A professional negligence claim is a claim you can bring where any advice or assistance you have received from a professional falls below the expected standard.

Professionals owe their clients a duty of care. If they breach that duty by failing to represent their client’s interests at the standard expected of a reasonable professional within their profession, then they can be held accountable for any losses you have suffered.

Even if a professional is no longer in business, it is likely you may be able to make a claim against their former insurers, meaning the chance to bring a professional negligence claim may still exist.

At Ashtons Legal, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with commercially strategic, accurate and expert advice. We are also aware that our clients have not always been subject to the same award-winning service as we provide, which is why we have developed a dedicated team of professional negligence lawyers.

You may be concerned about the possibility of court proceedings, but in most cases, our team can resolve professional negligence claims privately through negotiation and alternative dispute resolution, meaning you are unlikely to need to attend a court hearing.

However, if court proceedings are needed, our professional negligence solicitors can provide expert representation to give you the best chance of success.

Our lawyers can meet with you at our Bury St Edmunds, Norwich, Cambridge, Leeds and Ipswich offices or, alternatively, if you live further afield, are still able to provide excellent service by conducting meetings remotely over MS Teams and Zoom.

To set up an initial consultation:

Our professional negligence claims expertise

Our professional negligence solicitors can advise on matters including:

We can also provide a specialist professional negligence claims service for businesses.

Process of a professional negligence claim

When can I bring a professional negligence claim?

One of the first questions we will ask you is when the negligence occurred and when you became aware of the negligence. Typically, you are able to bring a claim for professional negligence within 6 years from the date the negligence occurred. This can sometimes be extended so that you can bring a claim three years from when you found out about the negligence.

What is required for a professional negligence claim?

A claim for professional negligence requires three core conditions to be met:

  • You must be owed a duty of care.
  • That duty must have been breached by the professional.
  • The breach must have caused a quantifiable loss.

Our team can provide you with clear and transparent advice as to your legal position and rights, as well as handle the whole claims process for you.

When bringing a claim for professional negligence, our team of lawyers will work closely with you to ensure that all of the necessary information, evidence and correspondence is brought together to place you in the strongest position to succeed against your opponent.

What remedies are available for professional negligence?

Like many civil litigation matters, the general principle is to compensate you to ‘put right’ the harm (and financial losses) you have suffered.

You should always keep in mind that compensation can be reduced if you have, for whatever reason, been partially responsible for the losses caused.

Our approach to professional negligence claims

We promote alternative means of resolving professional negligence disputes to save costs, stress and inconvenience associated with protracted court proceedings. Most claims are settled through negotiation or mediation.

As with all claims, there is a time limit on issuing proceedings, so it is vital to seek advice quickly. We will provide an early assessment of the merit of your claim and advise on funding arrangements.

Our lawyers have gained outstanding results in pursuing claims against negligent professionals, such as solicitors, surveyors, accountants, architects and financial advisers. Our team are members of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association (PNLA).

Professional negligence claims case studies

Claim against architect for failure to monitor building works

  • Acting for clients whose architect had failed to monitor building works, resulting in an extension being pulled down and re-built. Despite the architect going into liquidation, we managed to achieve a successful recovery against their insurers.

Claim against accountant for failure to apply for client to be VAT registered

  • A client owned commercial properties which invoked VAT consequences. Our client had instructed their accountant to apply for them to be VAT registered but failed to do so. We assisted this client in pursuing their claim against their negligent former accountant.

Claim against financial adviser for negligent investment advice

  • We assisted a client in making a significant claim against an IFA who negligently advised a client to make an inappropriate investment that fell outside the client’s risk profile, namely foreign investment trusts that were high risk by nature, and to invest in foreign currency hedge funds with no proven track record so as to totally unbalance the client’s investment portfolio. We succeeded in recovering a substantial settlement following mediation with the IFA’s insurers.

Claim against a solicitor for negligent advice to child of divorcing parents

  • We were approached by an individual who had been negligently advised regarding her rights during her parents’ divorce. This matter also contained elements of breach of a duty of care.

Claim against a solicitor for conveyancing negligence

  • We have been instructed by a client for a professional negligence claim against a regional firm regarding a property transaction which had been negligently conducted.

Claim against a solicitor for taking money from a deceased person’s estate

  • We were instructed by Mrs B, who discovered her late father’s solicitor had been taking money from his account. We successfully applied for a freezing order and discovered the Defendant had a number of accounts containing Mrs B’s late father’s assets.

Claim against a solicitor for negligent Will writing

  • We acted for a client who had instructed solicitors to draft her mother’s Will. This firm of solicitors failed to sever the joint tenancy, meaning her share of the property failed to pass to our client. This matter was settled in respect of half the value of the property, as well as our client’s legal costs.

Claims against surveyors for defective Homebuyer’s Valuation Report

  • We pursued a client’s surveyor who had been retained to produce a Homebuyer’s Valuation Report. This report was defective in failing to identify numerous problems within the property, particularly in relation to problems with subsidence, which should have been brought to the client’s attention at the time of purchase. We successfully recovered compensation for the client.

Reviews for our professional negligence solicitors

We are rated the best Professional Negligence solicitors in Ipswich. Review Solicitors, 2021.

“Undoubtedly the very best” – Review Solicitors

“Excellent knowledgeable service” – Review Solicitors

Contact our professional negligence solicitors in East Anglia

For practical advice on any type of professional negligence matter, as well as any other business legal advice you need to reach your goals, get in touch with your local Ashtons legal team in Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Leeds, Ipswich or Norwich.

To set up an initial consultation:


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