Surveyors Negligence Claims

Discovering that your property is blighted by unexpected problems, or that it is worth significantly less than you paid for it, can be extremely upsetting and worrying. This is particularly true where the bill for putting things right is likely to be high and where the chances of you being able to sell your property on for a profit seem low. Knowing what to do can be difficult, but where you believe that the situation you find yourself in could have been avoided had a surveyor

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What clients are saying…

Step Legal Solicitors are Rated Excellent!

What more can i say?…

What more can i say?…. this company and to be specific Anees offer a service which should be envied by all other legal conveyancers. If you want a job done,

Mr Robinson

Professional and compassionate

I went to Steplegal after an industrial accident and was seen by Anna Rushton, who immediately put me at ease with her professionalism and compassion. Nothing was too much trouble

Mrs B

fantastic service

The service I received from Mr Hussain and the colleagues was

Mrs F
Longton Stoke on Trent

pleasant experience

The overall mark out of ten for my experience has got to be 11. Thank you to Mr Abid Hussain for making an unpleasant experience

Mr A
Crewe

excellent communication

I was delighted with the way you handled my case. I tell everyone you are excellent in every way possible i.e. communication, prompt replies to everything, phone manner and what

Miss A

Satisfactory

I was glad that Mr Abid Hussain was there to take my call. Abid dealt with the claim expeditiously and I am grateful that he and his ladies were always

Mr G
Lodsworth Peter Sussex

Recommend to family and friends

Dear Mr Abid Hussain, I would like to thank you for the cheque I received this morning. I am more than pleased with the result for the compensation claim for

Mrs B
Crewe

excellent service

I received excellent service. Mr Hussain explained everything in detail and I never had to worry about a thing beyond signing a few papers. Thank

Miss K
Crewe

pleased with the service

I have been very pleased with the service you have gave me and thank you very much for all your hard

Mrs W
Crewe

Thorough and to the point

I felt reassured with what you were doing for me. It was thorough and to the

Mr W
Sandbach Crewe

Helpful and good team work

Just like to say thank you and it’s been so helpful. Very good team

Mr E
Wistaston

well informed advice

I received well informed advice and was updated throughout the process. I was dealt with very courteously by Mr Hussain and his

Mr F
Nantwich

Fantastic service

Fantastic service from start to

Mrs D
Cheshire

Good service

I have received a very good service from Mr Hussain and was very pleased with the outcome. I was always able to see someone to help if

Mrs H
Milton Stoke on Trent

Fantastic

Fantastic friendly and very helpful professional advice, at any stage of process. Highly recommend anyone who needs

Mrs M
Winsford

Very Friendly

I found staff to be very welcoming and friendly. Service I received was very informative and

Mrs G
Crewe

Thank you for help

Dear Solicitor, Thank you very much for all your help. When I am older I am going to use the money to open up my own sweet shop. It is

Miss P
Frodsham

best interests

It was excellent from start to finish. I felt I was always informed and that my best interests were at

Ms L
Great Sankey Warrington

 Excellent staff

Excellent staff, polite and

Mr F
Winsford Cheshire

Great

Great communication, quick response to any queries. A pleasure to do business with you. Highly

Mr W
Crewe

Thank you

Thank you for helping me with my claim. As for improving your services, the way you handled my claim was first class. No need for changes. Thank you and good

Mr L
Wednesbury West Midlands

A complete pleasure

Anna has been brilliant throughout the whole process and I would recommend her to anyone. She is very polite and thoroughly hard working. A complete pleasure to have known. Service

Mrs H
Newcastle-under-Lyme

Great communication

From the first meeting with Anna, I felt I was in good hands. Very professional throughout, great communication at each stage and received clear information. Thank you Anna for your

Mrs P
Newcastle-under-Lyme

Happy with everything

Fantastic! Everything was dealt with efficiently, professionally and with warmth which eased any stress which was felt at the time of the incident. We were so impressed with all aspects

Mrs M
Stoke-on-Trent

Recommended services

My case was managed by Anna Rushton. Since winning my case I have recommended Anna’s services to a friend. I found her guidance and assistance second to

Mrs D

Sound advice

Miss Anna Rushton has handled my affairs throughout this case. I would like to be known that she has provided a thoroughly professional service at all times. Courtesy, sound advice,

