What is professional negligence?
Professional negligence occurs when a qualified professional fails to carry out their duties to the correct standard expected within their respective field.
If a professional acts negligently when working for a client, this could result in their client experiencing one or more of the following:
- Financial loss
- Missed limitation dates
- Other damages
For a professional negligence claim to be brought forward, a client must prove that the professional owed them a duty of care, breached that duty through their actions or inaction, and that this breach directly caused the damages suffered.
In this guide to professional negligence claims, you’ll learn more about:
- The types of professional negligence that can occur
- The importance of clarity
- Why language and communication matter
- Why professional negligence occurs
- Cybercrime and data breaches
- How professional is your professional?
- Multiple party confusion
- How to bring a professional negligence claim
- Myths and facts about professional negligence claims
Types of professional negligence
Accountant negligence
Individuals, sole traders and businesses often use accountancy services to manage their financial affairs. The advice given by accountants is often appropriate, but can on occasions fall short of the required standard and duty of care.
To find out how we can help you with your accountant negligence claim click here.
Solicitor negligence
At some point in your life, you may need to rely on solicitors to help with various things, such as buying a home. When you hire a solicitor, the last thing you expect is negligence. Unfortunately, they do not always get it right.
To find out more about how we can help your solicitor negligence click here.
Surveyor negligence
Deciding to purchase property, whether a commercial property or residential property, is a huge milestone for many people. As purchasing property is such a large transaction, we will often place great trust in the professionals who guide us through the process. As part of this, most prospective purchases will involve some kind of survey before the purchase actually takes place.
To learn more about how we can assist with surveyor negligence click here.
Negligent tax advice
Often, businesses and individuals will instruct professionals to assist and advise them in relation to their tax affairs the handling of taxation. But, sometimes these professionals can act negligently. Their actions could compromise the financial profile of many people and organisations alike, while potentially landing them in hot water with HMRC.
For more information on how we can help you with your negligent tax advice click here.
Conveyancer negligence
We understand the need for a seamless conveyancing process and how complications can give rise to further conflict and difficulty. Our team of property negligence solicitors are on hand to support you if you feel let down by your conveyancer.
To discover how our team can help you resolve issues of conveyancer negligence click here.
The importance of clarity
It can be easy for the exact particulars of what the professionals are prepared to do for you to get lost in translation. However, to avoid any misunderstandings, you should always clarify with them exactly what you are going to do for them, what they are not going to do, and what you will do.
For example, in a case involving a fashion boutique, the shop’s accountant received a letter from the landlord giving notice of termination, but not denying a further lease. While the accountant told his retailer client that he would deal with the lease, he actually meant that he would acknowledge receipt of the notice and then leave it to the client to instruct his solicitors. However, due to a lack of clarity in communication, the client did not do so, the time limit then expired, and the lease was lost. The retailer then claimed more than £300,000, and while we settled the claim, the reputational damage remained.
Why language and communication matter
Misunderstandings are the most common factor in professional negligence claims. The best guard against this is regular, clear communication from your solicitors and in plain English. How often does your professional get in touch with you?
Consider asking them to confirm a maximum response time for your correspondence, to keep you informed if anything adverse happens, and to explain the options to remedy the problem. Make a diary note on any requests so you can chase it up if you do not receive a response.
Ask for to a timetable upfront, including when each stage of the work will be completed, and clarify any deadlines.
Why professional negligence occurs
Has your professional adviser informed you of when they will be away on leave or any extended absence? A lack of communication about absences can lead to frustration, complaints, and in some cases even claims. This is particularly important in property transactions, where there are deadline dates for completion, and in litigation matters when there are likely to be court deadlines.
Always check with your solicitor whether they have arranged for all relevant work to be handed over to a colleague during any planned absence. This ensures your matter continues to progress. Even in cases of unplanned leave, if your solicitor keeps their files up to date, another colleague should be able to effectively pick up your case without causing disruption to you.
As an example, one of my former clients thought that she was buying a nursing home outright, but in reality the seller wanted to retain an interest. However, before the deal was finalised, her lawyer went on holiday and the paperwork was not properly filed. Thus, the stand-in lawyer believed that the seller’s interest had already been confirmed with the buyer and proceeded with the purchase. As it stands, my client did not know anything about this until after the completion and the judge decided in her favour, with the solicitor having to pay hundreds of thousands for the claim, as well as the legal fees. Nine years compared to one proper filed note. The claim could have been easily avoided if, in addition to better filing, the solicitor in question left a detailed handover for their colleague to pick up in their absence.
