Surveyor Negligence

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Surveyor Negligence Claims

When you build or value residential or commercial or residential, the occasional mistake is inevitable, despite the high standards the vast majority of professional surveyors stick to.

Another common cause of professional negligence claims against surveyors is that of overvaluing residential commercial property – when after you have bought the property, you discover that the surveyor’s valuation was flawed in that it overvalued the property and that as a result, you ride on that professional advice regarding valuation and ended up paying too high a purchase price for your property.

Negligence claims against property professionals like surveyors will often involve a mixture of advice from construction or property lawyers alongside negligence lawyers.

Construction disputes, in particular, can be very complex and involve huge sums of money. Our solicitors will use their specialist knowledge to help you win your construction compensation claim against professionals in the construction industry and will be frank with you about your chances of success.

FOR FREE NO OBLIGATION INITIAL ADVICE ABOUT YOUR SURVEYOR NEGLIGENCE CLAIM – CALL NOW ON FREEPHONE (0800) 140 4544

Types of Surveyor Negligence

The most common cause of claims against negligent surveyors is the failure to disclose significant defects in properties – which can prove very expensive to sort out.

Another common cause of professional negligence claims against surveyors involves overvaluing residential commercial property – when following the purchase, it appears that the surveyor’s valuation overvalued the property and that as a result,  relying on that professional valuation, the purchaser ended up paying too high a price.

However there are, unfortunately, plenty of other reasons why surveyors can be negligent – including the following:

  • Misleading plans
  • Failure to acknowledge environmental considerations
  • Failing to recognise dry rot, woodworm, cracking and subsidence
  • Failing to inspect the property correctly
  • Failing to make adequate investigations
  • Failing to detect apparent visible defects in the property
  • Failing to advise of items which have need of further investigation
  • Producing an inadequate or defective report
  • Producing poor certificates
  • Undervaluation of works to be completed on a property

Click here to find out more about architect negligence.

Grounds for claiming negligence

It always worth remembering, however, that you are not able to make a claim for professional negligence against your surveyor simply because you were not satisfied with the surveyor’s service or indeed the advice itself.

To win a is claim, you will need to establish that

  1. the service or advice was actually negligent, not just unpalatable. In short, therefore, customer service problems alone never  give rise to grounds for a professional negligence claim.
  2. there was a breach of the duty of care that exists between both the client and the surveyor – ie that your surveyor failed to exercise the proper level of skill and professional care that you would be entitled to expect from any reasonably competent surveyor. Being able to establish that level of professional negligence is largely a question of fact and each individual claim is assessed on its individual merits.
  3. such negligence has resulted in a financial loss to you.

Damages for surveyor negligence

The purpose of damages for professional negligence is to put you back in the position you would have been but for the negligent advice.

Therefore, if you bought the property, and if you can prove negligence on the part of your surveyor, you may find that a court will to award the established difference between how much your property is worth whilst it remains in a defective state, and the purchase price paid by you.

Get a real professional negligence specialist on your side

If you’re thinking of making a professional negligence claim against your surveyor, it’s important to get the right legal advice – don’t just appoint any solicitor – make sure you instruct a specialist professional negligence solicitors.

But how you identify a genuine professional negligence specialist? Start with members of the PNLA – the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association, the only organisation of specialist negligence solicitors. Needless to say, we are members.

Worried about paying your legal bills?

In addition to the option of paying your legal bills privately, you may be surprised to find you already have legal expenses insurance. But if not, we can assess your case to see if it suitable for a no win no agreement.

To find more about funding your claim, legal expenses insurance and no win no fee – click here

Victim of a Negligent Surveyor? Looking for Compensation? Call Us Now

Wherever you live in the UK, from Leeds to London, if you think you have a construction claim or claim against a Negligent Surveyor  or architect, contact our specialist Professional Negligence Solicitors.

We can advise you either by phone or e-mail, or by meeting our team in one of our Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset offices.

For FREE phone advice about making your professional negligence claim against a Negligent Surveyor or Negligent  Architect, call us on

  • FREEPHONE 0800 1404544  or
  • email us using the contact form below: