To establish a claim for negligent misrepresentation, what relationship must exist?

To successfully establish a claim for negligent misrepresentation, it is essential that the plaintiff and defendant share a recognized relationship, typically a contractual relationship, or at least a relationship arising from a transaction or an interaction in which the defendant possesses special knowledge or expertise. This relationship creates a duty of care that requires the defendant to ensure that the information provided is accurate and not misleading.

In cases of negligent misrepresentation, the plaintiff relies on information supplied by the defendant, and it is the nature of their relationship that legitimizes this reliance. If a mere casual or incidental connection were sufficient, it would significantly broaden the scope of liability and lead to unfair outcomes in situations where individuals inadvertently provide information without the context of a relationship that would warrant such reliance.

In scenarios where the parties do not have a formal or informal relationship that would elevate one party's statements to a level of reliance by the other, a claim for negligent misrepresentation may not hold, as there would be no duty of care established. Therefore, the presence of a contractual relationship or a similar context where the parties interact in a way that justifies reliance on the information shared is crucial to the validity of the claim.