Who pays the cost of medical assessments for personal injury claims?

28 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Claimants often ask us why solicitors want access to medical records, why they should be required to undergo a specialist medical assessment of their injuries and who will pay for it.

Medical evidence wins claims

To be in a position to succeed with a claim for personal injury compensation, claimants need to prove certain things. In order to prove how much compensation the claimant should receive for their injury, they need to provide medical evidence to support their claim. With this in mind, your solicitor will want to view your medical records relevant to the treatment you have had for your injury. They will then send this to a suitably qualified medical expert and arrange an appointment for you to see the expert.

During this appointment, the expert will medically assess you, discuss your situation and review your treatment. They can then write a report outlining the severity of your injury, what treatments have been needed, what treatments will still be required, whether you have made a full recovery, and if not, how long your recovery will take or if you will ever fully recover.

This report will be passed to both your solicitor and the 3rd party insurers defending the claim. It provides the base for both sides to discuss claim valuations and agree a personal injury claim settlement amount. Without such a report, it is not possible to prove the extent of an injury and therefore agree how much compensation you should receive.

You won’t have to pay for a medical assessment

Of course, such medical experts cost money, so who pays the cost for this service? From the claimants perspective, they need not worry about this as the cost is not their problem. During the Direct2Compensation claims process, your solicitor will pay the cost of the medical assessment and this is called a disbursement. The solicitor will be able to reclaim the cost of this from the 3rd party should they succeed with your claim and it will not be deducted from your settlement value. If the solicitor fails with the claim, they will deal with the cost and it is not the claimants responsibility.

28 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Leave a comment or question

Please note we can only deal with claims within the UK legal system. Your question will appear once approved and we'll reply as soon as we can. Your email address will not be published, your name will, so feel free just to use a first name.

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

Hi the only way I could prove my case is by having an upright MRI Scan. Would this be something you covered if I decide to hire you to take up a case for me? I hav been in a wheelchair for 25 years but I am still experiencing the same putting at risk and medical negligence because I have a rare condition. Whether it’s in the privat eor public health sector. I am I believe currently at a high risk of paralysis without the relveant tratment yet are hitting brick walls to get it.

Ian Morris

Whether or not such a scan could be provided or agreed during the process of a claim would depend on a medical experts opinion, rather than a Solicitors request. A Solicitor would instruct a medical expert to conduct an assessment with you and review the situation, but only if the medical expert were to request such a scan – and only if the defendants then agreed to it, would such a scan be provided.

Another concern in your enquiry is the timescale – you mention a period of 25 years? It would help if you explained what the nature of your claim would be for, but as you are probably already aware, claimants must take action and pursue a claim within 3 years of the date of an accident or negligence to be able to hold a defendant liable.

Reply

Can I ask if I have to pay my expenses to travel out of county to see specialists for examinations related to an injury I incurred that was not my fault?

My Solicitor is saying that I can’t and that this is my expense? I am very unhappy about this as it is not only likely to cost me the travel but hotel costs too.

This examination could be done locally but as ‘they’ dont have specialists in my area, I am expected to travel out of county, on public transport when I don’t drive and have extreme anxiety. The examination is a simple standard one, as it was a bang to my head. It just seems really out of order and I’m not sure i’m happy to progress with them. Surely this an expense that could be claimed back?

Ian Morris

Sadly, the costs of traveling to and from a medical assessment are not a recoverable cost – certainly not a cost that you are automatically entitled to recover. In normal circumstances, the costs of attending a medical assessment will be minimal as it is extremely unusual for any claimant to be forced to travel beyond a local area to see an expert and the need to seek overnight accommodation is unlikely to be accepted by a defendant in any event.

Have you asked your Solicitor if it is possible to have the assessment carried out remotely via a video call?

Reply

Hi there,
My daughter has been made a offer of £12.000. Up to now solicitor had taken 25%. She needs her shoulder pinning due to car accident.
Her solicitor and doctors scan report recommended she has this surgery done.
Would she have to pay for this too out of her compensation which would obviously be more than £12.000?

Ian Morris

Is the surgery you mention not available on the NHS? If it isn’t and the surgery would have to be undertaken via a private provider for a fee, then the costs should be met by the defendants in settlement (so long as there is no disagreement on the medical experts report) – which would be on top of the £12k settlement fee you mention. We can’t speak for your Solicitors of course, but our Solicitors do not deduct any fee from any element of a settlement that is for future medical costs or surgeries.

Reply

I have had a personal injury claim for over two years. I have had to pay out for an MRI and for an inspection report, also for a medical assessment. Is this normal? I have been told no win, no fee is illegal in Northern Ireland.

Ian Morris

Solicitors in Northern Ireland are governed by the Law Society of NI and it is not permitted for Solicitors to practice a No Win No Fee method of running personal injury claims.

We can assist with linking people with a specialist Solicitor able to operate within the Northern Ireland legislative framework and would recommend that you seek help from a specialist in Northern Ireland’s personal injury sector for detailed advice regarding the process.

