5 reasons you could file a professional negligence claim
Professional negligence is where a professional individual fails to perform the duties they were required to carry out. It could be that they failed to perform all duties, or the duties they did perform were not to the standard required. A professional negligence claim can be filed against a number of different professionals. This includes, but is not limited to, architects, accountants, solicitors, medical professionals, and conveyancers. Ultimately, a professional negligence claim is filed when the professional does not perform their duties to the standard expected. In this article, we will discuss 5 reasons you could file a professional negligence claim.
Breach of contract
One reason you could file a professional negligence claim is because of a breach of contract. For example, when you use a professional and hire them for their services, there will be a contract in place which the professional will sign. The contract will give a detailed breakdown of all the duties that are to be carried out, the time frame in which they will be completed, and the cost of said duties. If you have hired a building company to complete work on your property and the contract states work will be completed in 6 months’ time, it is their legal duty to uphold the timeframe stated in the contract. Of course, some changes can be made to contracts, or new ones can be drafted, but it is the duty of the professional to let you know if they need some extra time for the work. They may run into some serious problems that require extra time. This sort of thing is fine because the professional has communicated with you. However, if they fail to acknowledge the need for more time, then they could be in breach of contract.
Breach of fiduciary duty
Another reason you could file a professional negligence claim is if there has been a breach of fiduciary duty. Fiduciary duty is the obligation a professional has to act in another party’s best interest. This duty can be broken in a number of ways, for example, if the professional breaks confidentiality and shares trade secrets with your competition. Additionally, it can be broken if they fail to follow employers’ directions or if they contradict their duty of working with the interests of the client first. When you hire someone to assist with your business, it should be their intention to support your business and have the interests of your company on the forefront of their mind. If they fail to uphold this duty, they could potentially be breaching their fiduciary duty, and you may have a claim.
Breach of duty of care
If a professional has breached their duty of care, then you could file a negligence claim. Breach of duty of care will often apply to medical professionals as they have a responsibility to keep their patients safe. An example of a breach of duty of care within the medical industry is if a medical professional gives a patient the wrong medication, or if they fail to uphold the hygiene standards required of a hospital. Another example of breach of duty of care is if a personal trainer fails to take into account an injury of their client, and as a result, the client is harmed. It should be noted, that if any of these do happen, could be entitled to professional negligence compensation. If you do believe this to be the case, then you should contact professional negligence experts such as Hugh James who can help you through the process of filing a professional negligence claim. They can talk you through the process, and explain how much compensation you could be owed.
Poor strategy recommendations
Hiring a professional aims to receive excellent service or expert advice on something you cannot do by yourself. You would expect the professional to give you advice or recommendations that will help you or give you a step up. Failure to provide the right advice could potentially be counted as professional negligence. for example, if you have hired an accountant and the accountant gives bad financial advice, it could be considered negligent. Furthermore, if they fail to advise you on any tax relief you could claim and you end up with a huge tax bill, you may have a professional negligence claim.
Failure to uphold a quality standard
Failure to uphold a quality standard is another example a reason you could file a professional negligence claim. If you have hired a professional to complete work on your house and they do not complete the work to the standard required, then you could potentially have a professional negligence claim. Another example could be that the person completing work on your house failed to identify existing structural problems, and, as a result, your house was damaged further. Both of these demonstrate a failure to provide the services to the standard required and thus could be considered professional negligence.
