If you have suffered unnecessary harm while being treated by a medical professional, you may be wondering whether you are eligible to receive compensation and how medical negligence claims are calculated.
We start this guide by explaining the different forms of harm you could be compensated for if you make a successful medical negligence claim, and how this compensation is calculated. Furthermore, we answer the question of whether there is an upper limit to what you can be awarded.
You might be in a position to seek compensation because negligent care has led to a loved one’s death. We also address how compensation works in these cases, before explaining the benefits of making a compensation claim with the help of one of our expert medical negligence solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you have any questions while reading this guide, you can contact our advisors. Our team can also assess the eligibility of your potential claim and offer you free advice. You can connect with them by:
- Calling 0800 073 8801 to reach our 24/7 helpline.
- Staying on our website to contact us and seek guidance.
- Opening the live support feature below and dropping us a message.
Select A Section
- How Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
- Is There A Maximum Clinical Negligence Payout?
- How Fatal Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
- How To Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
- Learn More About How Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
How Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
You might have been treated by multiple medical professionals when getting medical attention, from doctors and nurses to GPs and pharmacists. This may have happened in a hospital, walk-in centre, or another medical facility. Any medical professional involved in your medical treatment in any of these places owed you a duty of care. As such, they have to maintain the correct professional standards.
A medical negligence claim exists to help you seek compensation if a medical professional fails to give care to the correct standard and causes avoidable harm.
One of the important things to know about medical negligence compensation is that various factors will be taken into consideration when your compensation is being calculated. Some of these factors include:
- The type of harm suffered and it’s severity.
- What treatment you require and how long the recovery period will be.
- If you have also suffered any financial losses.
What Do General Damages Compensate You For In A Medical Negligence Claim?
When considering how medical negligence claims are calculated, it’s important to note that your compensation may consist of two heads of loss if you make a successful claim. These are known as general and special damages.
General damages are the head of loss that will always be awarded when a medical negligence claim is successful. They provide the claimant with compensation for the unnecessary harm they have suffered due to a medical professional failing to provide them with the correct standard of care and, therefore, breaching their duty of care.
Those responsible for calculating your claim for this head of loss can refer to any medical evidence they have been provided, such as your medical records. They can also refer to the compensation guidelines listed within the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
Compensation Table
For the table below, we have listed some of the compensation guidelines for various forms of harm from the JCG. Please note that this table should only be used as a guide and that the first figure has not been taken from the JCG.
| HARM SUFFERED | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Forms Of Severe Harm Plus Financial Losses Or Expenses | Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ | Compensation addressing numerous forms of severe harm. The payout also accounts for multiple out of pocket expenses including missed earnings, medical fees and travel costs. |
| Brain Injury | Moderate (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | A moderate to severe intellectual deficit and affected sight, speech and senses are among the factors present in these cases. There is no prospect of employment. |
| Moderate (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 | Concentration and memory are affected. Additionally, the ability to work is reduced. Dependence on others is very limited. | |
| Kidney | Serious and Permanent Damage | £206,730 to £256,780 | Both kidneys are permanently and seriously damaged, or are lost entirely. |
| Bladder | Double Incontinence | Up to £224,790 | The complete loss of urinary control and function, plus an absolute loss of natural bowel function. There are also other medical complications. |
| Serious Impairment | £78,080 to £97,540 | Control is seriously impaired. There is some incontinence and pain. | |
| Bowel | Total Loss Of Natural Function | Up to £183,190 | Depending on the person's age, they may also require a colostomy. |
| Digestive System | Damage or Illness Resulting From a Non-Traumatic Injury (i) | £46,900 to £64,070 | Admission to hospital for a few days or weeks due to severe toxicosis causing a fever, acute pain and vomiting. |
| Spleen | Loss of Spleen | £25,380 to £32,090 | Further to the loss of the spleen, there is a persisting risk of internal infection and disorders due to immune system damage. |
How Do Special Damages Compensate You?
The other head of loss that is sometimes awarded for successful medical negligence claims is special damages. This provides compensation to the claimant for the financial losses and expenses the medical negligence has caused them to experience. This could include:
- Paying for medical treatments or prescriptions.
- A loss of earnings due to taking time of work to recover.
- Travel costs to and from essential appointments, such as GP or hospital appointments.
When making a claim for special damages, you will need to provide evidence of the financial losses you have suffered. This could include invoices, payslips and receipts.
If you have any questions regarding how medical negligence claims are calculated, or to receive a free valuation of your potential compensation, you can contact our advisors.
Is There A Maximum Clinical Negligence Payout?
As we previously aforementioned, various factors will be taken into consideration when your medical negligence compensation is calculated.
For that reason, clinical negligence claim payouts can vary significantly. This can be seen through the figures released by NHS Resolution, an arm’s length body that can resolve compensation claims on behalf of NHS Trusts.
NHS Resolution’s annual report for 2022/23 shows that £2.69 billion was paid out across 13,499 claims. This means that the average payout from these clinical negligence claims was just under £200,000. More than 150 people received a compensation award of at least £4.25 million.
This means that there is no maximum payout that can be awarded. How much compensation you are awarded will be determined by the factors of your case, such as the harm suffered and the financial losses you expereinced.
