UK Clinical Negligence Market Report 2026

Legal fees from CN cases continue to grow and cases settled likely to increase

This is the ninth annual edition of a report providing a review of the clinical negligence (CN) legal market, looking at key market developments and issues, market size and trends, the key players and future trends.

Key findings are:

• In the year 2025/26 (to end-March), the analyst estimates law firms earned revenue of over £1.8 billion from CN cases, increasing by 7.4% on the previous year.
• Clinical claims reported at NHS Resolution (NHSR) increased by 5.6% to 15,236 in 2025/26 but claims closed were down on the previous year mainly due to operational delays caused by the launch of new case management system, CaseHub.
• Claimant legal fees continue to grow year-on-year reaching £622.2m in 2025/26 from £620.9m in 2024/25.
• In the next 12 to 18 months, both CN claims registered and closed are projected to increase. Claims completed dipped in 2025/26 due to teething problems with a new NHSR case management system, but this system should start to improve the efficiency of the claims process and increase claims completed volumes.
• The ageing population is creating a growing demand for more medical procedures, medication, and regular care and treatments while staff in A&E departments in particular are coming under more and more pressure from increasing workloads. Both these factors are likely to see CN claims increase beyond the next 18 months along with other factors such as higher healthcare costs, more complex surgical procedures, and increased patient awareness of healthcare services and issues.
• Uncertainty over extending the fixed recoverable costs (FRC) remains and any broadening of the FRC regime could see more firms leave the sector. The growing use of AI in healthcare, while largely beneficial, is likely to open up new avenues for CN claims. Issues could arise over who is responsible for AI mistakes - health professionals or the AI tool itself.