Care needs to be taken when putting a monetary figure on an opportunity, as opinions will vary about how it can be valued.
For example, a property valuation can be subject to market fluctuations, and different surveyors could give a range of prices on the same property. The courts will often use a mid-point in terms of the range of values, which might be less than what you thought the property was worth.
It is easy to use hindsight to put a price on a missed opportunity, but you must be able to show the actual costs involved and how they were calculated. Any claim must be based on the knowledge that was available to the adviser at the time that the advice was given.
You may also need to accept a lower amount of compensation if the missed opportunity was not a guaranteed winner. For example, a solicitor might have mishandled a legal claim — so that you missed out on a potential award worth £100,000. But if there was only a fifty-fifty chance that you were going to win the case anyway, you loss might be assessed at £50,000.