When we take any advice from a professional, we can expect a certain quality of service, and this includes the provision of accurate and reliable advice. Unfortunately, even some of the most celebrated and recognised professionals that ordinarily provide consistently accurate information, can have an off day. In some cases, this may be remedied by an apology and the professional taking some action to ensure that their client is not left out of pocket, but this isn’t always possible. For example, you may only have been made aware of poor advice that was given after the fact.
If you have used a personal injury solicitor, and have recently been advised or come to believe that the advice they provided was inaccurate then you may have a case to bring a professional negligence case against that solicitor. In these instances, professional negligence is usually referred to as solicitor negligence, and if it led to you accepting too low a settlement offer, or it meant that the courts ruled on a lower compensation payment than you would have received otherwise, then it also means that you have suffered loss as a result of that negligence.
You have a right to try and recoup any money that you lost as a result of poor advice, but the courts are unlikely to reopen the original case. Ultimately, this means that the only recourse could be to seek compensation equivalent to the shortfall that you suffered from your previous solicitor. There are certain factors that must be proven in court, in order for you to be able to successfully claim compensation, including proving that the solicitor was guilty of negligence.
Solicitors are heavily regulated in the UK, and this means that they must adhere to certain standards and levels of professionalism. This can make solicitor negligence cases easier to bring against a professional, because it means that their advice must have met with common standards of practice within their field. However, there may still be some room for interpretation, and if the courts are not convinced that general conduct was not followed, then your new solicitor can also show that other solicitors would have given different advice.
Professionals taking on a role or responsibility that they are not properly trained for, or are not adequately experienced at, may lead to the offering of inaccurate advice, and this can be a problem in the personal injury field. If a family solicitor, for example, is not experienced in specifically dealing with this type of case, then they may provide bad advice simply because they were not aware that they were not giving accurate information.
Suing for solicitor negligence enables you to seek compensation for losses caused by poor advice. If you were advised to accept a settlement offer that was too low, or you were told to turn down a settlement offer and subsequently received much lower compensation and had to pay fees, then this could be a case of solicitor negligence. Another mistake made in personal injury cases is missing a deadline for submitting a claim.
If your original solicitor failed to submit a claim in time, advised you to take or refuse an offer and this advice ultimately led to you losing money, or they were guilty of solicitor negligence in any other form, contact SOS Claims on 0333 777 3284 – they will review the original case, and the advice you were given, in order to determine whether you have the right to seek compensation.