What Can I Claim in Professional Negligence?

Types of Compensation in Professional Negligence Claims

When a professional gets it wrong and causes harm, you may be able to claim compensation for both financial and personal damages, including:

Financial Losses

One of the most common claims in professional negligence cases is financial loss. If a professional’s mistake has cost you money – whether through bad financial advice, an accounting error or a legal blunder – you may be able to get that back.

Some examples include:

• An accountant gets the company’s taxable income wrong, and the company gets audited by the ATO. The company faces thousands in penalties, plus interest on unpaid taxes and it’s a real financial strain.
• A lawyer misses a deadline, and the case gets thrown out. The client has to hire a new lawyer and pay extra legal fees to fix the mess.
• A retiree is told to put their savings into a high-risk stock without being warned of the potential losses. When the market crashes, they lose their nest egg and can’t pay the bills.

The key is to prove the negligence caused your financial loss – not just a bad outcome.

Medical Costs and Rehabilitation

If you’ve been physically injured because of professional negligence—like a doctor’s misdiagnosis or a mistake during surgery—you may be able to claim medical expenses.

Claims can include:

• A patient gets unnecessary surgery due to misdiagnosis and has to deal with physical pain and expensive hospital bills, surgeon fees and a long recovery.
• Spinal surgery goes wrong and the patient has mobility issues. They will have to go through months or even years of physical therapy, racking up high medical bills and the emotional toll of a long recovery.
• The doctor prescribes the wrong medication, and the patient has to go through complications that require additional treatments, specialist visits and new prescriptions to fix the mistake.
• Surgical error causes chronic pain, and patients will need future procedures. Patients now have ongoing expenses for pain management, assistive devices and corrective surgeries.

These are common in medical negligence cases, but can also apply if a therapist, chiropractor or other health professional provides inadequate care. Loss of Earnings and Future Income

When negligence stops you from working, you can claim loss of income for past earnings and future earning capacity.

Some examples are:

• A routine surgery goes wrong, and a surgeon’s mistake leaves you with permanent nerve damage. You have to give up your physically demanding job and lose your income and financial stability.
• A financial advisor convinces you to put your savings into a dodgy business and doesn’t fully disclose the risks. When the business goes bust, you lose your investment and the chance to fund career growth or further education.
• A lawyer messes up a breach of contract case, and your business loses a major deal. With no way to recover from the financial hit, you have to shut down and your employees are left jobless while you struggle to rebuild your career.

If you can’t work again, the claim may include long-term compensation for future lost earnings.

Emotional Distress and Psychological Harm

Professional negligence isn’t just about financial loss—sometimes, the impact is emotional and psychological. If the negligence caused significant mental distress, you may be able to claim compensation for it.

Examples of emotional distress and psychological neglect include:

• You have surgery and later find out it was completely unnecessary due to a misdiagnosis. The betrayal, ongoing pain and loss of trust in doctors lead to severe anxiety, depression and emotional trauma.
• A retiree loses their entire life savings after following bad financial advice. With no safety net left, they spend their nights awake with worry and struggling with deteriorating mental health, trying to make ends meet.
• A lawyer’s negligence costs a parent custody of their children. The emotional devastation affects every part of their life, causing extreme distress, strained relationships and lasting psychological harm.

Costs for Correcting the Mistake

If a professional’s mistake forces you to hire someone else to fix the problem, you can claim those costs as part of your damages.

Some common examples are:

• A divorce lawyer misses key paperwork deadlines and the client has to hire another lawyer to appeal the case—more legal fees and stress.
• A business owner finds out their accountant made big tax filing mistakes. To avoid IRS penalties, they have to hire a new accountant to redo financial statements and fix past filings—an expensive and time-consuming process.
• A surgeon operates on the wrong knee, and the patient needs more surgeries and months of rehab to fix the mistake. The recovery is longer, more painful and more expensive than it should have been.

These costs should be reasonable and necessary to fix the damage caused by the original negligence.

Loss of Opportunity

Sometimes, professional negligence doesn’t cause direct financial loss but instead takes away an opportunity that could have led to financial gain.

Examples of lost opportunity claims:

• A personal injury lawyer fails to file a claim before the statute of limitations runs out. The client loses their right to get compensated for medical bills and lost wages forever.
• A doctor misdiagnoses early cancer symptoms as a minor issue. By the time the correct diagnosis is made, the disease has progressed, treatment options are limited and survival chances are reduced.

These claims can be harder to prove, as you have to show the lost opportunity had a reasonable chance of success.

How Are Professional Negligence Claims Calculated?

The value of a claim depends on several factors, including:

• The extent of financial loss (e.g., lost income or extra costs)
• The severity of harm caused (physical, mental, or financial)
• The impact on your quality of life
• The cost of fixing the mistake

Each case is unique, and compensation amounts vary depending on the level of negligence and damage suffered.

Next Step: Contact a Professional Negligence Lawyer

If you’ve suffered due to professional negligence, knowing what you can claim is the first step. The next step is seeking legal advice to assess your case and determine the best approach for getting the compensation you deserve.At Wyatts, we have a team of expert professional negligence lawyers who can evaluate whether your situation qualifies for the claim. Contact us at 1800 773 880 now to get started!