Expert witness

This might be a divorce or a business split but it could be any manner of dispute where a professional with relevant experience, expertise and qualifications is needed to provide an expert opinion on a specific matter.

The Court Service defines an expert witness as someone who “can provide the court with a statement of opinion on any admissible matter calling for expertise by the witness if they are qualified to give such an opinion”.

This basically means that we must provide an expert opinion and then justify our conclusions.

For us, as chartered surveyors and agricultural valuers, this usually involves the valuation of property where the opposing parties disagree about value. It might be our opinion on the value of a farm, some land or where another professional has given poor advice.

We were recently instructed to provide a valuation on a small holding where the house was subject to an agricultural occupancy restriction, but the buyer’s solicitor had failed to find this out before they purchased it.

We had to advise on what the value of the property would have been if the buyer had known about the restriction in advance and, because of our evidence, the parties reached a settlement without needing to go to court.

Expert valuation work is governed not only by our own professional body (RICS) but also by the Court Procedure Rules. The evidence should be well-founded in the form of an objective report and must be impartial.

Our firm is fortunate to have a broad range of expertise within our professional staff and we are actively involved in the valuation and sale of all forms of rural property, farm machinery, livestock and produce.

In our day jobs we undertake a wide variety of valuations including loan security for mortgages, in advance of a sale or purchase and for tax reasons such as Inheritance Tax on death and Capital Gains Tax following the disposal of an asset.

Mike Taylor is a senior partner at Barbers Rural Consultancy LLP