High Court judge Deputy Master Marzec delivered the order on 23 October 2026, striking the £225,000 settlement that had been agreed on 6 September 2023. Karen Imber, who sold her Woodford Green home for £780,000 on 3 August 2023, had previously claimed the property was unsaleable due to repeated sewage flooding in 2006, 2007 and 2014.
Thames Water had not been informed of the sale when the settlement was reached. After discovering the transaction, the company filed a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation, arguing that Imber’s statements about the property’s market value were false once the sale was completed.
The judge applied the honesty test from the Supreme Court’s Ivey v Genting decision, concluding that continuing to pursue a claim based on an unsaleable property, without correcting the statement after the sale, was plainly dishonest. Marzec found no real prospect that Thames Water would fail to establish misrepresentation, reliance and dishonesty, so the settlement was rescinded.
Imber had already paid a £500,000 settlement to Thames Water in 2013 for earlier flooding. The new claim added relocation costs, insurance and legal fees, bringing the total disputed amount to £144,000 before the court’s decision.
The repayment order will take effect immediately. Thames Water will recover the full £225,000 by 30 November 2026, and Imber may seek to appeal the ruling if she wishes to contest the court’s findings.
For Imber’s family, the sale meant moving from a home that had been flooded repeatedly, and the repayment order adds another financial burden after years of legal battles over the property’s value.