Jul 25

Professional negligence – what evidence is needed to support your claim?

Written by Adam Colville-Robins
Senior Associate

DDI: 01423 726616
E: adam.colville-robins@raworths.co.uk

For all professional negligence claims it is necessary to show that the professional owed you a duty, that this duty was breached in their dealings with you, and that breach caused you loss. It is important to ensure you have sufficient evidence to prove the basis of any claim you wish to bring against a professional for negligence, to ensure maximum chance of success. However, what this means for one professional may not be the same for another.

A claim for negligence against a professional, such as an accountant or an architect, can be more complex than a standard negligence case because there are several elements to that claim that must be proved, some of which are specific to each profession Ensuring you put forward the right evidence is essential if you are to be able to prove these elements when making a claim.

What are the main requirements for bringing a successful professional negligence claim?

A successful claim against a professional for negligence must meet a number of requirements in order to be successful, and what is needed by way of evidence will depend on what type of profession is involved.

However, there is some overarching criteria that relates to all professional negligence cases, which is needed in order to prove your claim.

Generally, negligence can be claimed when an entity causes loss to another as a result of lack of care, or reckless behaviour, which leads to loss or damage.

A claim for negligence against a professional person or entity is similar, however a professional is held to higher standards in terms of the level of skill and care that they are expected to exercise when carrying out their job.

To prove negligence against a professional, as a minimum, you need to be able to show the following three elements:

1. You were owed a duty by that professional

What duty is owed can vary based on the relationship, generally the duty can be a duty of care, a contractual duty under an agreement between you and the professional, breach of a fiduciary duty, or breach of a statutory duty.

In many cases the fact that a professional owed you a duty can be evidenced by you demonstrating that you were a client of that professional, and that you paid them for their professional services. This will usually be set out in a signed contract, or if not a signed contract, then the professional will often set out in writing the agreed scope of work and fees to be paid in advance. It may also set out what professional duties will be performed under the agreement. This may make it easier to show that those duties have been breached.

If the duties are not specified in writing, you may need to provide examples to the court of what would be usual for a professional carrying out this type of work. This is likely to require the evidence of an expert who undertakes a similar role to prove if the duties were not met.

However, a contract is not essential to establishing a claim as it is possible to pursue a claim of negligence against a professional under the common law tort of negligence. This might occur if you do not have a written agreement, or if you were not a client of that professional, but you were significantly affected by their actions. To do this you would need to show that they failed to exercise reasonable skill and care in carrying out their job and that you suffered loss as a direct result.

You will need to establish, through expert evidence, not only what level of skill and care would reasonably be expected, and that this was breached through lack of care or negligence, but also that your damage was foreseeable.

2. How was that duty of care breached?

A court will apply a higher standard of care to a professional than that applied to the average person, because a professional is considered to have a special skill or competence by reason of membership of a profession. Therefore, the test as to whether there has been negligence and a breach of duty of care is whether a similarly qualified professional would have acted in the same way. If the professional’s conduct or mistake was one which a reasonable member of that profession would not have made in the same circumstances, then a breach of their duty may be found.

As this assessment will rely on having detailed knowledge of how that professional would usually carry out their tasks, it is likely that you will need to introduce an expert in the same field in order to establish this.

3. How did the breach of the duty of care cause a direct loss to you?

Even if a professional acted negligently, if their negligence did not actually cause your loss, your claim will not succeed. This is often referred to as the ‘but for’ test. i.e. but for the defendant’s negligence, the loss would not have occurred. If the damage would have occurred anyway regardless of the actions of the professional, then the breach cannot be said to have caused your loss.
If an accountant forgets to file your tax returns and you are fined as a result, this would appear to be reasonably foreseeable. If, however, this led to a breakdown in your business relationship with your fellow directors, then any loss stemming from that may be too remote.

Likewise if you suffered no actual loss as a result of the professional’s breach of duty then it may be difficult to establish if you are entitled to any damages as these are ordinarily limited to the losses you have suffered.

How can the Dispute Resolution team at Raworths help?

Ineffective or negligent professional advice or behaviour can cause significant damage and may have serious repercussions, not just financially but also reputationally.
If your business has suffered as a result of professional negligence, it is important that you consult a solicitor early on in the process to ensure that you capture all of the evidence that you need to ensure that any claim you may have has the best chance of success from the outset.

For further information and assistance, please contact Adam Colville-Robins in the dispute resolution team at Raworths based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire at adam.colville-robins@raworths.co.uk or telephone 01423 566 666

Published on 17 July 2025

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.