subject: Making a Professional Negligence Claim Against Your Financial Advisor [print this page] Making a Professional Negligence Claim Against Your Financial Advisor
Professional negligence solicitors are being used now more than ever and people are using professional services to try and deal with their money.Irrelevant of how much you have put aside, you may want to take advice from an independent financial advisor. Have you subsequently lost money because the investment fell to a lower value? Finance is a specialist area. Within this relationship of loyalty and confidence, the advisor needs to comply with what are known as 'fiduciary or contractual' duties. Most cases of negligence handled by a professional negligence solicitor against a financial advisor relate to alleged breach of these duties. The regulated responsibilities include non-disclosure, avoiding conflicts of interest, not to take secret profit and no unfair enrichment. As you would expect, your financial advisor has a legal duty to exercise reasonable skill and care when hand ling your investment. If a breach has occurred, and he or she is found to be liable, you may be able to claim compensation for damages. However, many such claims taken up by professional negligence solicitors may extend to more than a straightforward case of negligence. Ask yourself: 'did I place heavy reliance on my advisor's advice? If the investment that caused you a loss you should be entitled to compensation? Well, you might have difficulty, if you simply took advice but placed no great reliance on this. After all, you cannot go suing your advisor for liability because of economic fluctuations that he could not have foreseen. So, it really comes down to his skill and competence. Do you believe that this was strange? Do you feel he lacked the care that a reasonably competent professional financial advisor should have demonstrated? Should you make a professional negligence claim against them? Negligent conduct may involve: - failure to assess the client's requirements and current financial situation.- failure to establish whether the client is able to afford the investment.- advising investment in financial products unsuited to the client's needs.- failure to warn of any risks about the proposed investments.- a financial adviser's conflicting interests in the financial sector.- a financial adviser accepting negligent independent advice on behalf of the client.If you think you have a valid professional negligence claim for compensation, consult an experienced and specialist solicitor.
