What is professional negligence, and how does it overlap with personal injury?
You’ve probably come across the term “professional negligence”. But do you understand what this means, how this term relates to your circumstances, and why it can support your compensation claim?
Find out all you need to know with Tylers Solicitors — one of the UK’s leading personal injury and professional negligence solicitors.
What is professional negligence?
Professional negligence can happen if someone fails to meet their duty of care while at work. This breach of duty (and sometimes, contract) can also cause harm to clients, customers, and visitors.
For a situation to be classed as professional negligence, there must be a breach of duty that caused harm or loss, which goes against the employee’s legal obligation.
Here are some examples of the harm that professional negligence can cause:
- Financial loss: A property surveyor overvalues a property in a mortgage valuation report. A buyer uses the figures in this report and takes out a mortgage to cover the cost. It is then revealed that the property is worth less, leaving the buyer in negative equity.
- Physical injury or illness: A GP fails to identify the symptoms of a serious disease in a patient, diagnosing them with something minor instead. Their treatment is delayed, and their illness worsens, leading to permanent consequences.
- Reputational damage (defamation): A PR company publish a press release for a client, but it contains false and defamatory content about a competitor. The competitor sues the client for defamation, which results in the client’s high value contracts being lost and their reputation being damaged due to the PR agency’s mistake.
- Loss of opportunity: A solicitor fails to submit a tribunal claim in time for a client claiming for workplace discrimination. Because the claim wasn’t submitted in time, it is dismissed, causing the client to lose the opportunity to fight their case.
- Emotional or psychological injury: A therapist reveals sensitive details about a client to a third party without consent. This causes the client psychological distress and mental health issues.
If an employee is found to be professionally negligent, they may be liable for all of the damages caused. The employee may also be immediately fired if proven guilty of gross negligence (cases involving the most severe consequences of professional negligence), which justifies dismissal without notice or payment in lieu of notice.
How is professional negligence different from personal injury?
Professional negligence and personal injury scenarios can cross over (which we’ll explore in just a moment), but it’s also important to remember that they are two different law concepts.
Professional negligence vs. personal injury
Professional negligence occurs when a professional does not meet the standards expected of them, which then causes harm to a client, customer, or visitor. The harm caused can be physical, psychological, or financial.
Personal injury only includes the physical or psychological harm someone suffers because of someone else’s negligence. It’s also worth noting that personal injury isn’t always caused by a professional; it can be caused by anyone.
Both concepts involve a duty of care being broken. In professional negligence cases, this duty of care is within a specific context between employees and clients, visitors, or customers. This differs from personal injury, which involves a more general duty of care, like a driver to other road users.
So, in this way, an employee’s professional negligence can cause a personal injury.
When can professional negligence and personal injury overlap?
With this in mind, there are many scenarios where professional negligence and personal injury are both present. In these cases, the victim may be entitled to compensation for any physical or psychological injuries as well as financial losses.
Let’s take a look at a few overlapping professional negligence and personal injury examples:
- Medical mistakes
A mistake made by a medical professional at work can be grounds for a professional negligence and personal injury claim. For instance, if a surgeon operated on the wrong leg or a GP misdiagnosed a serious condition like our earlier example.
Why is it professional negligence? Because the medical professional failed to meet the standard of care expected in their role.
Why is it a personal injury? Because the patient suffered physical harm and psychological distress as a result.
- Unsafe structural designs
Structural engineers, architects, and infrastructure workers can also be liable for professional negligence and personal injury claims. If they designed a balcony and calculated the wrong load-bearing weight, it could potentially collapse and lead to life changing injuries for victims.
Why is it professional negligence? Because they delivered an inadequate standard of work.
Why is it a personal injury? Because they caused physical harm to the victims as a result of their negligence.
- Negligent health and safety advice
If a Health and Safety specialist fails to identify workplace risks which go on to cause an accident and injury, the victim may be able to claim for professional negligence and personal injury compensation.
Why is it professional negligence? Because the specialist did not fulfil their duty of care within their job role.
Why is it a personal injury? Because their inaction caused a victim to suffer from physical injuries.
Is it worth claiming compensation for professional negligence?
At Tylers Solicitors, we believe it is almost always worth claiming compensation for professional negligence. No-win, no-fee legal services make this easy, because you won’t be charged any legal fees unless our team wins your case. Only then will it be recouped from your compensation reward.
We strongly recommend speaking to a professional negligence solicitor and claim compensation if you…
- Have suffered a loss or harm
- Have strong evidence to prove that the professional owed you a duty of care, breached this duty, and caused you harm as a result
- Are dealing with long term consequences due to the professional’s actions or inaction
- Experienced the professional’s negligent act less than six years ago
There is a limitation period for professional negligence cases, so we advise you seek legal advice as soon as possible. With the help of a legal professional, you will have a better chance of getting compensation for your pain, suffering, financial loss, and more.
How can Tylers Solicitors help you make a claim?
Our team of personal injury and professional negligence solicitors have plenty of experience in helping victims get the compensation they deserve for complex losses that were not their fault.
We’re proud to work on a no-win, no-fee basis — it shows that we trust in our legal knowledge, care for our clients, and believe that every victim has the right to seek justice. It also means you will only have to pay us a transparent, pre-arranged fee if we win your case.
Whether you’d like to make a personal injury claim, a professional negligence claim, or both, our team is highly skilled and will handle your case with the utmost professionalism and empathy.
Get compensation for professional negligence with Tylers Solicitors
To get started with your claim, all you need to do is call 0800 699 0079, email info@tylerssolicitors.co.uk, or fill in our simple contact form. A member of our team will be in touch to arrange your free consultation and support you through every step of your claim.
