A cosmetic surgeon must meet the correct standard of care when treating you. This applies to all trained doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals. You place a lot of trust in a cosmetic surgeon to look out for your safety and well-being while you are having an operation. It can feel overwhelming when you are the victim of cosmetic surgery negligence, and you may need further surgery. However, proceeding with a medical negligence claim could help you to move forward with your recovery. A compensation award may lessen the financial burden of medical bills and time taken off work to recover.
Read our guide to find out what makes you eligible to start a clinical negligence claim and what the cosmetic surgery compensation could cover. You can also learn about the causes and consequences of clinical negligence during cosmetic procedures.
Furthermore, we outline the process of claiming for a procedure that occurred abroad. Additionally, we examine the process of starting a claim for a cosmetic procedure that has gone wrong.
Finally, we explain the services that our solicitors offer. If eligible, they may be able to represent you with a No Win No Fee contract. This is a great route to gain legal representation without having to worry about hidden fees. You can contact our advisors today to find out if you can access our excellent legal services, or you can ask any other questions you may have about starting a claim:
- Submit an online enquiry
Browse Our Guide
- Am I Eligible To Make A Cosmetic Surgery Negligence Claim?
- Average Compensation For Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
- Causes Of Cosmetic Surgery Negligence That Lead To Claims
- The Consequences Of Clinical Negligence In Cosmetic Procedures
- Claiming For A Procedure That Happened Abroad
- How To Make A Cosmetic Surgery Negligence Claim
- How Our Solicitors Can Help You Claim
- More Information
Am I Eligible To Make A Cosmetic Surgery Negligence Claim?
You must meet the following criteria in order to start a cosmetic surgery negligence claim:
- A cosmetic surgeon or other medical professional owed you a duty of care
- They failed to act according to the duty of care
- This caused you to suffer unnecessary harm
Medical professionals must provide a minimum standard of care. The General Medical Council (GMC) outlines the duties of doctors and provides them with resources to keep their information up to date.
You cannot seek compensation for all types of harm resulting from medical treatment. However, if you have experienced harm that was avoidable due to substandard care, you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.
If you have any questions about what counts as avoidable or unnecessary harm, you should get in touch with our advisors. They can determine whether your case is eligible to proceed and potentially connect you with an experienced medical negligence solicitor.
Average Compensation For Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
You may wish to know the average compensation for cosmetic surgery negligence, but this figure would not help your case. Each medical negligence claim is assessed based on its independent factors. In this section, we look at the different types of damages and how they could affect your compensation level.
We have included a table below, which uses figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a document that pairs suggested compensation values with varied types and severities of injury. Legal professionals may use it when evaluating general damages.
Two types of damages cover your compensation. General damages are always awarded if you receive compensation. They compensate you for the pay and suffering you have experienced due to cosmetic surgery negligence. Read the next section to find out about other damages you may claim for.
It is important to note that the figures we have included below do not guarantee how much compensation you may receive. We recommend that you contact an advisor for a free case assessment. They can discuss your surgical negligence in-depth and gather an idea of the different aspects of your claim for which you could gain compensation.
The JCG did not provide the first figure that we have included in this table.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Compensation Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries with financial impact | Severe | Up to £1,000,000 plus. | More than one injuries with financial effects, such as lost income |
| Brain | Moderately severe | £267,340 to £344,150 | Serious disability requiring constant professional care and comes with the risk of future serious medical issues (such as blindness) |
| Chest | Worst cases | £122,850 to £183,190 | Severe damage to heart and/or complete removal of one lung with scarring |
| Eye | Loss of sight in one eye with reduced vision in remaining eye | £117,150 to £219,400 | Serious potential for remaining eye to deteroriate |
| Back | Severe | £90,510 to £107,910 | May include symptoms such as damage to nerve root damage and impaired bladder function |
| Facial scarring | Very severe | £36,340 to £118,790 | Bracket covers those between teenage years and early thirties with significant scarring and psychological impact |
| Less severe | £21,920 to £59,090 | Substantial disfigurement with psychological impact | |
| Significant | £11,120 to £36,720 | Plastic surgery may reduce the appearance of scarring but some cosmetic impact will remain | |
| Bodily scarring | No significant internal injury | In the region of £10,550 | No significant internal injury, award impacted by severity of the scar |
Special Damages In Cosmetic Claims
Your compensation could also include special damages. These aim to recover the costs you may have incurred due to your injuries, such as:
- Medical care expenses, including those made for corrective surgery
- The cost of travel to/from medical appointments
- Payments made for professional care
- Lost income/earnings due to time taken off work to recover
If you have any questions about what your compensation could cover, please get in touch with our team of advisors. They can answer your queries for free and assess whether you can gain the representation of one of our expert cosmetic surgery solicitors.
