Solicitors Who Specialise in Stockbroker Negligence Claims
Stockbrokers work for a range of clients. These could be individuals or businesses of all sizes and they are required to work to the same high standard on behalf of all of those clients. But they can and do make mistakes – and those errors can prove incredibly costly to their clients.
How Can Stockbrokers Be Negligent?
There are several ways in which stockbroker negligence can manifest itself. Here are a few of the most common ones:
- Disregarding the objectives of the investor’s portfolio
- Recommending unsuitable investments to the client
- Failure to properly brief a client on risks
- Churning (which is where stockbrokers earn themselves large commissions by undertaking excessive activity in the process of making a client’s investments)
It is important to remember that a stockbroker making a bad investment on behalf of a client is not necessarily the same as them committing an act of fraud or negligence. This is why it is vital that you are absolutely sure you are dealing with a case of stockbroker negligence before you proceed with making a professional negligence claim against them.
Complaints against stockbrokers – your first steps
If you’ve received inaccurate advice or poor client care from a stockbroker, the first you need to do is to make a formal complaint to the relevant business. However if this doesn’t work, then you might want to contact the Financial Services Ombudsman on 0800 023 4567 [the FSO is an independent body set up by the government to resolve complaints that consumers couldn’t sort out directly with any UK financial business- which includes stockbrokers].
The FSO will investigate and may be able to award compensation. However they are unable to award compensation over £150,000 – so if your claim is larger than this, the only way of dealing with that is potentially a formal application to court, which has the power to award unlimited compensation. Which is where we come in.
What Should I Do If I Think My Stockbroker Has Been Negligent?
If you suspect you might have a case of stockbroker negligence, you should hire a specialist negligence lawyer as soon as you possibly can. They will be able to help you determine whether you have a case. This is important as there are often huge sums of money involved in stockbroking and, to the untrained eye, it can be difficult to tell whether something is a genuine case of negligence or if it is just bad luck. Your Lawyer will be able to review all of the evidence for you and make an informed decision based on this.
For instance, if you suspect your stockbroker of ‘churning’ in order to achieve a larger commission for themselves, it can often be quite hard to prove this as they might have had reasons for their actions. Your lawyer will be able to look at this in more detail to see whether you have a case. They will also be able to look at other issues such as whether you were properly briefed on the risk of certain investments and whether the investment portfolio your stockbroker developed was suitable to your aims.
Why Do I Need a Stockbroker Negligence Lawyer?
As well as the reasons outlined above, there are other reasons you should definitely hire a specialist lawyer to deal with your case of stockbroker negligence, including:
- Expertise – the financial world can be highly complicated and without extensive knowledge of it, it can be hard to unpick negligence cases. Our specialist team will be able to do this for you.
- They will communicate on your behalf with the stockbroker and any other relevant parties.
- They will advise you on whether you have a case of negligence and outline the process you need to follow as a result.
- They can represent you in any claim you make against your stockbroker.
Concerned about Stockbroker Negligence? Contact us today
Wherever you or your business are based in England or and Wales, if you think you are the victim of a Stockbroker Negligence, get in touch with our specialist Professional Negligence Lawyers.
You can instruct us about your professional negligence claim by e-mail, phone or Zoom or Teams video call – or, if you prefer, we can arrange meeting in person at our offices in Wiltshire and Hampshire
For FREE phone advice about possible Stockbroker Negligence please get in touch with us as soon as possible.
- Call us now for free on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or
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