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  3. Making a legal claim for compensation

Making a legal claim for compensation

If you’ve experienced avoidable medical harm, you may be considering legal action. We can support and advise you on making a claim for compensation.

Why might someone take legal action?

People usually take legal action if they want or need compensation. If a serious injury occurs as a result of clinical negligence which stops you working, living your usual lifestyle, or supporting your family, you might feel you have no choice but to seek compensation.

Some people are driven by the need to understand what happened — they might make a claim to ensure accountability for the staff involved, make sure that lessons are learned, and help ensure what happened to them doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Should I take legal action?

Taking legal action is an immensely personal decision. There’s no right or wrong answer — you need to decide what is right for you. Even if you have been injured or harmed because of avoidable harm in healthcare, you might prefer to take a different approach to get answers about what went wrong with your care, or an apology, or both.

It’s important to know that having a concern about what happened to you does not necessarily mean that you will have a successful claim for compensation. The legal criteria are very strict. Litigation is also usually very time consuming and stressful, so it is not for everyone.

More information about making a claim

  • Making a claim when someone has died

    When a person has died as a result of clinical negligence, the process for making a claim and the way compensation is calculated are different.

  • Time limits for making a claim

    There are strict time limits for making a legal claim for compensation. If you do not make a claim within these limits, you may run out of time.

Key guides to help you

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Ways we can help you with understanding legal claims for compensation

We have a large number of self-help guides to help you explore and understand your options, including whether you are likely to have a case and if a solicitor might be able to help you to pursue it. This should be the information you should read first.

You can also call our helpline to speak to one of our volunteers with experience in clinical negligence.

If you believe that you might have a case, you can search our database to find a specialist clinical negligence solicitor.

You can also submit a case through our written advice service for more in-depth support from one of our caseworkers.

Further guides which can help

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Accessible versions

Our core guides are also available in large print versions on request. If you need a guide to be read aloud to you, you can use free accessible apps for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Need other guidance?

We’re always looking to expand our range of self-help guides. If there is advice or information you would find useful which isn’t available on our site, please let us know.

Find a solicitor

If you want legal advice about a potential claim for compensation, search for a specialist clinical negligence solicitor accredited by us.

Find an accredited solicitor near you

Other ways we can help you

Call our helpline: 0345 123 2352

Sometimes it helps to talk things through. Our UK-based helpline is staffed by trained volunteers with expertise in clinical negligence who provide confidential, compassionate, practical advice and support to help you understand your options. The helpline is open Monday to Friday, 10:00am to 3:30pm.

More about our helpline

Use our written advice service

If you need further advice on your options, you’re not sure if a legal claim is the right path, or you want to understand how to make a compensation claim and need help, one of our advice caseworkers can help with advice and information. Our small team can’t take on every case, but will always offer you relevant guidance.

More about our written advice service