A Sydney widow has been awarded more than $300,000 in compensation after a NSW judge ruled a homeowner’s negligence was partially responsible for her husband’s death.

The decision to award damages to widow Fiona Giovenco for the death of her husband Allan Harley has caused considerable discussion in the liability area, with one leading negligence lawyer describing it as a “poor decision”.

Mr Harley died in 2004 when he touched a “live” wire in an old hot water system while repairing a leak in the home of Geoff Dick.

As owner of the home, Mr Dick was found by the NSW District Court to have been negligent, and was ordered to pay Mrs Giovenco $70,000 in compensation. Plumber Paul Stephens was ordered to pay $280,000.

Moray & Agnew partner David Howarth told insuranceNEWS.com.au the case “turned on its facts” and the verdict cited an obsolete ruling from 1997 to justify the decision.

Mr Howarth says most cases of this kind now use the 2000 case of Jones v Bartlett as a legal precedent, where the family of a child, injured after falling through a glass door, tried to sue the landlord for negligence.

In that case, the judge found the landlord could not be held responsible for the installation of safety glass.

He says this latest verdict “is a poor decision that shouldn’t have any bearing on the future. It may well be appealed and is unlikely to have far-reaching consequences.”

Mr Howarth says Mr Harley knew the hot water system was still connected six weeks before his fateful accident – prior knowledge that was disregarded as irrelevant by the court.

While homeowners were obliged to provide some duty of care for contractors working in and around the home, Mr Howarth says they cannot be expected to remedy faults for which they lack the technical expertise.

“To say [Mr Dick] should have known [about the wiring] is a bit of a stretch. It’s just not the law.”