Houseboat owner suing surveyer

HOUSEBOAT owner Elizabeth Murray is suing a surveyor who carried out a pre-purchase survey of her houseboat which sank.

Her houseboat, Queen of the Thames, sank whilst moored on the Thames at Shepperton, four years after being surveyed by Mike Chambers, trading as Conway Marine Surveys, who carried out a pre-purchase survey of the  boat in December 2003, four years before it sank. She has launched a legal battle for compensation in the High Court of more than £580,000.

Negligent

She has accused Mike Chambers of negligently failing to measure the freeboard on the Queen of the Thames, failing to warn her that it was around 6cm instead of the 50cm needed, stating she would never have bought the boat had this been done.

According to the writ, the £450,000 houseboat sank on the 4th of November  2007 because of its lack of freeboard, and Elizabeth Murray then had to pay more than £78,000 to have it removed from the bottom  of the river.

She is seeking damages for the value of the boat, the cost of removing the wreck, storage fees, accommodation costs, loss of earnings and £850 for miscellaneous matters including the loss of her passport and clothes.