Making the decision to bring a medical negligence claim can be a daunting one, given the complex and costly nature of the litigation. The first question that clients often ask is "how much will it cost and how do I pay for it?"

Our solicitors offer a variety of options but these do vary on a case by case basis so it is important that you speak to one of our specialist solicitors to consider the most appropriate funding for your personal circumstances and your claim.

Common types of funding options are:

Before the Event Legal Expenses Insurance.

It may be the case that you have a legal expenses policy in the form of either a stand alone policy or it may be attached to your household buildings/contents insurance.

It is important to check your household policies as many insurers do include legal expenses cover automatically and many people do not realise that they have the benefit of this cover.

If you are covered in this way, we are able to contact your insurers directly to request that they grant us an indemnity to act on your behalf in relation to your medical negligence claim. Often, insurers will try to refer you to their Panel solicitors, whom are rarely based in your locality and may not be accredited specialists in this field.

You are entitled to instruct your own choice of solicitor, as medical negligence claims are not routine litigation and are complex in nature.

If you are considering bringing a medical negligence claim and do have the legal expenses cover in place, it is important to seek advice from one of our solicitors as soon as possible so that your insurers can be notified, as they often impose a time limit of up to 180 days within which to notify them of a possible claim. However, if you are in a situation where greater time has elapsed, it is still important to seek advice as, dependent on the circumstances, the insurers do have a level of discretion and if there are genuine and justifiable reasons for the delay in notification, they may still provide an indemnity.

Once indemnity from your insurer has been granted, your solicitor will be able to proceed to investigate your claim on your behalf. Should it transpire that your claim is not likely to be successful as a result of obtaining unsupportive medical evidence, then your legal expenses insurer will cover you for the costs of our legal fees in addition to any disbursements such as expert report fees.

Alternatively, if the claim continues to the issue of Court proceedings, the insurance may also cover you for any adverse costs liability from your opponent if you are unsuccessful.

To find out more about funding a claim with the benefit of a legal expenses policy, please contact one of our specialist solicitors by typing your postcode into the 'search box' at the top of this page.

 

Public Funding/Legal Aid

Legal Services Commission (LSC) funding is granted on two criteria. Firstly, you must be financially eligible, and secondly, you must have reasonable grounds for bringing a claim.

In some circumstances you may be granted limited LSC funding initially to investigate the circumstances giving rise to your claim to establish whether or not you do have a good case. This is known as an Investigative Support Certificate.

With regard to financial eligibility, each client is assessed on an individual basis to determine their eligibility. Being in receipt of certain State benefits such as Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance can mean you are automatically financially eligible to receive LSC funding.

Financial eligibility is on a sliding scale. The more disposable income and capital you have, the more likely it is that you will be asked to make a contribution towards yourlegal fees. This will be payable monthly directly to the LSC.

When we assess your eligibility at the outset of the case, your solicitor will be able to advise you whether you are likely to be asked to make any contribution.

In addition to the above, your solicitor will also need to be satisfied that any claim has reasonable prospects of success and will also meet the LSC's cost benefit criteria.

Should LSC funding be granted, this will then allow your solicitor to incur costs and disbursements on your behalf in order to investigate your claim. This means that the LSC will be responsible for paying our fees and those of Experts and Barristers as the case progresses. The usual rule in litigation is that the "loser" pays the legal costs of the "winner". It is unlikely that you will be asked to pay the fees of your opponent if you have the benefit of LSC funding, but the Court does have the power to investigate your means and to decide what payment, if any, you should make towards your opponent's fees. Please note that this liability only occurs once proceedings have been issued and will not be relevant if we cease to proceed with your claim .

Should the claim not proceed following investigations, then the costs incurred will be reimbursed by the LSC and there will be no cost to you (unless you have made any contributions which are non-refundable if the claim is unsuccessful).

If a publically funded medical negligence claim is successful, we would seek to recover your legal costs from the opponent. If there is any shortfall between the costs recovered and those incurred, the LSC may look to you to make up that shortfall from your damages. This only occurs when damages are recovered.

If you have paid a contribution as outlined above, if the case is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay anything else over and above the contribution in respect of your legal fees. If the claim is successful and we recover your legal costs from your opponent, some or all of your contribution will normally be refunded.

 

Conditional Fee Agreements (No Win No Fee) and After the Event Legal Expenses Insurance

In certain situations, your solicitor is able to take on medical negligence claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is known as a "No Win No Fee" Agreement.

Under this agreement, if your case is successful, your solicitor will charge their normal basic fee plus a success fee. They will seek to recover this from your opponents.

If your claim is unsuccessful, they do not recover any of their costs.

The general rule in English Law is that the "loser" pays the "winner's" costs. If you lost the case you would have to pay the defendant's legal costs and disbursements. Prior to the issue of proceedings, your solicitor will probably recommend that you obtain insurance cover which would indemnify you against these costs.

Insurance

As stated above, once proceedings are issued at Court, you are potentially at risk from an adverse costs Order. For this reason, we recommend that you obtain an After the Event Insurance Policy to cover you in this regard. This policy would also reimburse any disbursements that you may have been required to pay in the interim, if your claim is ultimately unsuccessful.

The premiums for these types of insurance are often deferred until the end of the case and are often self insured. This means that if your case is unsuccessful, the premium may be self insured and you would not have to pay it. If your case is successful, we would seek to recover the cost of the insurance premium from your opponent.

Disbursements  

Although some of our solicitors are able to act under a Conditional Fee Agreement in respect of their costs, it is understandable that other parties such as medical experts are not able to offer the same terms as they must remain impartial when giving their expert opinion. Disbursements including expert reports fees and fees to obtain medical records may be payable by you in the interim. If your claim is successful, we would seek to recover these from your opponent. If your claim is unsuccessful and there is an insurance policy in place, these disbursements would be reimbursed to you under that policy.

Conditional Fee Agreements are only appropriate in certain types of cases, so we would advise you to discuss this with your solicitor.

 

Privately Funded

If none of the above are available to you, it is possible for you to fund investigations into a medical negligence claim on a private fee paying basis.

The fees in this regard would be calculated by your solicitor at their normal hourly charging rate, but it also may be possible to agree a fixed fee to undertake these investigations, again you will need to discuss this with your solicitor.

Medical negligence claims can be risky and expensive but using this method of funding can often be very useful to determine the strength of a claim before considering its suitability for a Conditional Fee Agreement as outlined above.

It is also possible to obtain After the Event Legal Expenses Insurance if you are privately funding a claim.

Should you wish to discuss any aspect of funding a medical negligence claim, please contact one of our solicitors who will be able to provide you with independent advice.

 

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