Professional negligence

Professional negligence claims, where the loss is financial.

Claims against solicitors, accountants, advisers, valuers, and other professionals whose work fell short and cost you money.

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Reviewed by Blake Fraser, Principal Lawyer, Fraser Lawyers Last updated 12 June 2026

You paid a professional for skill and judgment, and the work was wrong. Now you are out of pocket because of it.

A professional negligence claim is the law’s answer to that situation. A person who provides a professional service, a solicitor, accountant, financial adviser, valuer, engineer, building certifier, or conveyancer, owes a duty to exercise reasonable care and skill. Where the work falls below the standard a competent member of that profession would have met, and the shortfall causes loss, the professional can be liable for that loss.

These claims are about money. The loss is financial: a sum lost, a sum that should have been made, value destroyed, or the cost of putting right what was done badly. That is what separates this work from a personal injury claim. A claim against a doctor, or any claim for an injury rather than a financial loss, runs under a different regime and is dealt with on a separate page.

Professional negligence is part of the firm’s commercial practice, and it often sits alongside a commercial dispute. The questions are the same ones that govern any commercial claim: is there a case, what is it worth, in which forum, and on what timeline.

Fraser Lawyers acts for individuals and businesses in Queensland on claims against professionals where the loss is economic.

Scope of work

What we help with

Fraser Lawyers acts on professional negligence matters, including claims against:

Matter: What it usually involves
Solicitors and barristers: Missed limitation dates, defective advice, conveyancing and transaction errors, and badly drafted documents.
Accountants and tax agents: Negligent tax advice, audit failures, and errors in financial statements relied on to a loss.
Financial advisers: Unsuitable advice, inadequate disclosure, and failures to act in the client's interest.
Valuers: Negligent property and asset valuations relied on by lenders, buyers, or sellers.
Engineers and building certifiers: Defective design, inspection, and certification causing rectification cost or lost value.
Conveyancers: Errors in the conduct of a property transaction that leave a party worse off.
Surveyors: Boundary, identification, and survey errors with financial consequences.
Insurance brokers: Failures to arrange or maintain cover, leaving a loss uninsured.
Other professionals: Any person who holds themselves out as having professional skill and is paid to use it.

The duty is the same in shape across these professions: take reasonable care, and bring the skill the profession holds itself out as having. What changes is the content of the standard. What a competent valuer should have done is a different question from what a competent solicitor should have done, and each is answered by reference to that profession, not by general impression.

That is why the early work in these claims is identifying the standard precisely, then asking whether the professional met it.

Process

What you need to know.

A professional negligence claim has four parts. Each has to be established; a weakness in any one is usually where the claim is won or lost.

A duty was owed. A professional engaged to provide a service owes a duty to exercise reasonable care and skill. The duty is usually owed to the client, and can in some circumstances be owed to others who were intended to rely on the work, such as a lender relying on a valuation.
The duty was breached. The professional fell below the standard. The standard is not perfection, and it is not hindsight. Under section 22 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld), a professional does not breach the duty if they acted in a way that was, at the time, widely accepted by peer professional opinion as competent professional practice. The court can put that opinion aside only if it considers it irrational or contrary to written law. That protection does not apply to a claim about the giving of, or the failure to give, a warning, advice or other information about a risk of harm (s 22(5)); much professional advice work falls into that category and is judged without the peer-opinion protection. Where the protection does apply, proving breach usually requires evidence from within the profession.
The breach caused loss. The negligence, and not the market, a third party, or the claimant’s own decision, must have produced the loss. Causation is the part of an economic-loss claim that is most often contested, because money can be lost for many reasons at once.
There was loss. The claim is for what the negligence actually cost: the difference between the position the claimant is in and the position they would have been in had the work been done competently.

A grievance is not the same as a claim. Poor service, a rude exchange, or a bill you resent does not, on its own, found a professional negligence action. The question is always whether a failure to take reasonable care caused a loss that the law will recognise.

The loss

What kind of loss this covers.

Professional negligence claims on this page are about economic loss. The damage is to your finances, not your body.

That can take several forms. Money paid away that should not have been. Money that should have been earned or preserved and was not. An asset bought for more than it was worth, or sold for less, on the strength of negligent advice or a negligent valuation. The cost of rectifying defective work. A liability incurred, or a benefit lost, because a transaction was handled badly or a limitation date was missed.

The measure is compensatory. The law tries to put you back in the financial position you would have occupied if the professional had done the work competently, no better and no worse. It is not a windfall, and it is not a penalty on the professional.

Where the claim is for a personal injury rather than a financial loss, for example a claim against a doctor or hospital, a different statutory regime applies and the analysis on this page does not. Those claims are dealt with separately.

More than one at fault

Proportionate liability, and why you sue everyone.

