A Guide to Birth Injury Compensation Claims.

The first step in any medical negligence claim is to have a thorough assessment of the case, establishing who is responsible for the accident and if you are eligible to claim compensation for it. We can deduce this by answering three questions:

• Have you been injured because of the incident?
• Has the incident been caused by the negligence of a third party?
• Did the responsible party owe you a duty of care?

If the answer to all three questions is “yes”, then we can proceed to claim for damages against the third party.

Before continuing with the claim, we will always discuss all of the costs and fees with you.

We often support claimants in birth injury claims on a no win, no fee agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means that if we do not succeed in getting compensation for you, our legal costs will be waived.

Whether you instruct us in a No Win No Fee Birth Negligence Claim, or decide to fund your claim in any other way, we will always provide the high quality, tailored legal advice that has made us one of the leading firms in the UK.

Collecting evidence and documenting all relevant events related to a childbirth negligence case is fundamental.

These cases can often be undervalued because of the lack or low quality of evidence. Lanyon Bowdler has built an impressive team of medical professionals who can provide expert assessments, and create high quality reports of the injuries you, a loved one, or a newborn have suffered.

Our team can then use this, together with all other relevant information gathered at this stage, to build a very strong case, ensuring you get the compensation you deserve for a childbirth injury.

Calculating the amount of compensation you could get for a birth injury requires a high level of legal expertise.

You will typically be awarded two types of compensation:

• General damages as compensation for the injury itself
• Special damages to reimburse past and future expenses caused by the effects of the injury

Amounts awarded for childbirth negligence can vary from a few thousand pounds for mental health effects up to 6 and 7-figure settlements for brain damage or cerebral palsy. There have been cases with severe injuries impacting both the parents’ and child’s life in the long term that have been awarded over £10 million.

We begin negotiations with the third party outside of court proceedings. This approach allows us to keep stress and complexity to a minimum, and by having built a strong case before approaching the party responsible for your injury, we are typically in a good position to get you the compensation you deserve.

In some cases, court proceedings are unavoidable. The person or entity that has caused your injuries may deny fault, or attempt to settle the case for a much lower figure than we calculated. If your case needs to be heard in court, we will provide guidance and representation for you, and will fight for your interests to be protected following such a traumatic event.

Making a Childbirth Negligence Claim may seem detrimental to the healthcare provider responsible, which can be a concern for claimants. However, it’s important to highlight that speaking out and seeking justice after a birth injury is not only important for you and your family, but can be fundamental to make the system safer.

Every claim for negligence made against a healthcare provider will encourage the organisation to review and audit their protocols to ensure the issue is contained or resolved.

By making a Birth Injury Claim, hospitals and practices become safer.

In general, the time limit for bringing a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the injury or the ‘date of knowledge’ of the injury (to cover situations where the impacts surface at a future time).

However, if a child sustains an injury at birth the time limit will often expire 3 years from their 18th birthday – on their 21st birthday, unless the child never gains mental capacity – in which case the time limits do not apply.

No matter what these general rules say, it is always advisable to seek the advice of an experienced professional who understands all of the technical nuances. There may be important factors in your case that could prove vital to a successful outcome that may be missed otherwise.

Early intervention by an expert is always beneficial in complex cases like Birth Injury Compensation Claims.

It is very complicated to predict how long your claim is going to take, however because the sums usually involved in these cases you can expect the process to take at least 12 months. More complex cases reach a satisfactory settlement in up to 5 years, and longer cases are not uncommon for compensation claims valued at 6 figures and more.

The time your claim is going to take is influenced by many factors, such as the defendant denying liability or evidence being thoroughly analysed by both parties. Our team can, however, take steps to ensure the process is handled efficiently and avoid all delays.

We do this by assessing the case and evidence more quickly and effectively than other firms with less specialist knowledge. Our experts will identify the defendant, plan and complete assessments, and question evidence with the expertise built on decades of successful claims.

If your injury was caused by negligence in a hospital, you will claim against the NHS Trust in charge of the hospital. General Practitioners (GP) and private healthcare entities can also be claimed against if they are found liable for your injuries.

Many claimants are concerned about claiming against the NHS because of the belief that doing so will damage the system. However, the NHS considers possible claims in its yearly budget, and holds funds that are specifically meant to address negligence claims.