Advice required on negligence claim

dawsonio

LOL Crazy, does anyone know any good legal advice sites/Forums?

dawsonio

Anyone else?

clutton_2

DAWSON - I REALLY dont think you will get answers on a forum to this complex matter.. the devil is in the detail - and your new solicitor will have to get access to all the paperwork from your purchase, from the coal board, from the developer, from the local authority to find out exactly where the fault lies....

i doubt very much if this is going to be accepted on a pro bono basis ... as sols usually only do that with personal injury or clearly injustice casess... i think you need to prepare to spend some money for good advice.....

you will need a well established litigation/contract lawyer who can look through all the paperwork, not just a sol who does conveyancing...

this claim based on incorrect information is a different way of looking at things than just a simple house purchase ...

Bananamana

clutton wrote: »

i think you need independent legal advice - see if you can find another local solicitor who offers a freee half hour surgeryt for an initial consultation...

this sort of mistake by the original solicitor could be covered by their Insurers... but like all insurers they will fight tooth and nail not to pay out..

the difficulty is that at the moment you have not suffered any financial loss... so what will you sue them for ? what notional sum will you sue them for ? but i'm no solicitor....

i definitely see a long legal argument about to ensue...

I agree with this. Essentially it's a claim of professional negligence and a local firm may be able to give you a free "drop in" session on a surgery day.

There is an argument for potential loss in value of the property. There is also some possible further loss in respect of whatever the coal authority is intending to do (if anything). It may be worth speaking with them.

If you have the documents/statements from when you purchased and you "paid" for a coal search then you have the solicitor dead to rights

dawsonio

Bananamana wrote: »

I agree with this. Essentially it's a claim of professional negligence and a local firm may be able to give you a free "drop in" session on a surgery day.

There is an argument for potential loss in value of the property. There is also some possible further loss in respect of whatever the coal authority is intending to do (if anything). It may be worth speaking with them.

If you have the documents/statements from when you purchased and you "paid" for a coal search then you have the solicitor dead to rights

OK thanks guys i was just putting out some feelers to see what peoples thoughts are before taking things further. I will try and see a local firm for further info.

And yes i do have the statement from the solicitors that shows the coal search price and paid for which was clearly someone elses copy from 2004.

Thanks again

sonastin

What with the oddities of negligence claims in English law, there is a possiblity that all you are entitled to is the price you paid for the search that wasn't done because you haven't actually incurred any other losses.

I'm studying construction law at the moment and I got a pretty good mark for my essay on the subject on builders negligence but I still don't feel like I understand what you can successfully claim for and what isn't likely to work. Make sure you find an experienced solicitor in this field - it might be many years since your local high street sol looked at this aspect of the law and it is too complicated for someone who is rusty about what the law says!

Bananamana

Ah yes but it's also arguable he may not have bought the property had he known it was on/ near a mine. It still comes down to how it affects value and the future loss

timmyt

dawsonio wrote: »

Hi,

I wonder if anyone in the business or with knowledge of these things can give me some advice on this topic.

I bought a Newbuild property towards the end of 2007 and instructed a a solicitor to do the required searches etc to complete the transaction. Searches came back clear most notible being a coal mining search that stated no mine shafts withing 20 Metres of the site. I live in an area where there was a lot of previous mining activity so was pleased with these results and proceeded with the purchase.

Almost 3 years down the line i have just returned from Holiday to find a letter on my doorstep from the Coal Authority asking if they can come around and inspect a Vertical Mine Shaft that is under my Living Room and front wall. :eek:

I was very shocked and initially thought that the house builders had delayed passing on this infrmation to the coal board untill after the searches were carried out.

However after a bit more digging i have found out that the Shaft was recorded with the Coal Authority in 2006 so should have definately shown up on any searches carried out in 2007. I provided the referance number to the Coal Authority and the search date the the solicitor has provided me with comes back as 2004???? not even referencing me.

So basically the solicitor has just provided me with someones elses photocopied search from 2004 that showed the area was clear when infact i am sitting on top of a Mine Shaft that would have flagged up if the actually did the search that i had paid for.

Please any advise on the best way to approach and take this would be much appriciated. I am worried that my house value will have suddenly plummeted and i will stuggle to sell in the future to to this negligence.

Thanks

Dawsonio

the lawyer will have been provided the search by the developer...so it may still be the coal authority who got their search wrong...and so depends on whether you can rely on that 2004 search as an ultimate buyer....not my area of law...but doesn't sound the lawyers fault...good luck

clutton_2

i think you could start to work from the basis that you would never have bought the house in the first place if you had known there was a coalmine under the lounge... that is an eminently reasonable stance to start from.... then start to work out how much money it has cost you to be there since the time you would normally expect to get Coal searches in your conveyance process.....

JQ.

The house will be worth less because it sits on the coal mine - demand will be lower and some mortgage companies may not lend. This is something worth persuing. Whilst you may not have suffered the loss as yet, once you sell the house it will materialise. Does your home insurance have Legal Cover - might be worth speaking to them. To get an indication of the drop in value why not speak to the Surveyor who did your valuation and explain the situation to them. They may be willing to give you some informal advice, as there may be work in it for them if it does go Legal - someone will be needed to provide a professional opinion of value at some point.