Professional Negligence Claims: Legal Rights and Responsibilities 

You will usually require services from other companies when you run a business. For example, you may require accountancy services or professional legal advice. Unfortunately, professional advice can sometimes be given negligently, not at the required standard of care, causing you a personal or financial loss. You may, therefore, dispute the advice with a professional negligence claim. If so, you should take advice from professional negligence solicitors. This article will explain professional negligence claims in commercial disputes and legal rights and responsibilities.

When Might I Have the Right to Make a Negligence Claim?

As a business owner, you may have the right to sue a business by making a negligence claim. This may occur if you suffered personal or financial loss as a result of a professional conducting business with you. You may claim this because they have not acted with an adequate duty of care when they should have done so. The level of duty of care is what a reasonable professional in their profession would have done. 

There are many types of businesses where a professional duty of care arises, including, for example, the legal industry, the finance sector, and the property industry. Businesses that you may be able to sue with a negligence claim include:

• chartered accountants;
• barristers;
• notaries;
• architects;
• planning consultants;
• insurance providers; and 
• tax advisers.

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How Do I Make a Negligence Claim?  

If you think you may have a claim for negligence in your commercial dispute, you must get legal advice from a lawyer. They can guide you through the process and advise you on whether to make a negligence claim. 

Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence 

The first step before a professional negligence claim is to establish if the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence (professional negligence PAP) applies to your commercial dispute. This is legal guidance for you to follow before making a negligence claim. Like other pre-action protocols for commercial litigation, it encourages you and the other party to take an alternative route to resolving the dispute rather than court litigation. This PAP applies to, for example:

• legal professionals;
• accountants;
• financial advisers; and
• auditors.

Some areas of commercial disputes, where you may have a negligence claim, have their own types of PAPs to follow.

Making a Legal Claim

If you do go down the route of a claim to the court for negligence, there are steps you will need to follow. Despite following the procedure, you should note that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can be considered at any stage in a professional negligence claim. If this is suggested, it is essential to comply where it is reasonable, or you could incur court costs. ADR can include:

• mediation;
• arbitration;
• adjudication; and
• early neutral evaluation.

The first step in a negligence claim is to write a Preliminary Notice, which lets parties to the claim know about our claim. This gives a brief outline of the details of the potential negligence claim, such as the parties involved. A Letter of Acknowledgment should be sent to you by the professional once you send them the Preliminary Notice.

The second step of a negligence claim is to write a Letter of Claim. This means you are sure you have grounds for a professional negligence claim. It tells the party you wish to claim professional negligence against that you intend to do so. It is essential that this is written correctly, or it could affect your claim. 

Key Takeaways

As a business owner, you may experience professional negligence and want to make a negligence claim. Professional negligence is when a professional in a field of business does not meet the duty of care that a reasonable person in that profession would exercise. If you wish to make a negligence claim in a commercial dispute, you must follow a pre-action protocol, such as the one specifically for negligence claims. If you go on to make a litigation claim for professional negligence, there is a set procedure to follow that starts with writing a preliminary notice. Parties can follow an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process at any stage during the process, which you should follow where it is reasonable to do so. 

If you need help understanding negligence claims in commercial disputes and the legal rights and responsibilities in the UK, our experienced disputes and litigation lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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