Being injured in an accident which was not your fault can be a distressing and even traumatic experience. If the accident has injured a child, it may be especially hard to deal with. Whilst compensation can not make up for seeing your child’s suffering and pain, it can help to compensate them for their injuries and pay for related costs. If your child has been injured in an accident which was caused by another party’s negligence, you could claim compensation on their behalf. In this guide we look at how to make child injury claims.
We look at what a child injury compensation claim is, how the personal injury claims process works and how compensation is paid out when the victim is under the age of eighteen. We also look at how compensation could be awarded for successful personal injury cases. Finally, we look at how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you and answer some frequently asked questions.
If you want to discuss your child’s claim with our team you can get in touch with us:
- By phone on 0800 408 7825.
- By using our live chat on this page.
- Or click to contact us and request a call back.
Browse Our Guide
- What Are Child Injury Claims?
- How Are Child Injury Claims Made?
- How Does My Child Receive Compensation From A Personal Injury Claim?
- How Could Compensation Be Awarded For A Child Personal Injury Claim?
- How Can A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help You Claim For Your Child’s Injuries?
- Read More About Claiming Child Injury Compensation
- FAQs About Child Injury Claims
What Are Child Injury Claims?
Whether making child injury claims or any other type of personal injury claim, you need to show that the accident and resulting injuries were caused by a liable party’s actions or inactions. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child who has been injured, you may be entitled to claim compensation on their behalf. However, you will need to present evidence proving liability for your child’s injuries.
Below we look at examples of different circumstances in which you could be entitled to claim on behalf of a child.
Road Traffic Accidents
If a child has been hit by a car or your child hurt in any other road traffic accident, you could claim compensation on their behalf for any injuries they suffered. In order to do so, you need to show that the accident was caused by a driver failing to adhere to the duty of care that they owe all other road users.
All drivers and other road users owe each other a duty of care. As part of this duty, they must adhere to and follow the rules, regulations and guidance provided in both the Road Traffic Act 1988 as well as the Highway Code.
Examples of when you could claim may include:
- Where a driver failed to stop at a pedestrian crossing (such as at a red light) when a child was crossing the road and hit them causing injury.
- Your car could be hit by another vehicle due to their reckless driving or driving whilst intoxicated.
In these (and other circumstances) the driver of a vehicle has breached their duty of care to other road users.
Accidents In Public Places
Public spaces could include shops, shopping centres, restaurants, swimming pools, leisure centres and parks. Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 the occupier of any public space has a duty of care to ensure that the space is reasonably safe for members of the public to use. The occupier should ensure that proper safety measures have been taken. For example, the occupier should ensure that facilities (such as furniture or playground equipment) are correctly maintained and that risk assessments are carried out to identify potential hazards.
Examples of child injury claims for accidents in public could include:
- A playground occupier failing to maintain equipment causing a swing to collapse and injure a child.
- Failing to maintain a staircase in a shopping centre causing a child to trip and fall.
Our team can help you to make claims against public liability insurance.
Medical Negligence Claims
When providing medical treatment or care, all medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. They must meet the expected minimum professional standards. This is the duty of care healthcare professionals owe to their patients.
If a medical professional has failed to meet this duty and a child suffered avoidable harm, you could make a medical negligence claim.
Examples of medical negligence could include:
- Failing to diagnose that a child has a broken or fractured bone. This may delay treatment and subsequently require the bone to be rebroken to set correctly or lead to other injuries.
- Failing to refer a child for further testing, leading to a medical condition such as cancer not being diagnosed.
Whether your child has been injured in a road traffic accident, through negligent medical treatment or injured in a public place, our panel of personal injury solicitors could help you to claim compensation. Call one of our advisors today for a free initial consultation.
How Are Child Injury Claims Made?
If your child is eligible for personal injury compensation, they will need an adult to act as a Litigation friend for them. Those under the age of eighteen are unable to bring claims on their own behalf.
A Litigation friend is an adult who is appointed by the courts to act in the best interests of the child. They may be family members such as a parent, or grandparent or other close relative, a guardian or another responsible adult, such as a social worker.
To become a child’s Litigation friend, you will need to make an application to the court. Once appointed, you can then make a child accident claim at any point before the child turns eighteen. If you, or another responsible adult, has not made a claim by this point, the standard three-year limitation period will apply. This will run from their 18th to 21st birthdays.
There may be exceptions to this time limit. If the child has suffered serious and life-changing injuries (such as a traumatic brain injury) and will not be mentally capable of making a claim when they turn eighteen the standard three time limit may not apply.
For further information on who could make a child accident claim and on what time limits apply to child injury claims, please contact our team.
How Does My Child Receive Compensation From A Personal Injury Claim?
If your child’s injury claim is successful and they are awarded compensation for their injuries these funds will be placed into Court Funds Office account. This is held in trust for the child until they turn eighteen. The compensation payout can only be accessed by the child when they turn eighteen. At this point, the court will provide the claimant with access to the funds.
