Professional Negligence Claims on the Rise

Paul Horton, Partner in the Litigation Department at Shropshire law firm FBC Manby Bowdler LLP, says that people losing money on residential property is the main reason why they seek to sue their legal and property advisers.

“With money tight in these recessionary times and the property market flat, the conduct of professional advisers has come under increased scrutiny,” says Mr Horton, who is based in FBC Manby Bowdler’s Telford office.

“Before the recession a rising property market would generally have covered any losses due to poor legal work or valuations, but that is no longer the case and more people are seeking redress for negligent advice.”

According to Mr Horton, claims have been boosted by a recent court case which established that a valuation of a standard residential property which varied in value more than plus or minus 5% can be considered negligent.

“The court established a useful benchmark which it comes to judging negligence in property valuation,” says Mr Horton.

“This case helps as professional negligence claims can be extremely complex. It is not simply a case of proving that a professional has acted negligently, but in addition that a loss has arisen as a result of that negligence.”

According to Mr Horton, the number of claims against solicitors is also on the increase.  He says: “Twice as many solicitors firms than property valuers have already been sued this year.

“Unfortunately some legal firms which specialised in bulk property conveyancing are now facing claims, as although they did not charge very much for their work, in some cases the low fees did not give them the time to carry out the work correctly and costly mistakes were made.”

According to Mr Horton, the prospect of seeking redress in the courts from a solicitor or surveyor can seem daunting, but the process is the same for resolving any other dispute.

He says: “Embarking on litigation can be intimidating, but often the legal process is the only way to recover what can be significant losses which people have made on property transactions through no fault of their own.

“Fortunately there are still a number of funding options in place to allow access to justice.  These include “no win-no fee” arrangements; purchasing insurance cover after the event and even, if appropriate, prior to the issue of proceedings contingency fee arrangements.

“It is vital that claims are properly assessed before litigation commences.  For example, we provide a comprehensive review of clients’ potential claims, firstly to ascertain that there is merit in the potential claim, and secondly, to discuss the funding options available before the client is advised to take things forward.

Mr Horton and his team can be contacted on tel. 01952 208434 or via www.fbcmb.co.uk

With offices in Shrewsbury, Telford and Bridgnorth, FBC Manby Bowdler is one of the largest law firms in Shropshire.