Economic loss is often caused by more than one professional. A failed development might involve a valuer, an accountant, and a lawyer who each contributed something to the same loss. Queensland law deals with that situation through proportionate liability, and it has a trap in it for the unwary claimant.

Part 2 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) applies to an apportionable claim, which section 28 defines as a claim for economic loss or property damage arising from a failure to take reasonable care, or under the Australian Consumer Law for misleading conduct. Claims arising out of personal injury are excluded, and so are claims by a consumer (s 28(3)). A consumer claim can include professional advice acquired by an individual for personal, domestic or household use, or for a purpose unrelated to business, so whether the regime applies at all has to be checked before assuming each defendant is liable only for a share.

Where the regime applies, each person whose acts or omissions independently caused the loss is a concurrent wrongdoer under section 30. Under section 31, the liability of each concurrent wrongdoer is limited to the proportion of the loss the court considers just and equitable, having regard to that party’s share of responsibility. No single defendant can be made to pay the whole loss if others share the blame.

The practical consequence is the trap. Section 32 requires a claimant to bring the claim against every person it has reasonable grounds to believe may be liable, and to pass on what it knows about other possible wrongdoers. If a claimant does not comply, the court may make the orders it considers just and equitable about how the loss is apportioned and about costs (s 32(4)). Because that discretion is applied after the event, the safe course is to identify every potentially liable party at the outset rather than to rely on it.

Time limits

Deadlines and risks.

Time limits decide professional negligence claims as often as the merits do. Miss one and you lose the right to sue, regardless of how good the claim was.

Under section 10 of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), an action founded on simple contract or on tort, where the damages do not include personal injury, must be brought within 6 years from the date the cause of action arose. A claim on a deed has the same 6 year period under section 10(3). A claim on a judgment runs for 12 years.

The difficulty in economic-loss claims is working out when time starts. A cause of action in negligence accrues when the loss is suffered, which is not always when the negligent work was done, and is often not when the client first discovers the problem. Latent financial loss, a defect in a structure that lowers its value, a tax position that unravels years later, can put the start date well before the day the client realised anything was wrong. That uncertainty cuts against waiting. By the time a loss is obvious, the limitation period may be well advanced or gone.

Evidence decays as well. Files are archived or destroyed, the people who did the work move on, and the contemporaneous record that proves what a competent professional should have done becomes harder to assemble. A claim that is provable today can become difficult to prove in two or three years. The case for acting early is both legal and practical.

Sources and currency. The legal points on this page come from the primary Queensland legislation below, current as at 14 July 2026:

Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 22: the standard of care for professionals and the peer professional opinion principle.
Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) Part 2: proportionate liability for apportionable economic-loss claims, including which claims are apportionable and which claims (personal injury and consumer claims) are excluded (s 28), who is a concurrent wrongdoer (s 30), the limit on each wrongdoer’s liability (s 31), and the claimant’s duty to identify every party that may be liable, subject to the court’s discretion where that duty is not met (s 32).
Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) s 10: the 6-year limitation period for actions in contract and tort that do not involve personal injury.

Queensland legislation is published at legislation.qld.gov.au and is periodically amended; the current in-force version should always be checked.

What we do

How Fraser Lawyers acts in these matters.

Fraser Lawyers assesses whether there is a claim, identifies the professional duty and the standard that applied, and works out what the negligence actually cost. That assessment is the starting point, because many complaints about professionals are real grievances that are not, in law, negligence claims, and it is better to know that early.

Where there is a claim, the firm works out the forum, the limitation position, and the most efficient path to resolution, then prepares the notification or letter of demand and conducts the negotiation. Most claims capable of resolution settle without a trial.

Where proceedings are necessary, Blake Fraser conducts the litigation: filing and serving, managing disclosure and expert evidence, and appearing on interlocutory matters. For significant disputes the firm briefs experienced counsel for hearing. Professional negligence claims usually turn on expert evidence about what the profession required, and assembling that evidence properly is much of the work.

Practical

Documents to bring.

The engagement The retainer, engagement letter, or terms on which the professional was instructed.
The advice or report The advice, valuation, certificate, financial statements, or other work product in question.
Correspondence Emails, letters, and file notes exchanged with the professional.
The transaction documents The contract, loan, or transaction the advice or work related to.
Evidence of loss Records showing what the error cost: statements, invoices, valuations, and accounts.
Any second opinion Later advice or expert material that identified the problem.
Insurer correspondence Anything from the professional's insurer or from your own, if a claim has been raised.
Prior complaints Any complaint already made to the professional or to their professional body.
Key dates When the work was done, when the loss occurred, and when you discovered it.

Pathway

The likely path.

Step 1: Initial assessment.

Fraser Lawyers reviews the engagement, the work in question, and the loss, and forms a view on whether there is a claim in law and what it is likely to be worth. This stage separates a genuine negligence claim from a grievance that will not succeed, and it identifies the limitation position, which can be urgent.

