Financial negligence claims can cover a wide variety of products including mortgages, investments, pensions and annuities.
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117 Reviews
Financial negligence claims can cover a wide variety of products including mortgages, investments, pensions and annuities.
I am very happy and satisfied with the settlement you achieved for me and the service was excellent and thank you very much
Mrs E.Swaffield
Loughborough
Professional negligence claims against financial advisers have increased significantly in recent years, particularly in the area of financial mis-selling. These claims can cover a wide variety of products including mortgages, investments, pensions and annuities.
Like other professionals, financial advisers (IFAs), financial consultants and mortgage brokers owe a duty of care to act with a reasonable degree of skill and competence with regard to the standards and statutory framework of the financial services sector. For this reason, the financial services industry is heavily regulated. Unfortunately, despite all the codes and regulations governing financial professionals, mistakes, omissions and problems occur on a regular basis.
Our Financial, Property and Professional Claims team is headed by senior solicitor Claire Critchley who has over 10 years’ experience dealing with complex legal claims against a variety of professionals.
This includes claims against surveyors, architects, estate agents and solicitors, in addition to dealing with financial disputes involving mis-sold mortgages and interest rate swaps.
We'll never sell your data or contact you unnecessarily. Your Legal Friend is a secure and private website.
This is not about a claims culture. We just want to defend the rights of the people who are suffering because of this.
Head of Professional Negligence
“I found the staff to be friendly, helpful, courteous and they kept me well informed on a regular basis”
Mrs. Vora,
Loughborough
“They acted in a sympathetic and professional manner and resolved my case very efficiently”
Mr Dowse
Leeds
Handing over your financial information to an accountant means putting a great deal of faith in them as professionals. As a client, you trust them to act in your best interests, using all of their skill and experience to ensure your finances are well organised and your tax obligations are met.
Unfortunately, accountants are not immune to making mistakes – and when an error is made in a tax return or your company accounts, the consequences can be immense. Despite the various codes, regulations and rules which govern the financial sector, mistakes can be made, leading to real financial losses on the part of the client.
Read moreHere are some examples of scenarios where a claim may be warranted:
Errors in the completion of a tax return
As a client, you have a reasonable expectation that your accountant will complete your tax return correctly and comprehensively. If they don’t, and you’re saddled with a fine or an enormous tax bill, you may be able to claim for professional negligence.
Errors in preparing company accounts
It’s essential that your company accounts are in order at all times, and if your accountant makes any mistakes or errors in preparing them, it could mean you incur a financial loss.
Incurred fines or penalties from HMRC for late filing
If your accountant is late filing an important document to HMRC and you incur a fine or a penalty as a result, you’d have grounds to pursue a professional negligence claim against your accountant.
Paid too much in tax
If you discover that your accountant has made a mistake in your tax returns which has ended up with you paying more tax than was necessary, you could make a claim for professional negligence.
Failed to comply with company filing deadlines
If your accountant misses a company filing deadline and you end up incurring a financial loss (through a fine or a penalty), you could bring a professional negligence claim against them.
Read lessIndependent financial advisors (also known as IFAs), financial consultants, and other brokers all owe their clients a duty of care. When a client instructs or hires them, they have a reasonable expectation that the IFA will use all their skill and competence to secure a positive financial outcome for them – and with so many rules, regulations and codes to comply with, you should feel safe and satisfied that your IFA will do all of that for you.
Unfortunately, there are some financial advisors who make mistakes in their work – and if those mistakes have a negative impact on your finances, you may be able to make a claim against them.
Read moreHere are some examples of professional negligence among financial advisors:
Bad investment advice
If you receive bad investment advice from your financial advisor, and it negatively affects your finances, you could bring a professional negligence claim against them.
Advised contrary to your attitude to risk
All good financial advisors will take into account your attitude to risk – but if they offer advice that is either inconsistent with this or does not take it fully into account and it results in you losing money, you could recoup your losses via a professional negligence claim.
Investment value has dropped dramatically or has become worthless
If the value of one of your investments has dropped significantly or become close to worthless, you could bring a professional negligence claim against the advisor who recommended the investment.
Lost money on an investment you were told was ‘low risk’
If you’ve been informed that an investment is distinctly low risk, it’s natural to want to see returns, even if they’re small. If you experience losses on an investment that you were assured was fairly low risk, you may be able to bring a claim against the advisor who recommended it.
