CCC v Sheffield: Supreme Court rules children can now claim for ‘lost years’

On 18^th February 2026, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in a landmark case, CCC (by her mother and litigation friend, MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The Court ruled that child Claimants should not be excluded from making claims for lost earnings where their life expectancy has been reduced by injuries caused by medical negligence.

What happened in CCC v Sheffield?

The case is about a child, CCC (anonymised by the Court for her privacy), who suffered a hypoxic brain injury during her birth in 2015. Sadly, the injuries meant that CCC’s life expectancy was reduced to just 29 years.

The medical negligence claim was brought on CCC’s behalf by her mother against Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital where CCC was born.

The Trust had accepted responsibility for the clinical negligence which caused CCC’s brain injury. It recognised that if the negligence had not happened, CCC would likely have had a normal life expectancy, finished school, gone into paid employment and worked until retirement age.

Claiming for ‘lost years’ damages

The difference between a Claimant’s reduced life expectancy and the period they would ordinarily be expected to have lived, had they not been injured, is commonly referred to as their ‘lost years’.

The law before CCC v Sheffield

‘Lost years’ damages are available to adult Claimants who have suffered life-limiting injuries as a result of medical negligence. However, these damages were not awarded to child Claimants; instead, they could only claim for lost earnings for the limited number of years they were expected to live following the injury.

Income that could have been earned in the ‘lost years’ was not recoverable where the Claimant was a child. It was thought that child Claimants’ lost income claims were too uncertain or speculative, as the child had no established career history on which to base a claim.

This was considered by many to be unfair: a child injured by negligence was being further disadvantaged when they had no control over whether they could work or not.

What changed in CCC v Sheffield?

In CCC’s case, the medical negligence claim went to a trial in July 2023 purely on the issue of how much compensation she should be awarded. The trial judge was bound by existing case law and could only award CCC lost income up until age 29 (i.e. her reduced life expectancy), and any further loss (the income she would have earned to her retirement age, i.e. 68) was not recoverable. For CCC, this meant her lost income claim under the old law was limited to £160,000.

This legal position was at odds with the position of injured adults who can claim loss of income for ‘lost years’. The judge in CCC’s case acknowledged the inconsistency in the law and granted permission to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, by a majority of four to one, allowed CCC’s appeal. The judgment overturned the prevailing authority, meaning that child Claimants can now be compensated for their ‘lost years’. This brings the position of children in line with that of adult Claimants.

CCC’s case has been handed back to the original trial Judge to decide whether CCC should, in fact, be awarded ‘lost years’ damages on the facts of her case and if so, what those damages will be. CCC’s solicitors estimate the loss to be in the region of £800,000. 

What impact will CCC v Sheffield have for child Claimants?

This judgment creates consistency for adult and child Claimants and removes what many have found to be an unfair discrepancy in how compensation is awarded where the Claimant is a young child. It encourages fairness and parity in how adults and children are viewed in terms of the value of their future.

It will also significantly increase the compensation received by child Claimants with a reduced life expectancy because of the negligence (subject to the normal rules on proving a loss). Previously, their claim for lost earnings would have been limited by their reduced life expectancy, whereas now they can, in theory, claim lost earnings to their full life expectancy as it would have been had the negligence not happened.

Our medical negligence solicitors applaud the work of CCC’s legal team in their support of CCC and her family, and in securing such an important judgment for future Claimants.

How can Barcan and Kirby’s Medical Negligence team help?

Valuing cases of this nature is complicated; it involves significant amounts of work from specialised legal teams and expert evidence, with each claim assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Our expert lawyers have expertise in a range of clinical negligence claims, including complex birth injury cases. If you or your child has been affected by a birth injury, and you are wondering if you may be able to claim compensation, including ‘lost years’ damages, we may be able to help.

Call our specialist team on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.