Valuer Negligence Solicitors
Valuers play a key role in the purchase of any new property, providing you with vital information you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether to go ahead with the purchase and if there are any potential risks involved.
Most valuations are carried out to a competent degree, but if your valuer has made a mistake or omission, it may result in them valuing a property substantially higher or lower than its actual value – which can often result in a significant financial loss for you. In these circumstances, you may have grounds for a claim of valuer negligence.
It’s worth noting that in order to bring a claim of valuation negligence, you must have suffered a financial loss. You’ll also need to establish three things:
- Were you owed a duty of care by the valuer?
- Has the valuer breached that duty?
- Is that breach directly responsible for your financial loss?
Fill in our contact form below, or give us a call on 0330 828 3881 to speak to one of our friendly solicitors today.
How we can help with valuer negligence claims at Farleys
We have more than 60 years of experience to our name here at Farleys, and we’ve built our prestigious reputation on helping our clients to reach satisfactory resolutions to their cases. We understand that valuer negligence can often be particularly stressful, as its consequences can force you to put other aspects of your life on hold, especially if you’re not able to make use of your property as soon as you’d like to.
Our professional negligence solicitors always begin by sitting down with you for a detailed discussion to find out more about the background of your case. Using this as a starting point, we can then provide more tailored guidance on exploring the various options available to you, and examine which one is most likely to bring you the most favourable outcome.
What is valuer negligence?
Valuer negligence is a term that essentially refers to any instance in which the valuer has failed in their duty of care to you, causing you significant financial loss. Most types of valuer negligence cases arise when the valuer estimates a property as significantly higher or lower than what it’s actually worth.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that to some extent, valuations are a matter of professional opinion, so there is naturally going to be some level of variation between the views of different professionals. However, if a valuer’s estimate falls outside what would be viewed as the generally acceptable margin for error, that may be classed as negligence.
Some of the most common examples of valuer negligence include:
- A failure to account for changing market conditions
- A failure to report on defects in the property
- A failure to highlight any other notable details or relevant factors that a competent professional would be expected to notice
To establish that valuer negligence occurred, you’re likely to need an independent expert report that details how the valuer breached their duty of care.
Duty of care
It’s often said that property valuations are an art and not a science, and that’s true in that they’re subjective to a degree. However, a property valuer still has a duty of care to provide their clients with a service that’s reasonably thorough, diligent and meticulous.
If you have instructed the valuer yourself, then it’s relatively easy to establish that they owe you a duty of care. (If your mortgage company or lender has instructed the valuer, it can be much more difficult to pursue a claim, but if that’s the case, we can provide more detailed advice on your situation when you talk to one of our professional negligence solicitors).
Once you’ve established that your valuer owed you a duty of care, the next most important step is to demonstrate that the valuer failed to act with reasonable care and diligence when handling your case, and that this resulted in you suffering a major financial loss.
Margin of error
As we’ve touched on above, valuing is partially a matter of opinion, so it’s to be expected that different valuers may have varying opinions on how much a given property is worth. However, all competent valuations will generally fall within a certain range, widely referred to as a margin of error bracket. (You may sometimes hear valuers talking about valuing “inside the bracket”.)
The margin of error is generally accepted to be within 5% and 15% of a property’s value, depending on certain aspects of its build and location. So if the property is worth £100,000 but the valuer puts it more than £120,000 or less than £80,000, that may be reasonably classed as being “outside the bracket”, and potentially negligent.
Contact a Specialist in Valuer Negligence Claims
Wherever possible, Farleys will pursue your claim on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. We appreciate that any kind of legal case can often be stressful to navigate, so our solicitors take care to provide a friendly, personable approach that’s free from unnecessary legal jargon – making it easy for you to get all the key information you need to make informed decisions about your case.
Whatever the details of your valuer negligence claim, you can rely on us to handle your case with diligence, efficiency, and flawless expertise.
For free initial advice on pursuing a claim, get in touch with our valuer negligence claims solicitors today on 0330 828 3987, or contact us by email to arrange an appointment.
[FAQs]
What are the time limits for suing a valuer?
If you think you have a valuation negligence claim, it’s important to act on it sooner rather than later. There are strict time limits for bringing a professional negligence claim against a valuer.
You’ll normally have six years to bring a claim, starting from the date the negligence occurred. In some cases, the negligence may not be evident at the time, so if you become aware of it at a later date, you may have a further three years to bring a claim, starting from the “date of knowledge”.
However, these periods are often subjective to a degree and can be difficult to calculate precisely. For that reason alone, we’d recommend contacting us as soon as you suspect you have a claim, so that we can act promptly to assess its likelihood of success.
Common valuation negligence mistakes
Valuation negligence claims can arise in a variety of circumstances, often when the valuer has made some kind of oversight or mistake. Some of the most common examples of these include:
- Failing to inspect all accessible parts of a property or development site
- Failing to highlight identifiable features or defects that may impact the usage or value of a property or development site
- Failure to survey or value the correct property, or area of land
- Failure to take into account any restrictions over a property or land during a valuation
- Inefficiencies in the valuation process which may end up causing financial ramifications for the client
- Failing to utilise the most efficient methodologies during the valuation
Why choose Farleys Solicitors?
Farleys Solicitors is a friendly, trusted, and straight-talking firm with over 60 years of experience in serving clients all over the North West and nationwide. Our solicitors draw upon a wealth of knowledge and industry-specific expertise in order to answer all of your most pressing questions regarding professional negligence.
At Farleys Solicitors, we know that every situation is unique. That’s why, in addition to advising you on the best course of action, we also tailor our services to meet your specific needs. We may even choose to take your case on a no-win, no-fee basis.
If you need to speak with one of our specialist professional negligence solicitors about any of our services, feel free to give us a call on 0330 828 3987, contact us using the online chat feature on our website, or email us on info@farleys.com. We’re here to help!