What are the components of a claim against a professional?

To be successful with a claim against a professional for negligence and/or breach of contract you will need to prove the following: The professional owed you a duty of care; that duty was breached; and that breached caused you to suffer a loss which was reasonably foreseeable. There was a valid contract between you and the professional; the professional has breached the terms and the breach has caused you to suffer a loss

Did the negligence cause the loss I am complaining of?

This is known as “causation” and is one of the key elements in a professional negligence claim. If you cannot show that the negligence has caused you a loss, you will be unsuccessful. Assessing this is often complex as careful consideration will need to be given as to various points including the intended scope of any retainer/contract, the purpose for which the professional was instructed, the extent to which any advice given was truly relied on and any actions by you.

How do you prove professional negligence and/or breach of contract?

The burden of proving the claim will rest with you. That means it will be up to you to prove that the professional has breached the duty that they owed to you and/or the contract you entered into. Collecting and retaining all evidence will be very important, such as the contract, emails, letters, or other documentation setting out the arrangements in place with the professional, as well as the dates of any meetings or calls with the professional and recollections of what was discussed and advised at these. It will also be necessary to collect evidence showing the resultant loss or damage using emails, correspondence, documents or photographs.

What is the process to of a professional negligence claim?

Claims for professional negligence are governed by the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence Claims which encourages all parties to share information at an early stage and attempt to settle claims if possible rather than issuing Court proceedings. A party should set out the basis of its claim in a Letter of Claim which is sent to the opponent. The opponent will then have a period of 3 months, following acknowledging the letter, in which to provide a substantive response and/or set out a settlement offer. Further correspondence will usually be exchanged at this stage. If it is not possible for the parties to resolve matters during the Pre-Action Protocol, then a party will need to issue Court proceedings. Once the Court process has commenced the parties will be required to follow a timetable set by the Court which will include the disclosure of relevant documents and the exchange of factual and, in some cases, expert evidence before the matter goes to trial for determination by a Judge. Typically, the whole process can take up to two years. At all stages of the litigation, both prior to and after the issue of Court proceedings, parties can engage in alternative dispute resolution, often by way of mediating, in an attempt to try and resolve their disputes. There may be cases where options other than the issue of Court proceedings are available, such as making a claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If this is available for your claim, we would advise you of this option.

What are the time limits for bringing a professional negligence and/or breach of contract claim?

There are strict time limits which apply to claims of negligence and/or breach of contract as follows: For breach of contract, the period by which a claim should be issued at Court is 6 years from the date of the breach. For negligence claims, the primary period by which a claim should be issued at Court is 6 years from the date of the negligence. If a person later discovers they may have a claim outside of this period, they may be able to rely on a secondary period known as “date of knowledge” which is 3 years from the date a person knew or ought to have known about the negligence. There is an ultimate longstop of 15 years from the date of the negligence. Limitation can sometimes be a complex issue and there may be circumstances in which the limitation period can be disapplied and/or extended. It is therefore important to seek legal advice as soon as possible if you become aware of a claim.

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Professional Negligence

We engage professionals to advise us on many important matters in life. Solicitors, financial advisors, accountants, surveyors, and others provide vital guidance to us and assist us to make decisions with confidence. These professionals owe us a general duty of care and must act in accordance with any contract for services that they enter with us. If they fail to perform their duty to the required standard or in accordance with the terms of a contract, and as a result we suffer a loss, they may be professionally negligent.

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Our expertise

We have a long-established professional negligence practice which is broadly claimant focused. Our team has many years of experience advising businesses and individuals.

Our team deals with many different types of negligence claims against various types of professionals. We have particular expertise in the following matters:

Claims against solicitors for negligence in relation to, amongst other things, missing the date for issuing Court proceedings resulting in the claim no longer being capable of being pursued; missing other Court deadlines which have an adverse effect on the claim to be pursued and/or potential costs consequences; failing to advise on matters affecting the purchase or sale of a property; failing to advise on terms required to give effect to a business sale/agreement and under settling claims particularly in relation to personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
Claims relating to negligent tax and/or financial advice, especially relating to mis-selling products, tax schemes and disguised remuneration planning.
Claims against surveyors for negligently under or overvaluing a property causing a financial loss and failing to report on defects or advise correctly on the extent of defects.
Claims against insurers, including brokers, for failing to pay out under an insurance policy and negligently failing to advise correctly when recommending a product which causes a loss.
Claims for groups of claimants who instruct us to represent them in the same cause of action for professional negligence.