Step 2: Standard of care evidence.

Because the standard is set by the profession, the firm identifies what a competent member of that profession should have done, usually with input from an appropriate expert. This is the spine of the claim. A breach that cannot be supported by evidence from within the profession is difficult to prove under section 22 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld).

Step 3: Notification or letter of demand.

The claim is put to the professional and, where relevant, their insurer. The letter states the duty, the breach, the causal link, and the loss. Many claims resolve at this stage, by payment or by opening negotiations, particularly where professional indemnity insurance responds.

Step 4: Negotiation or mediation.

Where the claim does not resolve on correspondence, the parties negotiate, often through a mediation. A professional negligence claim with the standard-of-care evidence assembled is in a much stronger position to settle sensibly than one that is merely asserted.

Step 5: Proceedings and apportionment.

Where proceedings are necessary, the firm commences in the appropriate court, joins every party that may be liable so that proportionate liability does not leave a shortfall, manages disclosure and expert evidence, and prepares the matter for hearing. Most matters still resolve before trial.

Frequently asked

Questions we hear often.

Plain-English answers to the questions clients tend to ask. If your question is not here, call us.

Get in touch

What is professional negligence?

A professional who provides a service owes a duty to exercise reasonable care and skill. Professional negligence is a breach of that duty that causes loss. Under section 22 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld), a professional does not breach the duty if they acted in a way that was, at the time, widely accepted by peer professional opinion as competent professional practice. So the standard is measured against the profession, not against perfection or hindsight. If the work fell below that standard and the shortfall cost you money, there may be a claim.

Which professionals can a claim be brought against?

In principle, any person who holds themselves out as having professional skill and is paid to use it: solicitors, accountants and tax agents, financial advisers, valuers, engineers, building certifiers, conveyancers, surveyors, and insurance brokers, among others. The shape of the duty is the same across professions, a duty to take reasonable care and to bring the skill the profession claims. What differs is the content of the standard. What a competent valuer should have done is a different question from what a competent solicitor should have done.

What do I have to prove?

Four things: that a duty of care was owed, that it was breached, that the breach caused loss, and that there was loss. In economic-loss claims the contested element is usually causation, because money can be lost for several reasons at once and the professional will say the loss came from the market or your own decision rather than from anything they did. Establishing that the negligence, specifically, produced the loss is often the hardest and most important part of the case.

How long do I have to bring a claim?

Generally 6 years. Under section 10 of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), an action on simple contract or in tort, where the damages do not include personal injury, must be brought within 6 years from when the cause of action arose, and a claim on a deed has the same 6 year period. The harder question is when that period starts. A negligence claim accrues when the loss is suffered, which can be well before you discover the problem. Do not assume the clock starts on the day you found out. If a limitation date may be close, treat it as urgent.

What is proportionate liability, and why does it matter to me?

Proportionate liability can apply where more than one professional contributed to the same economic loss, under Part 2 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld). It does not apply to personal injury claims or to claims by a consumer (s 28(3)), so the first question is whether the regime applies at all. Where it does, each concurrent wrongdoer is liable only for the share of the loss the court considers just and equitable (ss 30 and 31). Section 32 requires you to claim against every party you have reasonable grounds to believe may be liable and to share what you know about others; if you do not, the court may make the orders it considers just and equitable about apportionment and costs (s 32(4)). Getting the list of defendants right at the start is still the safe course.

What if I was partly at fault myself?

Being partly responsible does not necessarily end the claim. Under section 10 of the Law Reform Act 1995 (Qld), where loss is caused partly by your own failure to take reasonable care and partly by another’s wrong, the claim is not defeated, but the damages are reduced to the extent the court considers just and equitable for your share of the responsibility. Contributory negligence also does not override a defence available under a contract, which can matter where the engagement contained a limitation of liability.

What about a claim against a doctor, or for an injury?

That is a personal injury claim, not an economic-loss claim, and it is governed by a different statutory regime. The analysis on this page, the proportionate-liability rules in particular, does not apply to personal injury claims; the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) expressly excludes them from that Part. Medical and injury claims are dealt with separately. If you are unsure which kind of claim you have, tell us what happened and the position will usually be clear quickly.

Personal injury claims in Queensland run to strict time limits. Some apply within months of the injury or accident, the limits differ by claim type, and a few, such as hit-and-run claims against the Nominal Defendant, cannot be extended.

Talk to Fraser Lawyers about a professional negligence claim.

A short outline of what the professional did and what it cost you is usually enough to identify whether there is a claim and what the next step looks like. Fraser Lawyers is based at 86 Bundall Road, Bundall, and acts for clients across the Gold Coast and Queensland. You can tell us what happened in a few lines.

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