How A Lawyer Can Help Me With My Professional Negligence Claim - By: Tim Bishop

If you have decided to consult a solicitor about a possible professional negligence claim, then before going into your appointment, it may be a good idea to know what the normal procedure to start a claim is.

One of the early things your solicitor may ask you to do is to notify them in writing the name of the professional you are planning on making a claim against. This letter needs to contain your and any third party's identity, a brief description of your reasons to claim and, if possible, an approximated value of the potential claim. The professional will have 21 days to acknowledge the receipt of this letter.

After this, your professional negligence lawyer will help you with the letters that follow:

Letter of Claim

If you and your negligence lawyer decide to proceed with the claim, the next step is to serve a Letter of Claim including the following:

- identity of parties involved in the claim

- a chronological summary of the facts in detail, including key documents

- the reasons the professional is being sued

- any evidence showing how their mistakes have caused a loss

- an estimation of what losses you have suffered and how you have worked this out (including the relevant documents)

- whether you appointed an expert, the date and identity •

- a request to ask that the professional sends the letter to their insurers.

Again, the professional will have 21 days to acknowledge the receipt of the letter. After this, they have 3 months to begin their investigations into the claim.

Letter of Response and Letter of Settlement

Once the professional has read the investigations, you should then receive either a Letter of Response or a Letter of Settlement, or both, in one letter. Within the Letter of Response you should expect the following information:

- the professional admits the claim and so it's clearly stated

- the professional only accepts part of the claim and states which parts they are accepting

- the professional doesn't admit or deny

- the professional doesn't agree with the estimate of the loss and should provide their own estimate

- enclosure of any relevant documents.

The Letter of Settlement will contain proposals for settlement. Your professional negligence solicitor will asses at this point if any of the proposals are worth taking to pursue compensation.

The litigation process for this type of claim can be, as any other legal process, lengthy and tricky and an expert professional negligence lawyer is the person that can help you. Make sure that you consult a specialist professional negligence claim solicitor who is a member of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association.

About the Author

Considering making a professional negligence claim? Bonallack & Bishop are solicitors specialising in legal negligence claims. Tim Bishop is senior partner at the firm, responsible for all major strategic decisions. He has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years and has plans for further expansion.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Tim-Bishop/62652

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