty of care?

3.         If not, was it fair, in the circumstances, to impose a duty of care on SPATA?

No duty owed

The Court decided that a duty of care in this instance didn’t exist, even though SPATA knew the representations on its website would be relied upon by visitors. It felt that as SPATA had clearly pointed out that further questions should be asked before appointing any contractor, P should have taken this step. Had they done so they would have discovered C was only an affiliate member and not protected by the warranty scheme.

Finally

If a website makes absolutely clear that visitors must confirm that any information is correct and they subsequently fail to do this, it’s quite unlikely the company will be liable. But if this isn’t stated, it could easily be a different story. Make your website clear and users aware with a prominently placed disclaimer.

For a sample Disclaimer RML members should visit www.retailmotorlaw.co.uk  and logon using their passwords.