2024 cosmetic claims trends
In 2024, reportable claims increased, highlighting the need for early intervention to manage issues before they escalate
The cost of these claims has also risen, primarily due to legal fees, which often dwarf the compensation awarded to patients. Understanding this dynamic can help practitioners focus on reducing risks and improving their processes.
As Priya Chander, our experienced cosmetics claims handler, explains, “While overall there were slightly fewer claims in 2024 than 2023, my observation from our daily encounters with our clients is that there is an increasing trend in patients being unhappy with the treatment results.
“While these complaints may or may not be upheld, what’s clear is the cost of investigation and defence is rising.”
The rising trend in legal costs is illustrated by these examples from recent years: *figures have been rounded up:
Largest claim payout ever – £1,593,000
£1.2 million awarded in damages to the patient
£300,000 for the claimant’s legal costs
£93,000 for defence costs
Here 24.6% of the total payout was legal costs
Second largest reserve – £547,000
Includes damages and claimant’s costs with £80,000 in defence cost
This is still open, so no claimant costs are available to date.
Smaller claims breakdowns:
£65,000 total payout
£13,000 damages to patient
£15,000 defence costs (our client’s solicitor costs)
£38,000 claimant’s costs (patient legal fees)
In this example, 82% was legal costs.
£76,000 total payout
£25,000 damages
£10,000 defence costs
£41,000 claimant’s costs
Here, legal costs made up 67% of the total paid out.
£51,000 total payout
£17,000 damages
£6,000 defence costs
£28,000 claimant’s costs
This research shows that, increasingly, for many claims, defence costs for both parties represent more than 50% of the total claim value.
Most common treatments that result in a claim
From January 2020 to November 2024, Hamilton Fraser has managed 1,096 medical malpractice claims. The top three claim types were:
245 dermal filler claims
210 laser claims
91 botulinum toxin claims
Together, these three categories account for nearly half of all claims in this period. Notably, hair transplant claims (categorised under general treatments) are emerging as a significant area of concern due to the high associated legal costs.
Hair transplant examples:
£98,000 claim
£32,500 damages
£18,000 defence costs
£47,000 claimant’s costs
Legal costs made up 66% of the claim.
£84,000 claim
£27,500 damages
£7,000 defence costs
£49,000 claimant’s costs
£28,000 claim
£7,500 damages
£7,500 defence costs
£12,500 claimant’s costs.
Legal costs made up 71% of the claim.
£19,000 claim
£2,500 defence costs
£9,000 claimant’s costs (47% of total cost)