Lost years claims: What are they for, how are they assessed and what does the future hold?

In CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 the Supreme Court cleared up a longstanding problem for child claimants who, as a result of Croke v Wiseman [1982] 1 WLR 71, could not bring damages for income in the so-called “lost years”.  In so doing however they raised a number of questions about lost years claims in general which, as a result of the way the claim was argued, did not arise for consideration.

The talk will begin with Mark Bradley’s analysis of the history of lost years claims up to CCC, so that the Supreme Court’s decision can be seen in its proper context.   Ed Bishop KC will then examine the decision in CCC and explain how it is likely to be applied in practice, at least for the time being, and will look at JBX v Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust [2026] EWHC 2294 (KB) the first decision since CCC that has considered a disputed claim.  He will then address the future of lost years claims, considering how such claims will now be assessed and whether they would survive at all if, as Lord Burrows suggested in CCC, a 7-strong Supreme Court were to consider the whole basis of lost years claims from scratch.

If practitioners thought CCC sorted out lost years claims once and for all, they should think again.  This talk will give valuable guidance on the arguments on both sides that are still there to be had and how to deploy them.