Mrs B
Congleton

Reliable and good service

Spread the word to other lawyers of how to be reliable and give a good service. It is rare these days for people to be consistently reliable, informative and always

Mrs M
Stoke-on-Trent

Efficient and professional

I would like to thank Anna Rushton for her efficiency and professional services as well as for her friendly

Mrs P
Northamptonshire

How we can help

Our experienced team of professional negligence solicitors can help you to claim the compensation you deserve where a surveyor or valuer has let you down. They can assist in a variety of circumstances, including where negligence is alleged to have occurred because a surveyor or valuer has:

 

  • carried out a more basic survey than the one you commissioned, giving you a false sense of security about the condition of a property or the wisdom of
    committing to a proposed purchase;
  • provided an over-inflated property valuation, resulting in you paying significantly over the odds and with no prospect of the market catching up;
  • failed to spot a serious problem with the property which ought to have been obvious from a visual examination, such as the tell-tale signs of structural
    movement, subsidence, rising damp, dry rot, woodworm, an untreated leak or even a poorly built extension;
  • failed to spot the existence of a commonly encountered hazardous substance, such as asbestos;
  • failed to spot the existence of a commonly encountered invasive plant, such as Japanese knotweed; or
  • failed to highlight the need for further investigations or the commissioning of a more in-depth review.

 

We can assist whether the instructions to inspect the property came from you or your mortgage lender, whether the report commissioned was a basic condition report, a mortgage valuation, a homebuyer report on an in-depth full survey or house survey, and whether the need for professional input arose in the context of a property purchase, a remortgage or an extensive renovation project in which you needed advanced confirmation that your plans would not result in there being insufficient support for the structure of the house you were planning to overhaul.

 

Time limit

While our team of specialist lawyers will do all that they can to deal with your case as quickly as possible, it is important that you seek legal advice as soon as you can in order to avoid falling foul of rules which will prevent you from pursuing a surveyors negligence claim unless you start the process of seeking compensation within a set time frame.

 

These rules are known as the rules of limitation and broadly provide that in most cases a claim must be issued within six years of the negligent survey or valuation being carried out or within six years of the financial loss complained about being suffered, where the existence of such loss is not immediately apparent. However, there is an exception to this rule which may allow you to bring a claim beyond this period provided it is brought within three years of you becoming aware that grounds for bringing a claim were likely to exist. This though, together with the preceding rule, are subject to an absolute time limit which means that no claim can be pursued where more than 15 years have passed since the allegedly negligent survey or valuation was undertaken.

 

Compensation amount

Calculating compensation in a professional negligence case can be difficult, which is why expert legal advice should always be sought.

 

Broadly, the aim will be to put you in the position that you would have been in had the negligence not occurred or at least as close to that position as it is possible to get you. So for example, in a claim involving a negligent valuation where you have paid significantly over the odds, it is likely that your compensation will be assessed by reference to the difference between what you paid for the property and what it was worth at the time, i.e. its actual market value. Likewise, in a claim involving a negligent survey report in which the existence of Japanese knotweed was missed, it is likely that your compensation will be assessed by reference to the drop in the value of your home caused by the presence of this highly invasive plant or by reference to the cost of removal and treatment where this can be shown to be a viable and effective option.

 

Why come to us?

Our professional negligence lawyers understand the difficulties that can be caused when a survey or residential valuation turns out to be wrong and are here to help you secure the compensation that you need to put things right.

 

We have extensive experience in dealing with claims in which negligence is alleged to have occurred and an impressive track record in achieving prompt settlements on favourable terms and often without the need to take the matter to court.

 

In most cases we are able to act on a no win, no fee basis and even where this is not possible we can still put together a funding package for you which makes bringing a claim entirely affordable.

 

On top of this we work hard to ensure that the advice that we provide is clear and straightforward and that it is updated regularly as your claim progresses to ensurethat you always know where you stand.

 

What next?

To find out more please call us now on 0800 195 6412 to arrange a free, no obligation consultation. Alternatively, you can email us at enquiries@steplegal.co.uk or fill in the call back form on the Step Legal Solicitors website homepage, which you can access here.

 

We can help wherever you are based in England and Wales and particularly where you live in an area local to our offices, such as Crewe, Northwich, Nantwich, Macclesfield, Sandbach, Newcastle-under-Lyme or Stoke-on-Trent.