Every year, more and more people are choosing to undergo cosmetic procedures. These surgeries are meant to improve your appearance and increase your self-esteem, but what happens when they go wrong? In our guide, we’ll explain everything that you need to know about how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation.
We’ll start with how the process works, from evidence to time limits, and then move on to explore things like:
- Whether or not you are eligible to claim
- What kinds of procedures you could claim for
- Common types of harm caused by cosmetic surgeries
- What your compensation payout could look like
Finally, we’ll talk about how we can help. Our panel of solicitors are experts in medical negligence claims, and our team of advisors are waiting for your call. Read on to learn more, or get started by:
- Calling on 0800 408 7827
- Speaking with an advisor in live chat
- Contact us online
Frequently Asked Questions
- How To Sue For Cosmetic Surgery Compensation
- How Can I Know If I Can Claim?
- What Procedures Can Cosmetic Surgery Claims Be Made For?
- The Average Compensation For Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
- What How To Sue Can Do For You
- Learn More
How To Sue For Cosmetic Surgery Compensation
To sue for cosmetic surgery compensation, you can take a number of important steps, including:
Evidence Needed To Sue For Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
You will need enough evidence to prove that medical negligence occurred. This proof can include things like:
- Pictures of visible harm, like raised scars, uneven implants, or areas of infection
- Test results, including results from scans, X-rays, and blood tests that might show internal harm
- The contact details of anyone who might have witnessed the harm you’ve suffered
- Medical records, charts, or notes that detail the treatment you received in hospital or afterwards
These are just a few examples of evidence that can help strengthen a cosmetic surgery negligence claim. You don’t have to gather this information by yourself. If you work with our panel of solicitors, you can benefit from the years of experience they have in collecting information on behalf of their clients.
Is There A Time Limit For Suing?
Generally, there is a 3-year time limit from either:
- The date of the negligence
- The date you connect the harm you’ve suffered with someone’s negligent actions, also known as the date of knowledge
The time limit is set out by the Limitation Act 1980, which also details the exceptions to this rule. You can learn more about time limits from an advisor or keep reading to discover if you need to work with a solicitor on your claim.
Do I Need A Solicitor?
We always recommend working with a solicitor when you make any kind of medical negligence claim. Our panel of solicitors have decades of experience handling medical negligence claims, and they provide the highest standard of care to their clients.
Get in touch to discover how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation using a solicitor from our panel.
How Can I Know If I Can Claim?
You can know whether or not you can make a claim for medical negligence by seeing if the following criteria have been met:
- Your surgeon or another medical professional owes you a duty of care
- They breach this duty
- You resultingly suffered avoidable harm
You must establish that all 3 of these factors. If they are all applicable to your situation, then negligence may have occurred.
What Does Duty Of Care Mean?
When someone owes you a duty of care, this means that they have a responsibility for your health, safety, and well-being. In terms of medical negligence, all medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients.
To uphold this duty of care, they must ensure that the medical treatment they provide meets a minimum standard. While the steps they take can vary, depending on their role and what field of medicine they work in, that expected standard remains the same.
So, if your cosmetic surgeon provides substandard care and this causes you to suffer unnecessary harm, you could be entitled to claim compensation.
What If My Procedure Was Carried Out By The NHS?
In some cases, the NHS does offer cosmetic surgery as part of its services. However, it doesn’t really matter whether it was an NHS facility or a private healthcare provider; as long as surgical negligence occurred, you can claim.
Our team of advisors are waiting to help. If you’d like to learn more about how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation, feel free to speak to a team member today.
What Procedures Can Cosmetic Surgery Claims Be Made For?
There are a number of procedures for which you could make a cosmetic surgery negligence claim, including:
- Facelifts: For example, if the surgeon were to slip with the scalpel, causing unsightly scarring.
- Breast reduction or augmentation: For example, if circulation to the nipple is cut off by the surgeon, causing the tissue to die and resulting in nerve damage.
- Liposuction: A common surgical error that can occur during liposuction is the surgeon perforating the bowel, which can cause leakage and infection.
- Rhinoplasty: One of the common causes of nose job claims is nasal collapse, which occurs when your surgeon disturbs too much cartilage and the walls of the nose collapse.
As long as you can prove that medical negligence occurred, you can claim for any procedure gone wrong. If you’re ready to get started with a claim, feel free to speak to one of our team members.
The Average Compensation For Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is often used to help professionals calculate how much compensation someone could get, specifically, general damages, which is the head of your claim that covers your pain and suffering. This is due to the document containing a number of guideline compensation brackets for different illnesses and injuries of varying severities.
You can see some more JCG bracket examples in the table below, but please note these are not guaranteed. It’s also important to highlight that the lead figure isn’t from the document.
| Harm | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|
| Multiple forms of severe harm with financial losses, such as lost wages or the cost of corrective surgery | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Very severe brain damage | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderate brain damage (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Severe PTSD | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Very severe facial scarring | £36,340 to £118,790 |
| Less severe facial scarring | £21,920 to £59,090 |
| Significant facial scarring | £11,120 to £36,720 |
| Damage to chest and lungs (c) | £38,210 to £66,920 |
| Multiple fractures of facial bones | £18,180 to £29,220 |
| One single disfiguring Scar, or a number of scars that are noticeable | £9,560 to £27,740 |
What About Financial Losses?
Financial losses can also be claimed for under special damages. These are the second head of claim that you could pursue, and they help you recoup out-of-pocket expenses caused by medical negligence. For example, this might include costs like:
- Lost earnings
- Corrective surgery
- Cosmetic aids, like wigs or makeup
- Physiotherapy
- Mobility aids
- Home adaptations
- Childcare
Importantly, you need evidence to claim back these losses. This means that it can be helpful to keep things like bills, invoices, and bank statements.
Our team of advisors are waiting to help, so reach out today if you have any questions about making a claim. Or, read on as we look at how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation with a solicitor from our panel.
What How To Sue Can Do For You
So, how can we help you? First and foremost, we can help you connect with a high-quality solicitor from our expert panel. Our panel have decades of experience in helping clients from all over the country secure the payouts they deserve, so you can focus on recovering while they focus on the claim.
At How To Sue, we firmly believe that your ability to claim shouldn’t be affected by how much money you have. Mindful of that, every solicitor on our panel offers their services on a No Win No Fee basis. Thanks to something called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), you can benefit from their expertise without:
- Paying their fees upfront
- Paying their fees as the claim goes on
- Paying for their work at all if the claim fails
So if you don’t win, then you don’t pay for their work. If you do win, then they’ll take a success fee from your compensation. This is a small percentage, which comes with a legal cap, ensuring that the larger share stays with you.
Contact Us
Do you want to get started? For more information on how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation with an experienced medical negligence solicitor from our panel, get in touch by:
- Ringing us up on 0800 408 7827
- Speaking with an advisor in live chat
- Contact us online
Learn More
For more information on claiming for medical negligence:
- Claiming for cancer that was misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia
- How to sue a hospital for a birth injury
- Getting help claiming for a missed wrist fracture
Or, for further resources:
- Read a statement on cosmetic tourism from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
- Learn about cosmetic procedures from the NHS
- Search the General Medical Council’s registers for a doctor or physician
Thank you for reading our guide on how to sue for cosmetic surgery compensation.