Advisor received a huge commission on an inappropriate product for you
If your financial advisor advised that you invest in a product that was unsuitable for your needs – which coincidentally had the side-effect of earning them a large commission – you could bring them to court for professional negligence.
Incorrect pension or annuity advice
Financial advisors are also on hand to offer advice on the right pension or annuity for you – but if the advice given to you was incorrect and you’re now unable to claim your enhanced annuity as a result, you could be eligible to make a professional negligence claim.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues listed above, or if you feel that your IFA has acted negligently in any other way, our expert team of specialist professional negligence solicitors could help you recoup your losses.
Read lessHaving an insurance policy for your home, car, business, health or forthcoming holiday is supposed to give you peace of mind, knowing that any unexpected costs or outlays will be covered. Insurance brokers are experts at finding the right policies with the appropriate cover for clients, ensuring that the protection they need is in place.
Unfortunately, some insurance brokers act negligently, and it can leave clients seriously out of pocket when it comes to making a claim. If you’ve been left facing financial losses as a result of an insurance broker’s actions, you may be able to claim for professional negligence.
Read moreThere are a number of ways in which an insurance broker could act negligently:
The insurance policy was not taken out, despite you having paid for it
If you have to claim on your insurance, only to discover that your insurer never took out the policy, despite taking your money, you could bring them to court for professional negligence which, if successful, would see you recoup your costs.
Failed to advise on key terms or restrictions within the policy
Before you take out an insurance policy, it’s the responsibility of your insurance broker to ensure that you fully understand the key terms and restrictions and that the policy still meets your needs. If your broker has failed to advise on any restrictions, they may be to blame if any future claims you make are rejected.
Failed to advise on renewal dates
For insurance policies which require regular renewal, your insurance broker must inform you of the renewal dates so that you can act in a timely manner and ensure that your cover is unbroken. If the broker does not advise you of these dates, and you end up in a period without insurance, you could claim against the broker.
Provided the insurer with the wrong information
If the information passed onto the insurer does not match up with your own personal details, they’re well within their rights to refuse any claim. If your broker has passed on inaccurate information about your cover or your circumstances and this information has then invalidated your insurance, you could bring a professional negligence claim against the broker in question.
If any of the issues above sound familiar to you, or if you suspect that your insurance broker has acted negligently, we could help you win the professional negligence compensation you deserve.
Read lessBecause the circumstances surrounding every claim and their effects are different, it’s very difficult to give a definitive answer on how long it takes to settle a claim. Often it depends on how quickly our clients provide us with essential information, how quickly we can get your file of papers from the professional and any expert reports required, and whether the insurance companies are willing to provide realistic offers to settle the claims.
Whilst we aim to settle your claim as quickly as possible, we also want to ensure we secure the maximum compensation for you. This often means we have to do some hard negotiation with the defendants – which takes extra time. Our aim is to balance progressing the claim as fast as possible with getting you the maximum settlement.
We realise that you’ll be keen to know about the progress of your claim so we will send you regular emails and texts to keep you up to date, and also to remind you if there is any information we’re waiting for from you.
Handing over your financial information to an accountant means putting a great deal of faith in them as professionals. As a client, you trust them to act in your best interests, using all of their skill and experience to ensure your finances are well organised and your tax obligations are met.
Unfortunately, accountants are not immune to making mistakes – and when an error is made in a tax return or your company accounts, the consequences can be immense. Despite the various codes, regulations and rules which govern the financial sector, mistakes can be made, leading to real financial losses on the part of the client.
Read moreHere are some examples of scenarios where a claim may be warranted:
Errors in the completion of a tax return
As a client, you have a reasonable expectation that your accountant will complete your tax return correctly and comprehensively. If they don’t, and you’re saddled with a fine or an enormous tax bill, you may be able to claim for professional negligence.
Errors in preparing company accounts
It’s essential that your company accounts are in order at all times, and if your accountant makes any mistakes or errors in preparing them, it could mean you incur a financial loss.
Incurred fines or penalties from HMRC for late filing
If your accountant is late filing an important document to HMRC and you incur a fine or a penalty as a result, you’d have grounds to pursue a professional negligence claim against your accountant.
Paid too much in tax
If you discover that your accountant has made a mistake in your tax returns which has ended up with you paying more tax than was necessary, you could make a claim for professional negligence.
Failed to comply with company filing deadlines
If your accountant misses a company filing deadline and you end up incurring a financial loss (through a fine or a penalty), you could bring a professional negligence claim against them.
