Discusses the concept of loss of a chance with reference to "J Sainsbury v Broadway Malyan and another ([1998] EWHC 302 (TCC)) ([1999] 61 Con LR 31). Here Sainsbury's supermarket was destroyed by an arsonist. It was alleged that its architect had failed to design an adequate firebreak wall between the storage area and the sales floor. The architect settled the claim at a £7.12m but in the course of the subsequent arbitration the judge stated that the architect merely caused Sainsbury's the loss of a chance of some 35% that the fire brigade might have been able to confine the fire to the store area. The architect should have settled at just 35% of the original settlement figure. Advises that a defendant in such cases should consider whether the claim should be construed as just the loss of chance, if this is the case then the damages may be substantially lower than the actual loss claimed.