There are exceptions in which funds may be assessed prior to the child turning eighteen. Funds may be released earlier if the child needs to access them to fund the cost of medical care, treatment, medications, special educational needs, or for mobility aids and adaptations to their home. Any interim payments made will be deducted from the amount of compensation the child will receive at the age of eighteen.
If you have any questions about how compensation is held on behalf of an injured party for successful child injury claims, please contact a team member.
How Could Compensation Be Awarded For A Child Personal Injury Claim?
If a successful claim is made on behalf of a child, their settlement may consist of two heads of loss, or parts. These are general damages, which cover pain and suffering and special damages, which cover financial costs and losses caused by the injuries.
To calculate what general damages may be awarded for a child injury claim, personal injury solicitors and other party’s responsible for the claim may refer to the guidelines from the Judicial College (JC). The JC is part of the Ministry of Justice and sets guidelines on compensation amounts for different injuries.
In the table below we have included examples of guideline compensation brackets for different injuries. The figure in row one does not come from the JC.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries to a child plus special damages. | Serious to severe injuries to a child. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain damage | Very severe - A | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Brain damage | Moderately severe - B | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Ankle injury | Severe - B | £38,210 to £61,090 |
| Knee injury | Severe - A - iii | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Back injury | Moderate - B - i | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Leg injury | Less serious - C - i | £21,920 to £33,880 |
| Wrist injury | Less severe - C | £15,370 to £29,900 |
| Hand injury | Moderate - H | £6,910 to £16,200 |
| Elbow injury | Moderate or minor - C | Up to £15,370 |
To assess special damages, a solicitor (or another person involved in the claim) may request that you provide evidence of any costs or financial losses which have been caused by or which are related to the accident. These may include:
- Income and earnings lost due to taking time off work to care for the child.
- Adaptations made to a home or vehicle.
- The cost of mobility equipment.
- Medical expenses such as the cost of private medical treatment, medication and rehabilitation.
- Costs towards the child’s education, such as hiring a private tutor if they are out of school for an extended period due to their injuries.
Find out more about how compensation is awarded for successful child injury claims by speaking to an advisor. They can also advise on how much your child’s claim could be worth as part of a free assessment.
Is A Child Personal Injury Settlement Taxable?
Any compensation awarded in child injury claims is not taxed by the government. This means that the child will receive their compensation settlement, minus legal fees charged by any solicitors.
How Can A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help You Claim For Your Child’s Injuries?
Our advisors and panel of personal injury solicitors are experienced in helping responsible adults make successful child accident claims. They have expertise in helping people secure the best possible compensation amount on a child’s behalf and could help you.
When making child personal injury claims, or taking any type of legal action, claimants may be concerned with the costs of doing so. Through a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement, one of the personal injury solicitors from our panel could assist with a claim on behalf of a child without the need to make upfront or ongoing payments for their work on the case.
Using this type of agreement, you will not need to pay for work carried out by your solicitor unless the claim is awarded personal injury compensation. If the child personal injury claim is successful, the solicitor will charge a success fee. This fee is set as a percentage of the compensation awarded and the amount which may be charged is legally capped.
See how we could help you make a successful child personal injury claim by contacting our team.
- Call an advisor on 0800 408 7825.
- Talk about child injury claims using the live support chat
- Click contact us and request our team call you back.
Read More About Claiming Child Injury Compensation
Below you can learn more about personal injury and medical negligence claims that can be filed on a child’s behalf.
- If a child has been starved of oxygen at birth due to medical negligence, you could claim compensation.
- In this guide we look at instances of nerve damage caused by car accidents.
- If your child was injured in a public park, check how to claim compensation in this guide.
References
- If a child has been injured in a hit and run accident, the Motor Insurers Bureau may award compensation.
- If the child was harmed by medical negligence, NHS resolution may process the claim.
- This resource from Brake shows child road casualty statistics.
FAQs About Child Injury Claims
Here we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about making child accident claims.
Will My Child Need A Medical Examination To Claim?
If you choose to claim compensation with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel, they may organise for your child to have a medical examination. At the medical appointment, a relevant healthcare professional will verify your child’s injuries and provide a prognosis for recovery. This medical examination can be used as evidence to support your child’s injury claim.
How Do I Start A Child Injury Claim?
As we have highlighted, in order to start a child’s claim, a suitable adult will need to apply to the courts to act as a Litigation friend. Once you’ve decided to claim compensation on your child’s behalf, you can contact an advisor. They will be able to assess the case and if they think that you could claim compensation for your child’s accident, they will be able to connect you to a solicitor from our expert panel.
Thank you for reading our guide to child injury claims. If you have any further questions about when you could claim compensation on a child’s behalf, speak to our team.