23
Legal costs for low-value clinical negligence claims are disproportionately high compared to damages.
Recommendation
Around three-quarters of clinical negligence claims settle for £25,000 or less, but the legal costs for these claims vastly exceed the damages payable to claimants. In 2024–25, there was a 3.7:1 ratio of claimant and NHS legal costs compared with damages payable for low-value claims.58 NHS Resolution agreed that legal costs were disproportionate for low-value cases.59
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 7 April 2026. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry
Costs of clinical negligence
Report
64th Report - Costs of clinical negligence
30 Jan 2026
HC 1234
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.6 yr
Report published
30 Jan 2026