When placing your trust in a professional adviser, you expect to receive a professional service and sound advice. In the vast majority of cases your expectations will be met, but professionals are people, and people are not always infallible. Mistakes can be made and these can cause businesses and individuals alike to suffer financial loss, sometimes small but often very significant.
Professionals are legally bound by a ‘duty of care’. If they fail in this duty, and it leads to a financial loss as a direct result of their mistake, then they may be liable for damages.
Here at Pickering & Butters, we have a team of professional negligence lawyers with specialist expertise in this area. When you get in touch, they’ll discuss your situation and advise on whether there is a potential claim to pursue. If there is, they’ll work with you to prove the necessary conditions for a successful claim apply and consult with expert witnesses to form a strong case for your claim.
Speak to one of our expert professional negligence solicitors in Stafford and Rugeley now by calling 01785 603060 or send us an email and we will get back to your promptly.
Our professional negligence services for businesses
If you have found yourself at a financial loss due to inadequate advice or improper conduct from a qualified professional, you may be able to make a claim for professional negligence.
We can help you make a professional negligence claim against:
- Solicitors
- Barristers
- Accountants
- Financial advisers and tax consultants
- Insurance brokers
- Surveyors
- Architects
- Engineers
It is important to note that there are very strict time limits that need to be adhered to when making a professional negligence claim, so never delay in taking initial advice.
Professional negligence claims FAQs
Who can you make a professional negligence claim against?
There is no strict legal definition of who qualifies as a “professional”, but in general someone is likely to be considered a professional for the purposes of a negligence claim if they are deemed to have particular expertise or skills that another person would rely on when making decisions with a financial impact.
Typical examples of professionals against whom you could potentially bring a negligence claim include:
- Accountants
- Financial advisors
- Insurance brokers
- Architects
- Surveyors
- Builders
- Engineers
- IT professionals
- Solicitors
- Barristers
How do you prove professional negligence?
To succeed in a professional negligence claim, you will need to prove all of the following:
- That the professional owed you a duty of care to provide the service in question with reasonable skill and diligence
- That the professional has breached that duty
- That the breach of duty has caused you financial loss.
Proving this will likely rely on a variety of evidence, including a contract between you/your business and the professional in question and proof of the financial impact on your business e.g. invoices for the cost of fixing a construction mistake.
How much compensation can you get for professional negligence?
How much you can claim for professional negligence will be based on the specific financial losses you have experienced as a result of the negligent service you received. You will only be able to claim for losses that you can demonstrate were directly due to the negligence.
Valuing your losses due to negligence can be straightforward, such as the cost of rectifying a mistake made during construction of a development, or it can be more difficult, such as judging the value of a business opportunity lost due to poor advice.
Our professional negligence claims laywers can discuss the potential value of your claim with you at the outset, including helping to establish what you will be able to claim for and how the damages should be valued.
Is there a time limit for bringing a professional negligence claim?
There are strict time limits for bringing a professional negligence claim, although these will depend on the circumstances. You will normally have 6 years to bring a claim from the time that the negligence occurs.
However, if you only become aware of the negligence at a later date, this time limit can be extended. You will then normally have 3 years to make a claim from the time you became aware of the negligence. However, there is an absolutely limit of 15 years from the time the negligence occurred to make a claim.
Do you need to go to court for a professional negligence claim?
Most professional negligence disputes can be solved without the need for court action through methods such as negotiation, mediation and other types of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This allows disputes to be resolved faster, at lower cost and with less conflict, as well as allowing you to keep the matter private.
The government has a recommended process for resolving professional negligence claims without relying on court action, known as the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence. This sets out a clear process for dealing with professional negligence claims and encourages everyone involved to find a non-confrontational solution wherever possible, while still securing appropriate compensation for the claimant.
Why choose Pickering & Butters’ professional negligence solicitors for your business?
Pickering & Butters is one of the longest-established law firms in Staffordshire with our roots going back over a century. However, we remain a highly progressive firm, committed to providing an effective modern legal service to clients from a range of sectors.
We regularly help clients from a variety of businesses pursue professional negligence claims against people who have harmed their business interests through substandard professional advice. In most cases we are able to achieve a satisfactory resolution without the need for court action, saving you time, money and stress.
We are Lexcel accredited by the Law Society in recognition of the quality of our client care and practice management. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) providing assurance that we continue to meet the highest legal and professional standards at all times.
Get in touch with our professional negligence solicitors in Stafford and Rugeley
Need help with a professional negligence claim affecting your business in Stafford, Rugeley or throughout Staffordshire and the rest of the UK? Contact our expert professional negligence solicitors now by calling 01785 603060 or sending us an email.
