You instructed a solicitor to recover the losses. Then the updates stopped.
I The instruction
When a business owner discovers that their energy broker was receiving undisclosed commissions, the logical response is to instruct a solicitor to pursue a claim. The legal basis exists and is well established. The financial loss is real and quantifiable. The route to recovering it looks straightforward. Engaging a solicitor seems like the obvious and sensible step.
For many business owners, the instruction was indeed straightforward. What followed was not. Updates came infrequently, or stopped altogether. Requests for information were met with delay. The case appeared to be moving forward, but there was no real clarity on how it was progressing, what strategy was being followed, or what outcome was being targeted. The client was left waiting without enough information to know whether that waiting was justified.
II What silence usually means
Poor communication from a solicitor is frustrating, but it is not in itself professional negligence. Solicitors manage large caseloads and not every case receives daily updates. But sustained silence, particularly at critical stages in the life of a claim, tends to signal something more concerning than a busy diary. Cases that go quiet are frequently cases where something has gone wrong and the solicitor either does not know how to address it or is hoping the client will not notice.
In the context of energy commission claims, the things that can go wrong in silence include limitation periods being approached without the client being warned and steps taken to protect the position, claims being valued incorrectly from the outset, the wrong defendant being identified, or the legal strategy being poorly conceived. None of these produce obvious warning signs for a client who is simply waiting for news and trusting the process.
Cases that go quiet are frequently cases where something has gone wrong that the solicitor hopes the client will not notice.
III The moment of discovery
The point at which a business owner realises something has gone wrong tends to arrive suddenly. A limitation deadline has passed and the claim is now time-barred. The court has struck out the proceedings for procedural failures. A settlement has been reached for a fraction of what was expected, with no real explanation of why. Or the solicitor has simply stopped responding to any form of communication.
By that point, the original claim against the energy broker may no longer be recoverable. The window has closed. But the loss caused by the solicitor's failure does not disappear with it. A professional negligence claim can be brought to recover the financial damage caused by the poor handling of the original case. The test is whether the solicitor's conduct fell below the standard that a competent solicitor in that position should have met, and whether that failure caused the business to suffer a loss it would not otherwise have suffered.
Persistent failure to communicate, missed deadlines, incorrect strategy, and failure to advise properly at critical decision points can all satisfy that test. The starting point is an independent assessment of what actually happened.
What good handling of these claims looks like
A solicitor who handles an energy commission claim properly keeps the client informed at every significant stage. They identify the relevant limitation period early and take protective steps well before it expires. They ensure the right defendant is named and the correct legal basis is pleaded. They build the evidence of the commission arrangement thoroughly and assess the claim value accurately before entering negotiations.
Most importantly, they give clear and honest advice when an offer comes in: whether it is adequate, what the realistic alternatives are, and what the litigation route would look like if the offer is rejected. That is the service a client is entitled to. A solicitor who did not deliver it may be accountable for the difference between the outcome achieved and the outcome that proper handling would have produced.
The no win no fee basis on which professional negligence claims of this kind are handled means the business does not take on further financial risk. The specialist solicitor assesses the case, takes it on if the merits support it, and carries the litigation risk. If the claim succeeds, the business recovers what it lost. If it does not succeed, there is nothing to pay.
Sold Short helps businesses whose energy claims were mishandled access specialist professional negligence solicitors. No win no fee. Free review. Start today.