Bushell v Faith

The Applicant, Mrs McFadzean, was made bankrupt on 25 July 2018. On 6 September 2018, the First Respondent (known as Mr Cacho rather than Mr Martinez) was appointed as her trustee in bankruptcy; the Second Respondent, Mr Waghorn, was appointed as a joint trustee on 9 November 2018. Together, I shall refer to Messrs Cacho and Waghorn as “the Trustees”.

Shortly before then, on 27 May 2020, under section 299 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (“the IA 1986”), the Trustees had their release; on 7 October 2021, Mrs McFadzean’s bankruptcy order was annulled under section 282(1)(b), on the basis that her bankruptcy debts and expenses had all been paid; she received a small surplus.

as against Mr Cacho, is that he negligently failed to seek French planning law advice in order to understand (which in the event, as a result, he did not) what exactly was required to preserve the Existing Permission, and what were the prospects of doing so;

that as a result (and perhaps in any event) he failed adequately to market the French Plot and to negotiate its sale – instead proceeding on the basis (shown by subsequent events in fact to have been mistaken, and false) that there was little real chance of preserving the Existing Permission, which therefore held little value;

and that had he done so, had he properly informed himself, he would have secured a sale at a higher price, on better terms (for example, by inclusion of an overage provision) and that Mrs McFadzean has therefore suffered loss;