How Much Compensation Can I Claim for Medical Negligence Resulting in Death?

Losing a loved one is one of the worst things a person can experience. Knowing that a loved one’s death was caused by avoidable medical negligence can make this even worse.

It can be hugely difficult to know what to do after this happens.

But it may offer you a degree of comfort to know that you could be able to make a compensation claim after medical negligence that results in death.

How much compensation for death caused by medical negligence

Compensation is usually not the main reason our clients have for making a claim. Finding out exactly what happened, preventing it happening to other families and getting justice for what happened to a loved one are some of the reasons people take legal action after medical negligence resulting in death.

But the compensation you’re awarded for a successful claim can help to ensure that your loved one gets the funeral they would have wanted. It can also help to secure the futures of their children or partner.

Medical negligence that results in someone’s death can see upwards of £100,000 in compensation awarded. The exact amount you could be entitled to will depend on the specific circumstances around your loved one’s death.

You could be able to claim for funeral expenses and bereavement, as well as the cost of looking after your loved one’s dependents. You may also be able to claim for the mental and emotional impact of losing someone to medical negligence.

If you want to know what you could receive in compensation, get in touch with the First4Lawyers team. We could match you to a specialist solicitor, who will be able to give you an idea of what you could be entitled to.

Who is responsible for medical negligence?

Who can be held responsible for medical negligence depends on the situation. If your loved one suffered negligence in a hospital environment, that NHS trust or private provider will usually be liable.

But it’s not the hospital or trust that will pay your compensation. Claims against NHS hospitals and doctors are handled by NHS Resolution, which is a body set up to manage these incidents. This organisation, which has a separate pot of funding to the NHS, will pay your compensation.

If you are claiming against a private healthcare provider, they will have insurance policies in place that will be responsible for your compensation.

This means that you won’t be claiming directly against a doctor or hospital, so you won’t negatively affect their financial situation.

When you can make a claim

Medical negligence is a breach of a healthcare professional’s duty of care to their patient, which then causes them harm. In the very worst cases, this can result in death.

Fatal negligence can happen after a doctor or nurse misdiagnoses a condition or fails to notice that something is wrong. This could happen when a patient is suffering from sepsis, for example.

It could also happen if the wrong medication is prescribed or an incorrect dosage is given. Surgical errors are another way that a patient may suffer medical negligence that tragically results in death.

If this – or any other form of medical negligence – has happened to a close family member, like your spouse or parent, you could be able to make a compensation claim after their death.

Deadline to make a claim

In most cases, you will have three years to make a claim after losing a loved one to medical negligence.

But that deadline can be different in certain cases. For example, you may not realise at first that medical negligence was responsible for your loved one’s death. If you find out after the three-year deadline has passed, you could still make a claim.

This is because you are allowed three years from the date you find out that negligence caused their death to make a claim. This is known as the date of knowledge. Since it’s not always immediately clear that medical negligence was responsible for someone’s death, you can still take action after you find out.

To find out how First4Lawyers can stand in your corner and help you through the process of getting answers and justice, just give us a call or start your claim online.