The answer depends on the type of funding agreement that we enter into with you. Litigation can be very expensive which is why there are alternative ways to fund a case meaning you don’t have to pay for a solicitor upfront. We rarely take on privately paying clients because the cost of bringing the claim can be very high.

The three main ways of funding the costs of bringing a claim for compensation for clinical negligence are:

1. Legal Aid funding.
2. Legal Expenses Insurance
3. Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) also known as a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement

Legal Aid funding

Unfortunately, Legal Aid funding is only available for very few types of claims arising from clinical negligence. The case must relate to a child who suffered a severe neurological injury during pregnancy, delivery or eight weeks from birth. There is also financial means testing for those applying for Legal Aid but as this relates to the child’s income – most children meet the financial criteria. If you are entitled to Legal Aid funding, you do not need to pay any upfront costs to your solicitor to investigate the claim. In some very limited circumstances, the claimant may have to make a financial contribution towards the cost of their case. Your solicitor will explain to you in detail how this works.

The key advantage of Legal Aid funding is that you don’t have to pay an insurance premium or success fee if you win the case. If you lose, you don’t have to pay anything, which is the same as a CFA. Only firms who have a franchise with the Legal Aid Agency can conduct these types of cases. We have a great deal of experience working under Legal Aid in cases where injuries have been caused during pregnancy, delivery or shortly after birth.

Legal Aid is sometimes available for cases of sexual abuse and some inquests.  

Legal expenses insurance (LEI)

In certain cases, claimants have pre-existing legal expenses insurance which may be attached to car, credit card or household insurance that is already in place. We will always ask you to check existing insurance policies to see if you can benefit from this. If you can, it may mean that you avoid paying part or all of the cost of an additional insurance premium. The insurer may try to limit you to one of their chosen ‘panel solicitors’ but you have the option to choose a solicitor that you want to represent you which means that you can choose Bindmans to act in your case.

Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)

If you are not able to get Legal Aid funding and do not have existing LEI, we can offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) if your case meets our risk assessment criteria. A CFA is defined this way because the solicitor’s fees are conditional on the case being ‘won.’ This means you don’t pay anything at all if you lose, and we will write off our time and costs spent. There will be some costs that cannot be written off, for example, the costs of obtaining expert reports, but we will ensure that legal expenses insurance is taken out to cover these. Provided the client has not been dishonest, there will be nothing to pay if the case is unsuccessful.

If you win the case and are awarded compensation, most of our reasonable costs will be paid by the opponent n addition to your compensation. The two typical deductions that are likely to be paid at the end of a successful case are firstly, the success fee and secondly, the cost of the insurance premium.

1. The success fee

Because a solicitor writes off their time and costs in an unsuccessful case, law firms have to be careful when taking on new cases. A success fee is charged to allow solicitors’ firms to cover some of the losses associated with running claims that are ultimately lost or abandoned because the prospects of winning are poor. The success fee depends on the level of compensation you are awarded and is deducted from part of your compensation. It is capped at 25% of your general damages and past losses, i.e. any compensation that is awarded for your future needs are ring-fenced and not taken into account for the purpose of calculating the success fee. This is a very broad brush and simplified summary; CFA’s are technical agreements that need to be explained in detail and you should ensure that you understand what is involved before signing up.

2. The insurance premium

The cost of the insurance premium depends on the overall compensation you are awarded and also the level of indemnity required. By way of general guidance, a premium of somewhere between £3,500-£7,500 is common.

The answer depends on the severity of your injury and the impact it has had on your life. Compensation is broadly split into two categories:

1. General damages
2. Special damages including both past and future losses

General damages are meant to compensate for the pain and suffering suffered as a result of the negligence. This tends to be academic to some degree as no amount of money can truly compensate you for life-altering injuries. When assessing the amount of general damages, we consider the impact the accident had on your life, the extent of the suffering, whether the injuries can be mitigated with treatment, if it will impact on your day-to-day activities, living and /or employment. The prognosis and length of suffering is also relevant. As an example, the range of general damages for negligence resulting in paraplegia is currently £219,070 to £284,260. By way of comparison, the general damages for a leg fracture which doesn’t require surgery and largely recovers with some ongoing modest restriction will be ranges between £2,000 to £11,840.

