Professional Negligence

We all rely on professionals to help us with important business and personal decisions. Professionals’ mistakes often cause people to lose money. George Green’s team of experienced professional negligence solicitors can help put those mistakes right.

Over the years, our professional negligence solicitors have successfully resolved professional negligence claims for businesses and individuals who have been let down by their professionals. 

Do I have a professional negligence claim?

We have considerable experience in acting for clients in professional negligence claims against lawyers, accountants, IFAs, insurance brokers, architects, surveyors and other professionals.

No matter which professional has let you down, the nuts and bolts of any claim are almost always the same:

• Did the professional have a duty of care towards you?
• Did the professional breach their duty to you by acting in a way that no reasonably competent professional in that field would have done?
• Did the professional’s breach of duty cause you loss or damage?

If you think the answer to these three questions is yes, then you may have a claim and should contact us to see how we can help you. In some cases, we are able to offer professional negligence ‘no win no fee’ agreements to enable you to fund a claim.

To help you decide whether you might have a claim we have provided some examples of typical cases against different professionals below.

How do I bring a professional negligence claim?

Court Claims

Most professional negligence claims are settled without having to go to court and most professionals are obliged to hold professional indemnity insurance to protect their clients. The insurers providing that insurance will normally want to settle genuine claims quickly and efficiently.

Anyone involved with a professional negligence claim must follow the professional negligence pre-action protocol. The protocol requires us to send a detailed letter of claim to the professional setting out what the professional did wrong and what losses they caused you. The professional or their insurers then have up to four months to respond to the claim and provide enough information for the parties to be able to try to settle the claim.

After this stage, it is often possible to arrange a without prejudice settlement meeting or a mediation to resolve your dispute.

However, if your former professional is not prepared to settle, you may issue court proceedings and the court will set a timetable to resolve the dispute.

Ombudsman Services

Many professionals are signed up to an Ombudsman scheme of one sort or another such as the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Legal Ombudsman Service and the Property Ombudsman.

An ombudsman service is an alternative system to resolve a dispute between two parties which is less legalistic than the courts. Ombudsman services are not normally bound to follow legal precedent or laws set by Parliament and instead decide cases by determining what the Ombudsman considers is fair and reasonable in the circumstances.

Not all cases are well suited to using an ombudsman service, but where this is appropriate, we will be able to advise you and assist you with your complaint. 

How much does it cost?

Our experience means that we are often able to resolve disputes quickly and with a minimum of cost. That experience also means that, for certain cases, we back our judgment by offering professional negligence ‘no win, no fee’ agreements and share the risks and rewards of litigation. Even where that is not possible, we have a well established reputation that enables us to offer alternative funding.