Welcome to: Negligence UK

Professional Negligence Claims Nationwide

Professional negligence is a concept under UK law which refers to injury or damages caused by a professional not doing his or her job as well as they should. This is usually a complaint made about services that were to be provided but were not, not about goods improperly made or delivered.

The nature of a professional is such that they have a higher duty of care than the regular person, since the average person will depend on these people to perform vital services. For this reason, when they are irresponsible or untrustworthy, the harm they do can even be life threatening.

Most service-sector professionals will carry professional indemnity insurance meant to pay money in case that person is accused of being negligent. The insurance is meant to ensure that the person will be able to pay damages but it can have an unfortunate effect of making claims more difficult to prove, since insurance companies have an interest in not paying the money out.

What is vital to remember about professional negligence claims is that there are set and defined circumstances under which these claims will be heard by the court. For example, there must be a negligent act, or an instance where the professional failed to meet the standard of duty of care required by his or her profession. Below, we are going to tell you more about this topic to give you a better understanding.

There also has to be a loss because of this negligent act. It is important to remember that the loss does not have to be present day, but can be a future loss. Usually, the loss will be limited to the extent of the cost of the services provided within the contract between the claimant and the expert, and any additional damages incurred. Also, the claim won't be able to be made if a different, unrelated cause prevented the expert from fulfilling his or her responsibilities.

It's also important to remember that no matter the circumstances, patience is absolutely required. The expert and his or her insurance company will have a minimum of three months to answer to any charges, and they very frequently will ask for multiple extensions.

The claim is initiated by a written document that the client must make. This written document must be sent to the defendant in question saying that the claim might be made, in order to give him a chance to fulfill his or her part of the deal and avoid a lengthy litigation.

After the initial document, there should be a very detailed letter of claim which itemizes the negligence and whatever losses arose from it. Whenever possible, the specific losses should be quantified in a monetary amount.

Along with this there should be supporting documentation which covers the entire professional relationship between the claimant and the defendant. One of the most common problems that the injured party might run into is that they might feel wronged and refuse to pay the contractor in question.

While refusal to pay can be understood since the service was either not provided or provided inadequately, just outright refusing can make things more complicated as the professional then can claim a lien and refuse to provide the proper documentation. The best way to get around this is to make a note that the payment is being made under protest, and to demand whatever documents are needed at that time, in writing.

It is also possible to go to court before payment is due and try to require a pre-action disclosure be made of all necessary documentation. Sometimes, if the professional and his insurer are not being cooperative, this may be the last resort before an actual claim can be made, and the court will usually be slanted in the favor of the client.

Under UK law, the client only needs to prove that the negligence occurred with over half the probability as far as a reasonable person is concerned, meaning that even if there are doubts in the matter, the case can be decided in the client's favor. However, the onus is always on the claimant to provide evidence that something went wrong.

Since such proceedings can take a long time to complete, they can incur a substantial cost to the claimant, especially if he or she will need to secure the services of an expert witness. As with all legal matters, it is highly recommended that any person who thinks they may be a victim of professional negligence speak to a qualified, licensed solicitor about the matter before taking any actions, legal or otherwise.