The concept of professional negligence can be quite difficult to succinctly define as it covers various different scenarios and involves a huge spectrum of different areas of work. Professional negligence in the most basic sense occurs when someone who meant to be an expert at a particular job performs their job negligently. In other words, their services are lower than the expected standard of an expert.
Example Of A Situation Where A Professional Negligence Claim Is Justified
To help you understand it better, we will not describe a common form of professional negligence. We know that solicitors are expected to be experts in law. What if though, a client hired a solicitor to help with their personal injury claim and the solicitor did not make the client aware of the time limits set for issuing personal injury claims? Further to that, what if because they were not told about the time limits, they were not legally able to put forward their compensation claim and thus lost the money they deserved because of this? This is the kind of situation that would warrant someone filing a professional negligence claim.
Some Other Helpful Examples Of Situations Where Professional Negligence Claims Would Be Justified
If a surveyor failed to detect problems with a property before their client purchased it, and this caused the client to lose money because of it, they could file a professional negligence claim against the surveyor. Surveyors are meant to be experts in their field and should always properly research and advise their clients.
When a tax advisor or accountant fails to give their client advice or information on tax schemes that miss important legal time limits or fail and the client loses money as a result of their failings.
When a financial advisor does not give their client the correct facts or information about an investment they are interested in, which means the client loses money because they made a decision after being misinformed.
When a surveyor undervalues a property before it sells and the person selling it loses money as a result of the surveyor’s valuation.
When solicitors miss deadlines, don’t register the legal title or a property or house or simply draft documents incorrectly and their client loses money as a result.
Your Rights And Professional Negligence
If you have lost money, you could put forward a claim of professional negligence. Although the idea of getting legal advice for your professional negligence claim may fill you with dread (especially if your claim is about a solicitor’s negligence), you should bear in mind that there are organisations that understand your rights and specialise in the field of professional negligence. They can help to give you advice about whether or not you have a justified professional negligence claim and can also refer you to a solicitor who has specialist training and experience dealing with these types of claim. Much like solicitors in other fields, you should be able to find a professional negligence lawyer who will offer to take on your case on a “no win no fee” basis.