In addition to general damages, special damages compensate you for the specific and measurable losses that have been caused by the negligence. The fundamental principle in respect of recovery of these special damages is that you should be put back into the financial position as if the accident or negligence had not occurred. As a claimant, you are therefore entitled to claim 100% of your net expenses or losses resulting from the injuries. However, there are a number of caveats that apply to this. Firstly, the expense or loss claimed must be attributable to the defendant’s wrongdoing, it cannot be a loss that would have occurred ‘in any event’. The expense incurred and the amount must have been ‘reasonable’ and importantly, the loss must have been incurred rather than being notional or hypothetical.

Some common examples of special damages are; loss of earnings, loss of pension, the loss of a business venture, care and assistance from friends and family, paid care, medication and prescription costs, therapy or treatment costs and travel expenses. Our aim is to maximise the compensation you receive.

Please see our Rehabilitation page for more information.

I have found them to be efficient and personable, with close attention to detail.

Chambers and Partners 2022 – Clinical Negligence: Mainly Claimant

The Bindmans team is very professional – they set and meet high standards and are client-focused.

Chambers and Partners 2022 – Clinical Negligence: Mainly Claimant

The team is knowledgeable and experienced. From my experience, they all establish pragmatic approaches when working with very complex clients and work around the difficult issues to achieve excellent outcomes.

Legal 500 2022 – Clinical Negligence: Claimant

This is a firm with a strong ethical foundation.

Legal 500 2022 – Clinical Negligence: Claimant

Compact clinical negligence team with wide-ranging experience in matters of the utmost severity, including spinal cord injuries and birth injuries. Offers notable niche expertise representing clients who have suffered serious injuries while in prison or detention, deploying human rights arguments in support of claims. Also advises on cases in which there has been failure to diagnose cancer and other serious conditions. Other areas of expertise include claims for orthopaedic, gynaecological and psychiatric injuries.

Chambers and Partners 2020 – Clinical Negligence: Mainly Claimant

Bindmans LLP offers legal representation to those who have suffered catastrophic injuries due to clinical negligence, placing significant emphasis on facilitating early rehabilitation. The team ‘puts the client at the centre of the litigation process’ and is typically instructed on cases involving complex child and adult head injuries, avoidable strokes, birth injury, orthopaedic-related negligence and amputations. Acting for claimants in cases arising from substandard medical treatment while in prison or detained is another core specialism.

Legal 500 2019 – Clinical Negligence

The ‘accomplished’ team at Bindmans LLP is ‘highly experienced and provides consistently excellent advice in clinical negligence matters’. The firm regularly represents those who have suffered catastrophic injuries and has a reputation for success in particularly complex and high-value medical cases. The ‘cutting-edge’ team has notable experience in representing claimants in cases of birth-related injuries, cerebral palsy, cardiology, spinal cord injury and orthopaedic-related negligence, and regularly acts for claimants of medical negligence in prisons or immigration detention centres. Practice head Jon Crocker is ‘formidably experienced’ and has particular expertise in complex head injury claims. He leads a team that includes Siobhan Kelly, who is one of ‘the best in the business’ and has ‘great instinct’; and the ‘excellent’ Alla Murphy, who specialises in catastrophic brain and spinal injuries.

Legal 500 2017- Clinical negligence: claimant – ranked: tier 2

I can never really thank you enough for all your support, guidance, expertise and fortitude over those 5 long years that you worked on my case. Because of your efforts my life, once thought ruined beyond repair, is now improving every day. I look ahead with a lot of promise to the future…

Bindmans LLP client

You were able to deal with our case in a way that exceeded all expectations…

Bindmans LLP client

Thank you for all the years of working on my case and for all the hard work I know you put in. Thank you for bringing justice to myself and my children. This has meant a lot to me, I can now try to forget this accident and my children and I can go forward.

Bindmans LLP client