Our recent cases

Bringing a claim against clients’ former solicitors for negligent advice and actions in drafting a share purchase agreement when the clients sold their business.
Pursuing a claim against former accountants and a scheme promoter for negligently advising our clients to participate in aggressive tax avoidance schemes.
Representing a group of clients who individually purchased investment properties in an off-build development. Several conveyancers involved in transferring the properties negligently failed to advise on the substantial charge registered against the development, resulting in all clients losing their deposits when the developer went into administration.
Successfully settling a claim against an insurance broker for failing to provide adequate and appropriate cover when advising a company on which Group Income Protection to obtain.
Recovering well over six figures for a couple whose solicitors missed the limitation deadline to claim losses from the house builder who sold them a house with defective foundations.

Funding a dispute

There are various ways that litigation may be funded. At relevant times in our management of your dispute we will advise you which funding options may apply and which we would be prepared to offer you.

FAQs

What are the components of a claim against a professional?
To be successful with a claim against a professional for negligence and/or breach of contract you will need to prove the following:
- The professional owed you a duty of care; that duty was breached; and that breached caused you to suffer a loss which was reasonably foreseeable.
- There was a valid contract between you and the professional; the professional has breached the terms and the breach has caused you to suffer a loss
Did the negligence cause the loss I am complaining of?

This is known as “causation” and is one of the key elements in a professional negligence claim. If you cannot show that the negligence has caused you a loss, you will be unsuccessful. Assessing this is often complex as careful consideration will need to be given as to various points including the intended scope of any retainer/contract, the purpose for which the professional was instructed, the extent to which any advice given was truly relied on and any actions by you.
How do you prove professional negligence and/or breach of contract?

The burden of proving the claim will rest with you. That means it will be up to you to prove that the professional has breached the duty that they owed to you and/or the contract you entered into. Collecting and retaining all evidence will be very important, such as the contract, emails, letters, or other documentation setting out the arrangements in place with the professional, as well as the dates of any meetings or calls with the professional and recollections of what was discussed and advised at these. It will also be necessary to collect evidence showing the resultant loss or damage using emails, correspondence, documents or photographs.
What is the process to of a professional negligence claim?

Claims for professional negligence are governed by the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence Claims which encourages all parties to share information at an early stage and attempt to settle claims if possible rather than issuing Court proceedings.

A party should set out the basis of its claim in a Letter of Claim which is sent to the opponent. The opponent will then have a period of 3 months, following acknowledging the letter, in which to provide a substantive response and/or set out a settlement offer. Further correspondence will usually be exchanged at this stage.

If it is not possible for the parties to resolve matters during the Pre-Action Protocol, then a party will need to issue Court proceedings. Once the Court process has commenced the parties will be required to follow a timetable set by the Court which will include the disclosure of relevant documents and the exchange of factual and, in some cases, expert evidence before the matter goes to trial for determination by a Judge. Typically, the whole process can take up to two years.

At all stages of the litigation, both prior to and after the issue of Court proceedings, parties can engage in alternative dispute resolution, often by way of mediating, in an attempt to try and resolve their disputes.

There may be cases where options other than the issue of Court proceedings are available, such as making a claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If this is available for your claim, we would advise you of this option.
What are the time limits for bringing a professional negligence and/or breach of contract claim?
There are strict time limits which apply to claims of negligence and/or breach of contract as follows:
- For breach of contract, the period by which a claim should be issued at Court is 6 years from the date of the breach.
- For negligence claims, the primary period by which a claim should be issued at Court is 6 years from the date of the negligence. If a person later discovers they may have a claim outside of this period, they may be able to rely on a secondary period known as “date of knowledge” which is 3 years from the date a person knew or ought to have known about the negligence. There is an ultimate longstop of 15 years from the date of the negligence.
Limitation can sometimes be a complex issue and there may be circumstances in which the limitation period can be disapplied and/or extended. It is therefore important to seek legal advice as soon as possible if you become aware of a claim.