Make sure you take detailed notes of your calls and meetings with your professional adviser, including any verbal advice you receive. Nothing will be more useful in protecting yourself than clear, written evidence. An alternative and easy solution is to send an email to your solicitor straight after any call, summarising the advice given and the next steps agreed. This helps clarify exactly what your professional will do and reduces the risk of any misunderstandings
Cybercrime and data breaches
The last thing you expect from your professional service provider is a data leak. It’s a given that when we employ the services of a professional, whether for a business sale, a property purchase or even for financial advice, that they have an ironclad security system in place to protect their client data.
However, data breaches are increasingly common. To protect yourself, ask your professional adviser the following questions:
- Do they have robust systems protecting you from data breaches?
- Do they have an effective risk management policy?
Asking these questions helps you understand how seriously they take data protection and whether they have suitable measures to keep your information safe.
How professional is your professional?
Professional advisers should ensure that the people assigned to a client have the necessary experience and qualifications to deliver the right advice. They must also ensure that junior members of staff have the right supervision. Unfortunately, this does not always happen.
I have dealt with claims against solicitors where a junior member of staff was assigned a weighty task where supervision was not adequate. As an example, a claim against a lorry driver who had driven into a property came unstuck through an advisor’s lack of experience. At first, the matter seemed straightforward, with the main point being damages. However, an issue came up about the extent of building repairs needed, followed by liaison with experts and technical documents.
This kind of claim had the volume of documentation and complexity that required a senior lawyer. This was the case until a few months before the trial of the claim in court. But then the case had been delegated to a junior lawyer ill-equipped for the task who ended up in daily rows with the barrister while experts started to communicate directly with the client and other experts started to communicate with each other. The clients started drafting their own witness statements.
It was clear that the supervision was inadequate and that the junior lawyer really had no experience in handling claims of this nature. All of this chaos ended with the lawyers facing a hefty bill for negligence. The claim against the lorry driver under settled and we successfully sued the lawyers concerned.
This illustrates why it is crucial to check that your professional adviser has the right people working on your case, at the right level, with the right supervision.
Multiple party confusion
Some scenarios are more complicated than others – particularly when multiple parties are involved. Take building projects, for example. As an employer you are the client, but there’s a whole host of parties involved including architects, structural engineers, bricklayers and electricians to name a few. If something goes wrong with one of the walls of a building, who is to blame? The architect says the engineer, and the engineer says the architect…
So, if multiple parties or professionals are involved, check who has assumed responsibility by their actions and conduct.
How to bring a professional negligence claim
If you believe you have been let down by a professional – whether that professional was your solicitor, accountant, conveyancer or maybe even your surveyor, feel free to get in touch with our team of experts today.
How the claims process works
To bring a professional negligence compensation claim you will need to prove:
- That you were owed a reasonable duty of skill and care from the professional,
- That this duty of care and skill was breached, and
- That the breach has caused you to suffer a financial loss or a loss of chance.
Our professional negligence solicitors can guide you through the process of bringing a professional negligence claim. This can include correspondence with the professional who has let you down to provide you with the opportunity to resolve matters outside of the court process if that is what you want it. We often help to facilitate early offers of compensation and work through dispute resolution procedures such as mediation with our clients. Mediation if appropriate can provide the opportunity for a quick and cost effective resolution but is not the right solution for everyone.
Myths and facts about professional negligence claims
Myth 1: Any mistake made by a professional is classed as professional negligence
FALSE. For it to be classed as professional negligence, there has to be a breach of duty where you are at a loss, and the mistake has to be one that no professional would usually make under the same circumstances.
Myth 2: Without causation there is no professional negligence case
TRUE. There must be a clear link between the professional’s negligence and the financial loss suffered by you, the client. If it appears the loss could have occurred despite professional negligence, the case may not be successful.
Myth 3: If a professional acts negligently, I am entitled to compensation
FALSE. You must be able to prove that the professional’s act of negligence caused you direct financial loss, through a breach of duty of care. This is where expert evidence is crucial.
Get legal advice about a professional negligence claim today
Our team is led by Mark Beesley, Karim Mohamed and Michael Young, who each have over 10 years’ experience helping people who are facing all manner of professional negligence.
Call our helpful team free on 0808 164 0808 if you think you may need legal advice about a professional negligence claim. Or, if you’d prefer us to call you, please fill in the contact form.
