How we can help
At Step Legal Solicitors, we have a team of dedicated lawyers who deal with negligence claims on a daily basis and who have the expertise needed to assess whether compensation may be due and, if so, who can help you to recover the maximum amount possible given the substandard professional advice or service you have received.
We can assist in a wide range of cases, but have particular expertise in bringing claims against solicitors, property conveyancers and building surveyors.
Claims against solicitors
We can help you to bring a claim for solicitors negligence where you have suffered financial loss as a result of a solicitor:
- failing to do what you asked them to do;
- providing you with legally inaccurate advice;
- recommending you follow a course of action that was wholly inappropriate;
- failing to properly assess the value of a legal claim, e.g. for personal injury compensation, which means that you settled for less than you should have;
- failing to follow prescribed rules and procedures, which means that you have been unable to achieve your legal objective or have ended up being declared
personally bankrupt in circumstances where this ought not to have happened; or - failing to comply with prescribed time limits, which means it is no longer possible for you to enforce a legal right or pursue a particular course of action.
We can also assist in cases of barristers’ negligence.
Claims against conveyancers
We can help you to bring a claim for conveyancers negligence where you have suffered financial loss as a result of a conveyancer:
- failing to carry out appropriate property searches, which would have revealed an issue serious enough to justify you pulling out of a proposed purchase;
- failing to spot a problem with the title deeds to a property, such as a question mark over the ownership of land being offered up for sale;
- failing to advise you that a property is leasehold as opposed to freehold, which means you have ended up buying a home that is not 100 per cent yours;
- failing to advise you properly on the terms of your mortgage; or
- failing to register your interests with the Land Registry or making other land registration errors.
Claims against surveyors
We can help you to bring a claim for surveyors negligence where you have suffered financial loss as a result of a surveyor:
- carrying out a more basic survey than the one you paid for, e.g. preparing a homebuyers report when you asked for a full building survey;
- failing to spot an obvious defect with a property which would have affected your decision to buy, such as evidence of subsidence or the onset of wood rot;
- failing to highlight the existence of a potentially problematic issue, such as the growth of Japanese knotweed;
- providing an over-inflated valuation, which means that the amount you paid for a property was more than it was worth; or
- failing to highlight the need for further investigations or the commissioning of a more thorough report.
Time limit
To bring a professional negligence claim, you usually need to have commenced litigation (via the instigation of court proceedings) within six years of realising that the advice or service received was not up to common standards of practice. This may sound like a long time, but there is a considerable amount of work that needs to be done to get a professional negligence claim ready, and if you speak to a solicitor early it will ensure that your claim can be thoroughly investigated and well presented. It may even mean that there is time to try to agree a settlement outside of court by entering into discussions with the advisor’s insurer or by referring the matter to mediation.
Why come to us?
Our professional negligence lawyers understand the difficulties that can arise from the provision of substandard advice or poorly performed services and are committed to helping you obtain appropriate recompense, particularly where the personal consequences of negligence for you have been devastating.
With our support, you can find out what went wrong with the advice or service you received and accurately assess the extent of harm you have suffered in order to claim the full amount of compensation you are due.
We will advise you on your position in a clear and straightforward way and ensure that you always know what is happening with your claim through the provision of regular and detailed updates.
And to make bringing a claim with us as easy as possible, we are happy to discuss a number of funding options with you, including no win, no fee funding in some cases.
What next?
To find out more please call us on 0800 195 6412 to arrange a free, no obligation consultation. Alternatively, you can email us at enquiries@steplegal.co.uk or pop into see us at our offices in Crewe.
We can help wherever you are based in England and Wales and whether you live locally in Nantwich, Northwich, Macclesfield, Sandbach, Stoke-on-Trent or Newcastle-under-Lyme or significantly further afield.