HomeFWJ TakeawayProfessional negligenceBringing a professional negligence claimProfessional Negligence – Pre-Action Protocol

If you have a claim against your professional advisers - we have them who can help. One important aspect in any claim is to take stock and consider your options and make sure you choose the right course of action.

The professional negligence pre-action protocol is designed to help resolve disputes efficiently by encouraging the exchange of information and exploring settlement options before court proceedings. At Francis Wilks & Jones, our experienced solicitors can guide you through this process, ensuring your claim is handled professionally and effectively.

You are likely to have a claim in professional negligence where you have been let down by a professional and will want to explore the possibilities available to you to put that right.

Bringing a claim can be a daunting prospect if you assume that will mean attending at court but in most cases that is avoided when the parties engage with each other early on.

  • as soon as you are aware that you have a claim, that claim should be notified to the professional involved who will most likely respond therefore sparking communications between the two of you.
  • quite often, those exchanges will result in a settlement but where they do not, and court proceedings appear to be inevitable it is vital that all necessary steps have been taken before a claim is issued.
  • In particular Step 4 of the Pre-Action Protocol requires that the parties “take stock”.

As experienced professional negligence lawyers, for our team at FWJ, there is not a more crucial time for contemplation when facing the prospect of becoming involved in litigation.

It is a requirement of the pre-action protocol for professional negligence to take stock but aside from that, deserves to be spotlighted for it’s importance before embarking on what is often a very costly and stressful period. 

  • questions must and should be asked as to whether litigation can be avoided.
  • can the issues in dispute be narrowed to help that and what is the state of the papers and evidence which will be relied upon?

Claims in professional negligence can often involve more than one professional and may involve a number of heads of claims making the claim overall quite complex. 

Some aspects of the claim may be far stronger than others so narrowing down the issues which are the most important to you can make it easier to find a resolution alternative to issuing Court proceedings.


If you have a claim against a professional adviser – contact our friendly professional negligence team today and we can help. We have won many claims for our clients, including claims against solicitors, accountants, tax advisers and surveyors. Whatever the nature of your claim – we can help.

Extremely thorough, professional and speedy, and the fees were much more reasonable than the competition. Highly recommended

A private client we successfully helped win their claim

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