Fosse Motor Engineers Ltd & Ors v Conde Nast and National Magazine Distributors Ltd & Anor [electronic resource]
Fosse Motor Engineers Ltd & Ors v Conde Nast and National Magazine Distributors Ltd & Anor [electronic resource]
- 2008
[2008] EWHC 2037 (TCC), 20 August 2008. Clear evidence is needed to establish that a party is the probable, rather than possible, cause of a fire. A claimant warehouse owner (F) claimed damages in negligence against the first defendant tenant (T) and the second defendant employment agency (P) in relation to a fire that had destroyed its warehouse. T had rented part of the warehouse. P employed four agency workers seconded to work for T at the warehouse. F sought to hold T liable for its losses on the basis that the fire had been started by a cigarette discarded by one of the agency workers. The cause of the fire was not established. Held: judgement for the first defendant. It was for F to prove on the balance of probabilities that the fire was caused by the negligence of the agency workers, which it had not. Even if T's workers had caused the fire, the court held that it would not have been liable because discarding a cigarette was nothing to do with the duties of the workers.
FOSSE MOTOR ENGINEERS LTD & ORS V CONDE NAST AND NATIONAL MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTORS LTD & ANOR
England and Wales--1543-
[2008] EWHC 2037 (TCC), 20 August 2008. Clear evidence is needed to establish that a party is the probable, rather than possible, cause of a fire. A claimant warehouse owner (F) claimed damages in negligence against the first defendant tenant (T) and the second defendant employment agency (P) in relation to a fire that had destroyed its warehouse. T had rented part of the warehouse. P employed four agency workers seconded to work for T at the warehouse. F sought to hold T liable for its losses on the basis that the fire had been started by a cigarette discarded by one of the agency workers. The cause of the fire was not established. Held: judgement for the first defendant. It was for F to prove on the balance of probabilities that the fire was caused by the negligence of the agency workers, which it had not. Even if T's workers had caused the fire, the court held that it would not have been liable because discarding a cigarette was nothing to do with the duties of the workers.
FOSSE MOTOR ENGINEERS LTD & ORS V CONDE NAST AND NATIONAL MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTORS LTD & ANOR
England and Wales--1543-