Read lessIndependent financial advisors (also known as IFAs), financial consultants, and other brokers all owe their clients a duty of care. When a client instructs or hires them, they have a reasonable expectation that the IFA will use all their skill and competence to secure a positive financial outcome for them – and with so many rules, regulations and codes to comply with, you should feel safe and satisfied that your IFA will do all of that for you.
Unfortunately, there are some financial advisors who make mistakes in their work – and if those mistakes have a negative impact on your finances, you may be able to make a claim against them.
Read moreHere are some examples of professional negligence among financial advisors:
Bad investment advice
If you receive bad investment advice from your financial advisor, and it negatively affects your finances, you could bring a professional negligence claim against them.
Advised contrary to your attitude to risk
All good financial advisors will take into account your attitude to risk – but if they offer advice that is either inconsistent with this or does not take it fully into account and it results in you losing money, you could recoup your losses via a professional negligence claim.
Investment value has dropped dramatically or has become worthless
If the value of one of your investments has dropped significantly or become close to worthless, you could bring a professional negligence claim against the advisor who recommended the investment.
Lost money on an investment you were told was ‘low risk’
If you’ve been informed that an investment is distinctly low risk, it’s natural to want to see returns, even if they’re small. If you experience losses on an investment that you were assured was fairly low risk, you may be able to bring a claim against the advisor who recommended it.
Advisor received a huge commission on an inappropriate product for you
If your financial advisor advised that you invest in a product that was unsuitable for your needs – which coincidentally had the side-effect of earning them a large commission – you could bring them to court for professional negligence.
Incorrect pension or annuity advice
Financial advisors are also on hand to offer advice on the right pension or annuity for you – but if the advice given to you was incorrect and you’re now unable to claim your enhanced annuity as a result, you could be eligible to make a professional negligence claim.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues listed above, or if you feel that your IFA has acted negligently in any other way, our expert team of specialist professional negligence solicitors could help you recoup your losses.
Read lessHaving an insurance policy for your home, car, business, health or forthcoming holiday is supposed to give you peace of mind, knowing that any unexpected costs or outlays will be covered. Insurance brokers are experts at finding the right policies with the appropriate cover for clients, ensuring that the protection they need is in place.
Unfortunately, some insurance brokers act negligently, and it can leave clients seriously out of pocket when it comes to making a claim. If you’ve been left facing financial losses as a result of an insurance broker’s actions, you may be able to claim for professional negligence.
Read moreThere are a number of ways in which an insurance broker could act negligently:
The insurance policy was not taken out, despite you having paid for it
If you have to claim on your insurance, only to discover that your insurer never took out the policy, despite taking your money, you could bring them to court for professional negligence which, if successful, would see you recoup your costs.
Failed to advise on key terms or restrictions within the policy
Before you take out an insurance policy, it’s the responsibility of your insurance broker to ensure that you fully understand the key terms and restrictions and that the policy still meets your needs. If your broker has failed to advise on any restrictions, they may be to blame if any future claims you make are rejected.
Failed to advise on renewal dates
For insurance policies which require regular renewal, your insurance broker must inform you of the renewal dates so that you can act in a timely manner and ensure that your cover is unbroken. If the broker does not advise you of these dates, and you end up in a period without insurance, you could claim against the broker.
Provided the insurer with the wrong information
If the information passed onto the insurer does not match up with your own personal details, they’re well within their rights to refuse any claim. If your broker has passed on inaccurate information about your cover or your circumstances and this information has then invalidated your insurance, you could bring a professional negligence claim against the broker in question.
If any of the issues above sound familiar to you, or if you suspect that your insurance broker has acted negligently, we could help you win the professional negligence compensation you deserve.
Read lessBecause the circumstances surrounding every claim and their effects are different, it’s very difficult to give a definitive answer on how long it takes to settle a claim. Often it depends on how quickly our clients provide us with essential information, how quickly we can get your file of papers from the professional and any expert reports required, and whether the insurance companies are willing to provide realistic offers to settle the claims.
Whilst we aim to settle your claim as quickly as possible, we also want to ensure we secure the maximum compensation for you. This often means we have to do some hard negotiation with the defendants – which takes extra time. Our aim is to balance progressing the claim as fast as possible with getting you the maximum settlement.
We realise that you’ll be keen to know about the progress of your claim so we will send you regular emails and texts to keep you up to date, and also to remind you if there is any information we’re waiting for from you.
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