On occasions professionals will make mistakes. Solicitors, barristers, surveyors, accountants and brokers of all types will do there best but for a variety of reasons they will fall below acceptable standards from time to time. This will lead to what are known as professional negligence claims.
Sometimes those affected want a second opinion about what has happened, sometimes they know a mistake has been made and they want an apology and sometimes both of these things are needed plus compensation for the loss they have suffered.
The incidence of negligence as it is generally called, is greater than you might think. Increasing complexity in all areas of professional life and the push to raise standards does leave some professionals behind and they fall below the standards you should expect.
It may be a mistake in something as straightforward as a deadline being missed for a court date or planning application or tax deadline – in many other cases it may be a technical issue relating to a change in law, practice or procedure but as in all walks of life mistakes happen every day, it is just the implications of those errors that are important.
On many occasions a review of a professionals work will confirm that they completed the work satisfactorily, for instance it would not be negligent for a professional to make a judgement based upon their experience that while ultimately to your detriment, was a reasonable choice in the circumstances.
Some professional negligence claims can be very simple but they can have catastrophic implications – missing a tax deadline could mean the loss of thousands as could a court deadline meaning a case cannot proceed. Most claims for negligence arise not from a professional’s knowledge of their area of expertise but from simple errors of process in forgetting to do something or acting promptly.
If you think you have been the victim of professional negligence then KPS can assist in you in these ways:
Initial Review
We can obtain your file of papers and review what has been done. We can report what we find and express our opinion on the quality of the work that has been carried out on your behalf. In some cases we will need to engage other professionals to review the papers to make certain we do not miss any technical issues.
This review can generally, after an initial discussion with you, be carried out on a No Win No Fee basis. If we have to use other experts then there may be a fee for their services but we will discuss this with you before hand.
Advice
Our aim would be to supply a full advice on what we have found and to indicate whether we consider any negligence, mistakes or errors have taken place and what remedies you may have.
Remedies
We may indicate to you that you are entitled to an apology, you have a complaint that could be made to a professional body and that you are entitled to compensation.
We will also review your case to see if we are prepared to continue to work for you on a No Win No Fee basis but in any event we will give you complete advice about how your case could be funded. You can then decide what to do next.
It may well be that a claim has to be lodged with an insurance company who cover many professional’s activities and are there to give cover for their mistakes.
In some circumstances it might be necessary for a claim to be made via court or some other formal process (such as mediation or a scheme) – again we can handle this for you.
Your Rights
If someone has made a mistake when working for you then you are entitled to know what they have done, why and what it means for you. If you raise it then it might mean it doesn’t happen to someone else.
If it causes you loss them you are entitled to have that investigated and you are entitled to be compensated in such a way as to put you back where you should have been if they had not made a mistake.
Your compensation might be financial, an apology or their regulatory body reviewing their conduct – you may be entitled to all of this.