How Can Compensation Help?
Our lawyers will always make sure that you receive a settlement that can pay for your care requirements. Compensation can help pay for:
Specialist private medical treatment
Rehabilitation
Loss of earnings
Expenses (e.g. travel costs)
We’ll always act efficiently to secure funds so your care needs can be met as soon as possible. Your settlement can help pay for private medical treatment which might mean you can get appointments a little sooner than normal.
If the person or organisation responsible accepts their part in your delayed diagnosis, we might be able to secure you early compensation payments before your claim has fully settled. These early compensation payments are also known as interim payments, which can help you pay for ongoing care and expenses.
We can only calculate how much compensation you’re entitled to once we understand the full impact of your illness. These might only become clear when we know how successful any subsequent treatments have been and when detailed evidence has been gathered relating to your cancer.
You’re likely to receive more compensation if your cancer wasn’t diagnosed until a late stage meaning your chances of making a full recovery were reduced. In these circumstances compensation can pay for your increased care needs. If your illness was diagnosed at a point where it had become terminal, your settlement can help with your family’s financial security in the future.
Can I Claim On Behalf Of A Loved One?
If a loved one has died because of a delay in the diagnosis of cancer, our lawyers can help you with:
Recovering compensation for their pain and suffering, to account for financial losses caused by their death and to cover funeral expenses
Representing you at inquest
Getting you the answers and apology you deserve from those responsible
You might be able to claim if you’re the spouse or child of the person who has unfortunately died. We can also help you make a claim if you’re the parent of a child under 18 or if you were financially dependent on the individual who lost their life.
There’s normally a three year time limit after the date of the death to make a claim. If your loved one had a post-mortem which discovered negligence, then you’ll have three years from the date where you learnt of the findings. Find out more about time limits
Our lawyers could also help you access a statutory bereavement award, a flat rate of £15,120 which is payable when a wrongful death has occurred. This is available if you’re the spouse, civil partner or parent (if under 18) of the person who died.
What Will Happen When I Make A Claim?
After you’ve contacted us, we’ll set up a free initial consultation to discuss your case and whether you have a legal claim. We’ll discuss what funding options are available to you to pay for your claim, including No Win No Fee agreements *.
We’ll then get in touch with those responsible for your negligent treatment at an early stage to see if they accept the blame for your delayed diagnosis. If they accept responsibility, we’ll try to secure interim compensation payments which can fund private medical care and ongoing expenses, before your claim fully settles. Any interim payments will be taken out of your final compensation award.
Our experts will look into your case in detail, gathering evidence from independent medical professionals. These experts evaluate what care you should have received and can determine any future implications to your health. They’ll also advise us on the care you’ll need in the future.
We’ll always try and negotiate claims out of court, keeping the claim process as short as we can. However, if your opponent doesn’t accept responsibility or doesn’t agree with the amount of compensation we feel you need, we’ll start court proceedings.
Even when trial dates have been set, claims are still often settled before reaching court. If your claim does need to go to court, we’ll be there to help you every step of the way, talking you through what will happen so you feel as comfortable as possible.
How Long Will My Claim Take?
We try to make every claim run as efficiently and smoothly as possible, getting the best outcome for you as soon we can. However, every claim is different and the time they take to settle will differ case-by-case. Complex cases can take longer because we need to know the true consequences of your negligent treatment before your claim can be finalised.
Because claims can take some time to settle we can try and get you early “interim” compensation payments to pay for care while your claim is ongoing (unfortunately this is only possible if your opponent has accepted responsibility early on).
Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
Many of our cases are funded with a No Win No Fee agreement. This means that there’s no financial risk* to you when making a compensation claim.
At the start of your case we’ll discuss funding options with you, advising you which we think is most suitable. If you have legal expenses insurance (LEI) or are covered by a trade union policy, these may be best for you. Legal expenses insurance is included in many household insurance policies, so it’s always worth checking whether you’re already covered.
If we think you’re best supported by a No Win No Fee agreement, we’ll explain the process clearly. This involves setting up an insurance policy that will protect you, at no cost to you. You’ll only have to pay anything when your claim is successful – your opponent will pay most of our fees.
Please visit our No Win No Fee page for more information on how it works.
Why Should I Choose Irwin Mitchell?
As a full-service law firm, we have lawyers with a variety of specialisms who can help with your claim. We have one of the largest and most experienced medical negligence teams in the country which is made up on many of the UK’s leading experts in medical claims.
View our medical negligence experts
We understand that you might be making a claim not only to secure compensation, but to get an explanation and apology for your negligent treatment. If you wish to make a complaint about a GP or hospital, we can provide specialist advice on the best route to take.
You might have other issues which have arisen because of your medical negligence. We might be able to provide you with advice on:
Wills
Benefits
Employment issues
Rehabilitation
Investing your compensation