Reply

Hi in reference to a personal injury claim following a road traffic accident if during my claim I need treatment of any kind will the costs of any treatment be deducted from my claim if settled?

Ian Morris

The costs of your medical treatment should be included in the total claim settlement value. If the costs have not been paid directly to the treatment provider and given to you in settlement, you would then have to pay the provider directly. However, it is usually the case that costs will already have been paid to the provide and the balance of settlement provided to you.

Reply

I have had a medical report from an independent medical advisor regarding my broken and subsequently repaired humerus. The NHS have closed my medical file. The independent medical advisor suggested i have a private mri scan to prove what i don’t know and that i pay for it. I thought no win no fee solicitors should not demand i pay for the scan. Your opinion would be useful and i may well be asking you to handle my case.

Ian Morris

If your Solicitor instructed a medical expert to provide the report, you should not be paying the costs for any scan as the Solicitor should do this and recover the costs in due course.

Reply

My medical expert requested an MRI before giving a final prognosis on the outcome and effects of my injury in the future. My solicitors recommended a MRI clinic and their fee was £1000. Should they deduct this from my expenses or should they claim that separately and not deduct it from my compensation?. Also, my psychological report was delayed through no fault of my own as the legal advisor hung onto it for two weeks. in meantime the insurance company came through with a second offer which was reasonable and I wanted to accept it but the lawyer said that I would have to pay for the psychological report as it came through after the offer was made by the insurance company even though the insurance company knew that one was going to be delivered and had a report from my private psychologist stating that I had suffered from post traumatic stress due to being hit by a reversing car. Is this correct? should I be charged for that too when it was a dereliction of duty not to have sent the report immediately after it was received by the lawyer and I had checked it?

Ian Morris

In most cases, it is only possible to recover the cost of one medical expert report when settling a claim for compensation. This can vary in complex cases where multiple injuries were sustained or where two separate types of injury – such as with you, physical and psychological – require experts of different medical specialities to provide reports.

In your case, has your Solicitor spoken with the defendant and asked if they will consider covering the cost of the 2nd report given the relevance to your claim?

Reply

My mum as just received a settlement claim, unfortunately she passed away in October, so won’t see it, but they have taken off treatment fees, and obviously the insurance and their 25% over £5000 of her settlement, I don’t understand why they have taken treatment fees.

Ian Morris

You need to ask the Solicitors for a written breakdown of the total claim settlement and what has been allowed for various things – including treatment costs. It could well be that the Solicitor had to fund the cost of rehab treatments and that they must then deduct those from the total settlement amount.

Tracie

After 5 years my daughter has accepted a nett settlement figure, her solicitor has written to say that the other side will not accept his costs and he is trying to resolve this. She has signed the acceptance of the settlement figure nett so will she have to pay costs out of this if solicitor cannot get third party to accept his costs?

Ian Morris

It is unlikely that the defendant will not accept any of the Solicitors costs. The Solicitor may have to explain certain costs, but it should be resolved in your daughters favour. However, claimants do face the prospect of contributing to their Solicitors costs in some circumstances. However, in a No Win No Fee case, any such contribution towards the claimants Solicitors costs should be capped at 25% of any agreed settlement.

Reply

How much does a medical report typically cost?

Ian Morris

Of course, it varies depending on the nature of the instruction or the kind of medical expert report that is being asked for. However, as guide you can expect a medical experts report to cost in the region of £800 – £1200.

Reply

Can costs of a medical expert be recovered if we as claimant are not represented by a solicitor?
Can the cost be part of special damages?

Ian Morris

Medical expert report costs are usually a recoverable cost. However, before instructing a specialist, it is wise to ensure that the defendant agrees to the instruction and costs of the report.

Reply

Hi my mum has been asked for 600 pounds to get a scan in a personal injury claim is this common practice?
Thanks

Ian Morris

Far from being normal or common, for a claimant to be asked to pay any costs during the process of claiming compensation is extremely unusual and should be queried! The only reason that a claimant could be asked to pay a fee for a scan or medical report is if the claimant is demanding a 2nd opinion (if a first medical report did not give the claimant the news that they had hoped for). A claimant can only recover the cost of a medical report or medical costs if they succeed and it is unlikely that a defendant would be expected to pay for a 2nd opinion.

If your Mother has not demanded a 2nd opinion, if her claim is being managed on a No Win No Fee basis, she should query this cost demand fully.

Reply

If one of my medical reports is deficient or negligent do I need to approach another expert?
Who pays for this additional report and can the other side see the previous deficient report?

Ian Morris

If there is a demonstrable inaccuracy in a medical report, it should be pointed out and notified to both sides as in that case, a further report can be instructed and the claimant would not bear the cost.

However, if you simply have a view that your report is deficient in some way and you wish to seek a further report from a different expert, the other side are unlikely to pay the cost of that and you would have to undertake to pay that cost.

Reply

My current solicitor is asking me to pay for a medical examination, by a surgeon, I was expecting no fees whatsoever.

Ian Morris

If you are being represented on a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee) basis, you should not be paying for the medical assessment.

Reply
Chat with us for friendly, expert advice 01225 430285