Professional Negligence

Home / Our Legal Services / Civil Litigation / Professional Negligence

Professional negligence is a claim made against professionals such as solicitors, doctors, valuers and accountants. When professionals make a mistake or an error it can have serious financial consequences to you, their mistake is known as professional negligence. The claim can be brought under contract or tort law.

All professionals owe a duty of care to their customers

The professional duty of care stems from the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, which has been subsequently amended to the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The act states that there is an implied term in every contract that the professional will carry out their work with reasonable care and skill, which means there is no need for an express term in the contract to guarantee quality, it is superimposed by the law.

To establish such a duty of care is breached it must be shown with evidence that the professional in question provided inadequate or incorrect advice of which you relied on and as a result suffered loss, monetary or otherwise. The situation can be deeply frustrating and expensive, which is why we recommend you speak to a solicitor familiar in contract and tort law to help you resolve your dispute.

Examples of professional negligence include, but are not limited to;

Doctors failing to diagnose you with cancer at an earlier stage when it was still treatable and as a result you now have terminal cancer
A construction builder demolished and redecorated the wrong room but they still charged for their work
Where a valuer negligently over-valued properties and the mortgagee then accepted mortgages of the properties
An accountant gave negligent financial advice

Remedies for professional Negligence

As a victim to professional negligence you are entitled to have the wrongful party remedy your position. Depending on the seriousness of the breach you may be entitled to the following remedies:

Compensation for loss of money

If as a result of your reliance on negligent advice from a property solicitor you purchased a piece of land at an overvalue, you can sue that solicitor for the difference in price between what you had bought it for and the market value, it may be possible to make a precise and objective calculation of loss.

Compensation for loss of opportunity

The question is whether the negligence that occurred deprived the claimant of an opportunity to benefit and/or avoid financial loss had they not relied on the information provided by the professional. The calculation of compensation for loss of opportunity relies on hypothetical scenarios so the costs calculation may be heavily disputed.

Why Instruct OneLaw Chambers for your Civil Litigation Case?

At OneLaw Chambers, our civil litigation solicitors and barristers regularly assist with many contentious civil litigation cases. We have assisted and represented many clients from all over the world achieving successful outcomes for them.

OneLaw Chambers has defended the interests of successful individuals, businesses and brands for many years, pursuing matters swiftly and robustly where necessary. With a dedicated team of Civil Litigation Solicitors and Barristers, OneLaw has an established dispute resolution practice acting in complex multi-jurisdictional disputes and is well known in the art, sport, fashion and luxury assets sectors. Specialisms include international arbitration, public international law, tax controversy, media and reputation management, employment and regulatory, professional negligence, board and shareholder disputes, insolvency and fraud.

Our Civil Litigation Solicitors and Barristers fiercely and tenaciously represent you in putting forward the strongest possible case, ensuring that you are always satisfied with the manner in which we represent you and that a successful outcome is achieved in your case without significant cost and expense to you.

We are committed to ensuring that our Civil Litigation Solicitors and Barristers prepare every civil litigation case with utmost quality and skill so that successful outcome is achieved every time. Our Civil Litigation Solicitors and Barristers operate in a friendly and cooperative manner to provide our clients with the best client care and service during the entire civil litigation process.