Fixed Recoverable Costs in Clinical Negligence Claims: Where Things Stand

Many websites still say that fixed recoverable costs (FRC) apply to clinical negligence claims worth up to £25,000. That is not the law in England and Wales. A scheme for lower-value clinical negligence claims has been consulted on and announced more than once, but as of November 2026 it has never come into force.

What "fixed recoverable costs" means

In most civil cases the losing side pays a large part of the winner's legal costs. Under FRC, the amount the winner can recover is set by a table in the court rules rather than by an assessment of the time the lawyers actually spent. FRC limits what can be recovered from the other side. It does not limit your compensation, and it does not stop your own solicitor charging you more under your agreement with them.

The general FRC extension from 1 October 2023

From 1 October 2023 the Civil Procedure Rules extended fixed costs to most fast track claims (generally worth up to £25,000) and created a new intermediate track for simpler claims worth up to £100,000, which also carries fixed costs.

Clinical negligence was largely carved out. Under CPR rule 26.9(10)(b), a claim that includes clinical negligence must be allocated to the multi-track, where costs are not fixed, whatever its value. The only exception is a claim that would otherwise belong on the intermediate track where the defendant admitted liability in full in its letter of response under the clinical disputes pre-action protocol and has not raised a limitation defence. The government explained in its January 2024 consultation response that it wanted only straightforward cases with a full, early admission to fall within fixed costs. Contested clinical negligence claims, where breach of duty or causation is disputed, usually need expert evidence from several specialists, and the separate lower-value scheme was meant to deal with them.

The separate clinical negligence proposal and its status

• January to April 2022: the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) consulted on FRC and a new streamlined pre-action process for clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000.
• 15 September 2023: the government published its response and said it would go ahead, with higher fixed amounts than first proposed, extra amounts for claims by children and protected parties, and some complex claims excluded. A supplementary consultation on disbursements followed in late 2023.
• 2024: a start date was announced but did not happen. By November 2024 the Law Society Gazette reported that the plans had stalled after the general election, and the new government said only that it would announce its position in due course.
• 2025: the government's 10-Year Health Plan said David Lock KC had been asked for expert advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence claims ahead of a DHSC review.
• 17 March 2026: the Clinical Negligence Bill, a ten-minute rule bill, had its first reading in the House of Commons. Its long title refers to a fixed recoverable costs scheme for certain clinical negligence cases. A ten-minute rule bill is a backbench measure with no government time, and Parliament's record shows no further stages after first reading.
• July 2026: the patient-safety charity AvMA confirmed that no FRC scheme for clinical negligence had been implemented.

We have found no announcement since then bringing a scheme into force. Any scheme would need new court rules, and those would normally be published well before they take effect.

The costs rules that actually apply today

Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS)

Clinical negligence claims for personal injury are covered by QOCS. If you lose, the defendant can usually enforce a costs order against you, without the court's permission, only up to the total of any damages, interest and costs awarded or agreed in your favour (CPR rule 44.14). If you lose outright, you will normally pay nothing towards the defendant's costs. This protection can be lost, for example if the claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest or is struck out as an abuse of process.

Conditional fee agreements and success fees

Most claimants use a conditional fee agreement (CFA), often called "no win, no fee". If you win, your solicitor can charge a success fee, but since 2013 it is paid out of your damages, not by the defendant. In a personal injury claim at first instance, the success fee is capped at 25% of your damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and for past financial losses, after deducting benefits repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit (article 5 of the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013). Damages for future losses, such as future care, are protected from the cap.

After-the-event (ATE) insurance

Because QOCS covers most adverse costs, ATE insurance in clinical negligence is mainly used to cover your own disbursements, especially expert reports. In clinical negligence claims, part of the premium covering expert reports on breach of duty and causation can still be recovered from the defendant if you win (regulation 3 of the 2013 clinical negligence premium regulations). The rest usually comes out of your damages.

Track and small claims

The small claims limit for personal injury claims that do not arise from a road traffic accident is £1,500 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, within an overall claim value of up to £10,000 (CPR rule 26.9(1)). Above that, contested clinical negligence claims go to the multi-track, where the defendant pays the winner's reasonable costs as assessed by the court, subject to costs budgeting and proportionality.

What a fixed costs scheme would mean if introduced

Based on the 2022 consultation and the 2023 response, a scheme would probably:

• apply to claims valued up to £25,000, with a set sum recoverable for each stage of the claim;
• introduce a streamlined pre-action process with fixed timetables, and neutral evaluation paid for by the defendant;
• allow expert fees, and ATE premiums covering them, to be recovered separately from the fixed sums;
• exclude certain complex claims and add extra amounts where the claimant is a child or protected party.

Supporters say it would cut NHS legal bills. Critics, including AvMA, warn it could make lower-value claims uneconomic to run. The details could change if the government or Parliament revives the proposal.

Practical points if you are thinking of claiming

• You usually have three years to start court proceedings, from the date of the negligence or from when you first knew of the injury and its likely cause. Different rules apply to children and people who lack mental capacity.
• Ask any solicitor to explain in writing the success fee, any deduction from damages, and who pays for ATE insurance.

Key points

• Fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims up to £25,000 are a proposal, not current law, as of November 2026.
• Most contested clinical negligence claims go to the multi-track, where costs are assessed rather than fixed.
• Fixed costs can apply only where liability is admitted in full early and the claim suits the intermediate track.
• QOCS normally protects a losing claimant from paying the NHS's costs.
• A solicitor's success fee is capped at 25% of general and past-loss damages.