Lessons on professional negligence claims

KEY POINTS

• Professional negligence claims must establish a breach in a duty of care.
• If a duty of care exists the claimant must show the defendant has caused the loss.
• Time limits apply to claims – this is usually six years

What must a claimant demonstrate to prove professional negligence? Several cases have considered professional negligence in a tax context all of which have three elements in common: to establish a duty of care; to establish a breach of that duty of care; and to show that there is both factual and legal causation between the breach and damages.

A professional tax adviser is likely to owe a duty of care under tort and under their contractual obligations. These duties do not necessarily extend over the same area and the contractual obligations may be more onerous than the...