Brad Pitt stunt double sues surveyors over Lincolnshire cottage defects
Stunt performer Robert Bowen and his partner Lucy Vaughan are suing Beehoo Surveying Limited for £150,000, saying a pre-purchase survey failed to identify serious defects at their Lincolnshire home. They claim sewage leaks, flooding and structural problems made the property far more costly to repair than expected, and say they would not have bought it had they known its condition.
The couple paid £495,000 for the cottage in 2023 and say repairs will cost £143,570, with another £3,000 for alternative accommodation. They allege the septic tank needs replacing at a cost of £25,000, alongside work on the roof, windows, doors, chimney and solar panels. The surveyors deny responsibility, arguing some problems were absent or could not have been detected during their Level 3 inspection.
In short
- A stunt performer is suing over an allegedly inadequate home survey.
- The couple estimate repairs at £143,570.
- The surveyors deny responsibility.
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The case for
The couple’s case is that a buyer relies on a detailed pre-purchase survey to identify serious defects and make an informed decision. If the survey missed problems that a competent inspection should have found, they may have bought at a price that did not reflect the cottage’s true condition and incurred substantial repair and accommodation costs.
The case against
The surveyors’ case is that their responsibility is limited to defects that were present and reasonably detectable during the Level 3 inspection. Some problems may have emerged later or been hidden from view, so the existence of costly repairs alone would not show that the survey was negligent.
Explained simply
A pre-purchase survey is an inspection commissioned by a buyer to assess a property’s condition before they complete a sale. A Level 3 survey is a detailed inspection, but its scope and the defects it can identify depend on what is visible and accessible at the time.
Robert Bowen, a stunt performer, and his partner Lucy Vaughan bought a cottage in Lincolnshire in 2023. They say the survey did not alert them to problems including sewage leaks, flooding and structural defects, and that the cost of repairs is much higher than they expected.
The case concerns what the surveyors were responsible for finding and reporting, and whether any problems could reasonably have been detected during the inspection. Disputes of this kind can matter to other buyers because survey findings may inform whether they proceed with a purchase or budget for repairs.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “It’s the Pitts: Hollywood stuntman who body doubled in Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie sues for £150,000 over ‘foul drainage’ problem in ramshackle new home”.