Upgrading Your House: What if it all Goes Wrong
Buying a house is usually one of the biggest purchases you will make in your lifetime, so it’s understandable if you decide to upgrade your house rather than go through all the rigmarole of looking for a new house, and uprooting your family; not to mention it could save you a few pounds!
Extending and upgrading your house shouldn’t normally cause you too many problems but what if your construction professional fails to take something into account or does something wrong leaving you suffering the consequences? If it’s a particularly big job you may have someone acting as a contract administrator working for you to ensure that the project goes smoothly and on budget.
Professional negligence occurs when a professional (e.g. builder or architect) fails to act with the reasonable skill and care expected of a comparable professional and their actions have caused you loss. For example if the architect has advised you to use the wrong width of timber or a contractor has cut through a water pipe leaving you without water for a significant period of time, leaving you to pick up the costs of the repair and alternative accommodation.
If you have suffered loss and you think a professional is to blame, then you may have a claim against them to compensate your financial loss and emotional stress throughout ordeal. All professionals should have professional indemnity insurance which should cover any loss suffered as a result of their negligence.
Our top tip when looking to instruct a professional to do works to your house is to always ask if they do have professional indemnity insurance.
Please give our specialist professional negligence department (who are ranked in the Legal 500) a call on 0113 244 9931.
