§ GUIDE · LOST YEARS

Damages for the years
an injury takes away.

When negligence shortens someone's life, they lose the earnings they would have made in the years they will not live to see. English law calls these the lost years. Until February 2026, a claimant injured as a young child could not recover them. The Supreme Court has now changed that.

Decision

[2026] UKSC 5

Lost years claimed

£823,506

Rule overruled

Croke v Wiseman

Agreed life expectancy

To age 29

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§ WHAT LOST YEARS MEANS

Earnings from the years that were taken.

If an injury reduces someone's life expectancy, they will not be alive to earn during the years they have lost. English law lets an injured adult claim for the earnings of those lost years, less what they would have spent on themselves, because otherwise the wrongdoer would pay nothing for shortening a life.

The claim matters most for people whose dependants would otherwise have been supported by those earnings, and for the value of an estate.

§ THE OLD RULE

Children were treated differently for over forty years.

A 1982 Court of Appeal decision, Croke v Wiseman, held that a very young child could not recover lost years damages. The reasoning was that a small child's future earnings were too speculative. The result was that the more catastrophically a child was injured at birth, the less the law would pay for the years the injury removed.

§ WHAT THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED

The 1982 rule was wrong and has been overruled.

CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 concerned a child left with spastic cerebral palsy by a severe hypoxic brain injury at birth, wholly dependent on others, with an agreed life expectancy to age 29. Her lost years claim was pleaded at £823,506 and refused below because of Croke v Wiseman.

The Supreme Court, with Lady Rose dissenting, held that the decision to refuse lost years damages in Croke v Wiseman was incorrect and should be overruled. The appeal was allowed and the case remitted to the trial judge for the lost years damages to be assessed.

Claimants injured as young children whose life expectancy has been shortened can now claim on the same principles as adults.

§ THE UNDERLYING AWARD

This was already a very large claim.

The lost years point arose on top of an award already made. At the quantum trial, CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals [2023] EWHC 1770 (KB), Ritchie J awarded a lump sum of £6,866,615 gross, including £390,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, plus a periodical payments order of £394,940 a year for care and case management, indexed to ASHE 6115. Interim payments of £2,700,000 had already been made.

The underlying negligence was a pathological CTG trace that went unread for 50 minutes before an emergency caesarean, which the trust admitted in 2019.

§ WHO IT AFFECTS

Cases where life expectancy has been shortened.

  • People injured as children, particularly at birth, whose life expectancy is agreed to be reduced.
  • Claims still being valued, and claims where quantum has not yet been finally determined.
  • Any case where a lost years claim was previously abandoned because of Croke v Wiseman, though limitation and procedural rules still apply.
  • It does not create a claim where life expectancy is unaffected: there are no lost years to compensate.

§ THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS GUIDE

The two judgments in the same case.

The Supreme Court decision and the earlier damages trial that produced the award it sits on top of.

Claimant succeeded

CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] UKSC 5·2026·Appeal decision

A child left profoundly disabled by negligence at birth was refused 'lost years' damages for earnings she would have made in the years her injury cut from her life, because a 1982 Court of Appeal case barred such awards to young children. The Supreme Court (Lady Rose dissenting) overruled that rule and sent the case back for the lost-years loss to be assessed.

Claimants injured as young children whose life expectancy has been shortened can now claim for earnings in the 'lost years', on the same principles as adults. This can add substantially to catastrophic injury awards.

Claimant succeeded£6.87M

CCC (suing by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2023] EWHC 1770 (KB)·2023·Damages assessed at trial

The CTG showed a pathological trace that went unread for 50 minutes before an emergency caesarean; the child was born with severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and the Trust admitted liability in 2019. After a nine-day trial on damages, Ritchie J awarded a lump sum of about £6.87m plus care periodical payments of nearly £395,000 a year.

Where liability is admitted but the parties are far apart on the cost of care, housing and equipment, the court will hold a full quantum trial and decide each head of loss. This judgment is a rare published breakdown of a complete cerebral palsy award.

Browse the whole case library →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

§ QUESTIONS

Common questions

What are lost years damages?

Compensation for the earnings someone would have made during the years their injury has cut from their life expectancy, less what they would have spent on themselves.

What changed in 2026?

In CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals [2026] UKSC 5 the Supreme Court overruled Croke v Wiseman, the 1982 decision that had barred lost years awards to claimants injured as young children, and sent the case back for those damages to be assessed.

Does this apply to my claim?

Only if the injury has shortened life expectancy. Where it has, and particularly where the injury happened in childhood, a lost years claim can now be advanced. A solicitor can tell you whether the medical evidence supports it.

How much is a lost years claim worth?

It depends on likely earnings and the number of years lost. In CCC the claim was pleaded at £823,506 on an agreed life expectancy to age 29; the amount will now be assessed by the trial judge.

Can settled cases be reopened?

Generally no. A settlement that has been approved and concluded is final. The decision matters most for claims still being valued.

Was the decision unanimous?

No. Lady Rose dissented. The majority held that the rule in Croke v Wiseman was incorrect and should be overruled.

§ MORE GUIDES

Plain answers to the other questions people ask.

How big awards are built →

How a multi-million medical negligence award is assembled: general damages, care, accommodation, prosthetics, lost earnings and lost years. Real judgments.

Periodical payments →

How periodical payment orders work: a lump sum plus index-linked yearly payments for life, stepped payments, and why headline totals differ. Real settlements.

Payout examples →

UK medical negligence payout examples by claim type, typical compensation ranges, and what decides the amount. Then check your own claim free.

Fatal negligence payouts →

What compensation after a death caused by medical negligence can include: the bereavement award, dependency, funeral costs and the estate's claim.

Time limits →

The 3-year time limit for medical negligence claims, the date-of-knowledge rule, and the exceptions for children, mental capacity and fatal claims.

NHS payout data →

Official NHS Resolution figures, band by band, for 2024/25.

This guide is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice about your case. ClaimGavel is run by Costart Projects Ltd on behalf of Tomlin & Partners, a specialist medical negligence firm regulated by the SRA. The free assessment on this page is an AI overview to show you roughly where you stand; a solicitor confirms the position in a free, no-obligation conversation.