Home > Publications > Selected cases — Parliamentary > Selected Cases and Summaries of Completed Investigations - May - September 1998 > C.73/95
First Report Session 1998-99
Volume 3 - 1st Report - Session 1998-99
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE
Mistakes in recording the register length of a fishing boat
Matters considered:
Mr P complained that after purchasing a fishing boat he discovered the length of the boat to be greater than that stated in the certificate of registry issued by HM Customs and Excise (Customs) that he had relied upon. He said that as a consequence the boat had to have additional safety equipment installed before it could be certified for sea fishing, which he had not been able to afford, and that he had been unable to use the boat for fishing and, as a result, had suffered significant financial loss.
Summary of case
The boat's length as recorded by Customs on the certificate of registry dated 5 September 1947 was 45.5 feet (13.87 metres). In 1982, after alterations to the boat intended to reduce its length to below 12 metres, the boat was re-measured by Customs. They entered its new dimensions in the register and on 19 April 1982 they issued a new certificate of registry recording the register length of the boat as 11.98 metres. On 26 July 1985 a surveyor from the Department of Trade and Industry questioned the accuracy of that record, but Customs took no action. On 3 February 1987 the Registrar General of Seamen and Shipping questioned the recorded length of the boat and on 9 March Customs re-measured the boat and found the register length to be 13.30 metres. On 13 March Customs amended the register accordingly. On 30 March Customs extended the validity of the certificate of registry to 18 April 1992 but they omitted to amend the register length on the certificate which remained at 11.98 metres. Customs returned the certificate to the owners of the boat. On 15 December 1988, after Mr P had seen the certificate of registry, Mr P's son bought the boat for £21,000, believing its register length to be 11.98 metres. Agents acting on behalf of the Ps during the transaction had not applied for a transcript of the register before the transaction was completed. In early 1989 the Registrar of Fishing Vessels refused an application to register Mr P's son as the new owner of the boat. The Registrar said that according to their records the boat's register length was 13.30 metres and that it therefore required a safety certificate, as a boat over 12 metres length, before it could be used for fishing. Customs re-measured the boat and confirmed its length as 13.30 metres. Mr P and his son decided that it was not financially viable to spend the estimated sum—between £11,000 and £16,000—to qualify for a safety certificate. The Ps tied the boat up and on 7 August 1991 they sold the boat for £10,000. On 15 June 1994 the Ps asked Customs for compensation of about £50,000 for loss of earnings and other losses caused by Customs' mistake. On 6 December Customs told the Ps that it might be possible to make them an ex gratia payment of £5,000.
Findings
I found that there were doubts about whether Customs had properly fulfilled their statutory duties in respect of the measurement and registration of the dimensions of the boat. I also found that Customs had erred when they had recorded the register length of the boat in 1982 and that in 1985 they had missed an opportunity to correct that mistake. I found that those mistakes, and Customs' failure properly to record the register length on the certificate of registry renewed on 30 March 1987, had contributed to the Ps' decision to buy the boat in 1988 and to their subsequent losses.
Remedy
The Chairman of Customs agreed to award Mr P an ex gratia payment of £12,000 in recognition of mistakes that Customs had made.
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