Making a professional negligence claim is a big decision. If you are thinking of doing this then you need to be fairly certain that you have a good case as the process can often be complicated and drawn out.
This is why it is so important to seek the advice of specialist professional negligence lawyers if you are thinking about bringing a claim against a negligent professional.
There are several factors that you need to consider when making such a claim against a professional.
Negligence - not bad service
One of them, obviously, is that you need to know that you have a strong case against them. You can't sue someone for negligence simply because you weren't satisfied with their service; you need to have specific evidence of negligence. This means that something else you need to think about in a professional negligence claim is expert witnesses.
Expert witnesses
If your lawyers believe that you have a valid professional negligence claim to bring, it is highly likely that they will source at least one (and often more than one) expert witness in order to testify and back up your case. This expert will need to be someone independent who can be impartial and use their expertise to look at your case and deliver an opinion. If your case goes to court, it is highly likely that this expert will need to testify, so it is important that they have experience of taking part in such cases before.
Time limits
Another important issue that your professional negligence lawyers will need to be aware of is the time limits that are associated with bringing such a claim against a professional. There are a few standard time limits that need to be kept to, as well as a few exceptions to the rule. For instance, most cases need to be bought within 6 years of the negligence taking place. However, medical negligence or something else that caused you personal injury needs to be heard within 3 years.
There are also other exceptions, such as if the example of negligence was only discovered through due diligence a while after the event actually took place. There is also an exception made for people under the age of 18 years or people who are mentally disabled in some way. This is something your professional negligence lawyers will be able to tell you about in more detail; whatever type of case you have, though, it is important you take action as soon as you can in order to start the ball rolling in line with the time limits set out by the 1980 Limitation Act.
Thinking of making a professional negligence claim? Bonallack and Bishop are specialist professional negligence lawyers. Get in touch with them first for free initial phone advice.
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