In professional negligence claims, court proceedings must be brought against a negligent solicitor, or other professional, within six years of the accrual of the cause of action.
This applies whether the claim is founded on breach of contract or breach of duty. This is known as the primary limitation period.
There is often difficulty in determining when a cause of action, think of it as the relevant event that triggers the right to bring a professional negligence claim, occurs. It is not unusual for the facts relevant to the cause of action to be unknown by a potential claimant within the primary six-year limitation period.
To avoid injustice that would arise from the strict application of the six-year primary limitation period, section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980 provides that court proceedings must be commenced within three years of the discovery of the facts relevant to a claim. In practical terms if you only find out the facts relevant to bringing a professional negligence claim after the primary limitation period has expired, you may still bring a professional negligence claim as long as court proceedings are commenced within three years of you becoming aware of the relevant facts.
However, the limitation period Is not extended indefinitely by section 14A as section 14 B imposes a 15-year longstop after which a claim cannot be made.
So how is the limitation period applied in the case of a disappointed beneficiary? A disappointed beneficiary is an individual who would have benefited under a will but for the negligence of the solicitor who prepared the will. The term preparation of the will can include advice regarding the content of the will , the actual drafting of the will and execution of the will.
If a will is prepared and there is a negligent error or mistake in the advice about the will, preparation of the will or execution of the will, then time for limitation purposes may run from the negligent act or mission by solicitor stop if the relevant facts aren’t known within six years of the act or omission or within three years of when the relevant facts were known, again subject to the 15 year long stop .
In a case where the negligent act is a failure by a solicitor to prepare a will so that a perspective beneficiary is disinherited, the cause of action accrues from when the will should have been completed – see the case of Bacon V Howard Kennedy.
Time limits in professional negligence cases are complicated and if you think you might have a claim against a solicitor you should act immediately.
Get in touch with our specialist team
Jordans Solicitors’ Lost Inheritance Claims’ team are here to help with your potential claim. Just contact them at any one of our five branches in Dewsbury, Horsforth, Penistone, Selby and Wakefield, on 033 0300 1103, and they will help guide you further.