Causes Of Cosmetic Surgery Negligence That Lead To Claims
There are many different scenarios which could give grounds for a cosmetic surgery negligence claim. Examples include:
- Once the anaesthetic has been administered for a breast augmentation, your vitals are not monitored adequately. As a result, you suffer from a stroke due to the lack of oxygen supplied to your brain.
- While you have a liposuction treatment, the cosmetic surgeon leaves a surgical instrument inside your body. This surgical error causes you to suffer an infection.
- Your surgeon mixes up your records with another patient, meaning that you undergo nose surgery instead of dermal fillers.
Do not be concerned if your experience of negligent treatment is not the same as these examples. You can contact our advisors to discuss the details of your compensation claim and assess whether you are eligible to proceed with one of our No Win No Fee cosmetic surgery solicitors.
The Consequences Of Clinical Negligence In Cosmetic Procedures
When medically trained professionals do not meet the correct standard of care while you undergo cosmetic surgery, the consequences vary in severity. You may need corrective procedures or other forms of corrective treatment. You could suffer the following examples of harm:
- Permanent and excessive scarring
- Organ damage
- Infections
- Bodily reactions to infection, such as sepsis
- Nerve damage
- Brain damage
- Orthopaedic injuries
- Damage to the senses (for example, negligent cosmetic eye surgery could lead to blindness).
Claiming For A Procedure That Happened Abroad
When you travel abroad for cosmetic treatments, it can be a very stressful experience if medical negligence occurs. You may not be familiar with the required standard of care, and it can be emotionally difficult to recover away from home as there are always risks involved when you have surgery.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) is a professional body of certified plastic surgeons. They provide guidelines about plastic surgery procedures and advice on travelling abroad for them. You can also use their website to find a verified plastic surgeon from a trusted organisation.
The process of claiming for surgery negligence abroad may depend upon which country you travelled to. We recommend that you contact an advisor to discuss the details of your cosmetic surgery compensation claim so they can assess whether you are eligible to proceed with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
How To Make A Cosmetic Surgery Negligence Claim
You may be seeking information about how to start a claim. In this section, we look at the evidence you will need to strengthen a claim for compensation, the legal time limit on your medical negligence claim and how you could benefit from the services of our specialist cosmetic surgery solicitors. Keep reading to find out more information.
The Evidence You Need To Support A Claim
You will need to provide evidence to support your cosmetic negligence claim. This could include medical evidence, such as:
- A copy of your medical records
- A diary of your injuries and symptoms
- Contact details of people who attended your appointments or witnessed your injuries (they may be able to provide a witness statement later)
- Photos of your injuries
There can also be expert medical evidence used to assess your compensation and also if the medical professional met their duty of care.
Time Limits When Beginning A Claim
Typically, claimants have three years to start a claim from the date that negligence occurred or the date on which they realised that negligence occurred. This is outlined by the Limitation Act 1980. However, there are exceptions in cases where the person is:
- Unable to make decisions for the claim due to mental incapacity
- Under the age of eighteen
You can reach out to our team of advisors to answer any questions you have about the process of starting a claim. They can assess your eligibility to make a claim, confirm the evidence you will need and state the time scale that you must meet.
How Our Solicitors Can Help You Claim
If eligible, our specialist solicitors can offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This allows them to represent cosmetic surgery cases on a No Win No Fee basis. Therefore, you would not be required to pay fees for your solicitor’s work:
- Before the cosmetic surgery negligence claim begins
- While the claim is ongoing
- If you do not receive a compensation award
On the condition that you have successfully claimed compensation, you would then need to pay a success fee. This is a percentage of the compensation that you owe to your solicitor. A legal cap is in place, so you can rest assured that you will keep most of your compensation.
Additionally, our solicitors are medical negligence experts who could help your claim by:
- Handling the negotiation of your compensation to cover the relevant costs you have incurred
- Communicating with the defending party on your behalf
- Explaining difficult legal terms and processes
- Ensuring that you meet the relevant legal time limit
You can contact our advisors with any qualms you may have about starting a medical negligence claim. They can offer an experienced free consultation and potentially connect you to a No Win No Fee clinical negligence solicitor. You could be eligible to gain compensation for your suffering and recover your costs, so get in touch today:
- Submit an online enquiry
More Information
Take a look at our other medical negligence guides:
- Find out about claiming compensation after a misdiagnosis
- Learn more about birth injury claims
- Visit our guide on medication error claims
Further resources
- Check out NHS advice on getting cosmetic surgery abroad
- Visit the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAP)
- Read the professional code of conduct for surgeons from the Royal College of Surgeons of England
Thank you for reading our guide on claiming for cosmetic surgery negligence.