As well as explaining how medical negligence claims are calculated, we can assess the eligibility of your case for free. Contact our advisors today via the contact information at the top of this page.
How Fatal Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
Clinical or medical negligence can sometimes result in someone’s death. You may be wondering how you can make a medical negligence compensation claim either for the pain and suffering the deceased experienced prior to their death, or what effect it has had on you. This section looks at the different ways that medical negligence claims are calculated after a fatal incident.
Claiming On Behalf Of The Deceased
Under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934, a deceased person’s estate can recoup compensation under general and special damages on behalf of the deceased. They are the only party that can make a claim within the first 6 months following the deceased’s death. Additionally, they are the only party the claim for the deceased’s pain and suffering.
Compensation for the deceased’s suffering is calculated in a similar way to a medical negligence compensation claim where the affected person is still alive. Again, using figures from the JCG, we have created the following table to help you gain a clearer idea of what could be awarded in general damages to the estate on behalf of the deceased. Please only use this table as a guide.
| HARM SUFFERED | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatality plus add on claims | Fatality | Up to £550,000 | Compensation for the estate reflecting the deceased's pain and suffering, a bereavement award for qualifying dependents, and payments to the estate and/or other dependents covering the likes of funeral costs and a loss of consortium. |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia | £396.140 to £493,000 | Paralysis of the upper and lower body. The affected person's life expectancy has an impact on the level of award. |
| Paraplegia | £267,340 to £346,890 | Factors such as the person's life expectancy, and extent of pain present will affect the amount awarded. | |
| Brain | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 | An award at the top of the bracket could be given if the affected person has little or no meaningful response to their environment and relies on full-time nursing care. |
| Injuries Resulting in Death | Full Awareness | £15,300 to £29,060 | Full awareness for a short period is followed by fluctuating consciousness before death occurring within a couple of weeks to three months. |
How Is Compensation Calculated For Relatives And Loved Ones?
If your loved one has died due to medical negligence, you may also be able to claim compensation for how the death has impacted you, as stated within the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (FAA).
As we mentioned above, only the estate of the deceased can make any claim for medical negligence leading to death in the first six months. This also includes a claim on behalf of the deceased’s dependents. However, if no claim was made on their behalf within this time, the dependents can make their own claim for how the death has impacted them. To qualify as a dependent under the FAA, you must be one of the following:
- A child of the deceased or one treated as such.
- Siblings, aunts or uncles of the deceased.
- A parent of the deceased or one treated as such.
- A husband, wife or civil partner of the deceased.
- Someone who lived with the deceased as their common-law partner for at least two years prior to the death.
Some forms of compensation that could be claimed by the dependents include:
- Dependency. The payment addresses present and future losses caused by the deceased no longer working or receiving a pension if the dependent was reliant on this income.
- Funeral expenses and costs.
- Loss of consortium. The payment attempts to compensate for the impact of losing a companion or the effect on a familial relationship.
- Loss of services, which can include home improvement or childcare that the deceased took care of.
Additionally, a fixed bereavement award of £15,120, as stated in Section 1A of the FAA, could be awarded to or split between:
- The parents, if the deceased was an unmarried minor.
- The wife, husband or civil partner of the deceased.
- Someone who lived with the deceased for two years prior to their death as husband and wife.
Our expert solicitors can help with claiming compensation as a bereaved dependent or a deceased person’s estate. Just contact us if you want more information on how medical negligence claims are calculated in fatal cases and why calling on a solicitor’s support can benefit you.
How To Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
Talking to our advisors can help you learn whether you have a valid compensation claim. If you do, you could be connected to one of our medical negligence solicitors. When making a claim for compensation, it could be beneficial to have the support of a solicitor who has experience with your particular type of claim. Additionally, a solicitor could help you with various aspects of the claiming process, such as gathering evidence on your behalf and negotiating your final settlement.
Our solicitors also generally offer their services to their clients on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement. With this arrangement in place, you will not need to pay anything to your solicitor for their services, either upfront or during the progression of your claim. Furthermore, should the claim fail, you will not need to pay them for their completed work on your case.
Should you successfully be awarded clinical negligence compensation, a success fee will be taken from this by your solicitor. It is important to note, that the law caps the maximum percentage that can be taken as this success fee.
Please get in touch with our advisors if you have any questions about medical negligence claims or how to start one. As well as discussing how medical negligence claims are calculated, our advisors can provide specific advice about your potential case.
To get guidance and see whether one of our No Win No Fee solicitors could represent you in your clinical negligence claim, choose one of these routes:
- Phone us on 0800 073 8801
- Use our e-form to contact us about your case.
- Send a message through the live chat option below.
Learn More About How Medical Negligence Claims Are Calculated
You can get further medical negligence compensation claim information from these handy guides:
- We discuss misdiagnosis compensation claims and when you can seek compensation for a negligent diagnosis error.
- Our advice on how to claim for clinical negligence in health and social care.
- In some cases, you can claim for delays in treatment, as we discuss here.
These sites are also a useful source of guidance:
- NHS England explains how to complain about NHS services or negligent care.
- Information on applying for probate in order to act on behalf of a deceased person’s estate from GOV.UK.
- The NHS covers how to request a copy of your medical records.
We hope this guide on how medical negligence claims are calculated has helped. Please call or reach out to us online today if you need any further support or guidance.