By Richie Billings. Last Updated 12th September 2024. Welcome to our guide on the subject of school accident claims. If your child has been injured at school due to the negligence of the staff then they could be entitled to compensation. Those under 18 cannot pursue their own claim until they reach adulthood. However, an adult acting as a litigation friend could make the claim on their behalf.
You’ll need to be able to prove that the school breached the legal duty they owed you or your child. We can tell you how you can do this and whether or not your claim is valid.
Speak with us directly to find out more about school negligence cases. We could put you in touch with a personal injury lawyer from our panel if we think your child could be owed compensation. You can reach us in a number of ways.
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Contact us through our website
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Choose A Section
- What Are School Accident Claims?
- When Could You Make A School Accident Claim?
- Where Does Compensation Awarded To Your Child Go?
- How Much Are School Accident Claims Worth?
- Start A No Win No Fee School Negligence Case
- Learn More About School Accident Claims
What Are School Accident Claims?
The injuries that a child can sustain in school can be quite varied. For example, your child could slip, trip, or fall due to slippery floors. This could result in dislocations or broken bones in body parts like the wrist or foot.
If the school has a playground, then this might include playground equipment like swings and climbing apparatus. Unsafe equipment is the responsibility of the school to rectify. If responsibility is ignored then this could lead to injuries that result in school accident claims. Both parents and visitors to the premises could potentially claim compensation.
If you want to learn about the claims process in more detail, just chat with one of our advisors. They could connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to work on your claim.
When Could You Make A School Accident Claim?
When your child is at school, they are owed a duty of care. This means that the school must carry out every reasonably practicable step that ensures their safety while on the premises.
If this duty is not upheld, and your child is injured as a consequence, then this is known as negligence. By showing that negligence led to your child’s injuries, you could make a claim on behalf of your child as their litigation friend.
Litigation friends are appointed by the court to oversee a claim on behalf of someone who cannot claim for themselves. This includes minors under the age of eighteen.
To find out if you could make a claim on behalf of a child who was injured, contact our team today. Or, to learn more about school accident claims, read on.
Where Does Compensation Awarded To Your Child Go?
The litigation friend is not awarded the compensation following successful school negligence claims. Instead, the settlement us paid into a secured bank account in the child’s name. This is referred to as a Court Funds Office account.
The litigation friend would simply be in charge of the account’s administration. For example, they would need to keep things like contact details up to date.
They can also apply for withdrawals from the account if they directly benefit the child. A judge would make a ruling as to whether the withdrawal is permitted.
These responsibilities would end as soon as the child turned 18. At this point, the money will be transferred to the child.
For more information on the school accident claims process, get in touch with our friendly claims team today.
How Much Are School Accident Claims Worth?
A payout can be made up of a maximum of two different heads of claim. These are referred to as general and special damages.
Below, we have included a table illustrating some potential general damages. These sums have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
The JCG is a collection of compensation brackets that can be deployed as a general guideline.
| Injury | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries and Types of Financial Loss | Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Damage | Moderately Severe | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Back | Severe (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Chest | Causing Some Ongoing Disability | £38,210 to £66,920 |
| Foot | Serious | £30,500 to £47,840 |
| Knee | Moderate (i) | £18,110 to £31,960 |
| Neck | Moderate (ii) | £16,770 to £30,500 |
| Shoulder | Serious | £15,580 to £23,430 |
| Arm | Simple Forearm Fractures | £8,060 to £23,430 |
| Wrist | More Than 12 Months' Recovery From A Fracture Or Soft Tissue Injury | £7,420 to £12,630 |
Other sums can be included in compensation awarded in school accident claims. This part of your claim is intended to reimburse you for any losses that have occurred due to the injuries. These amounts come under the special damages head of claim.
For example, your child’s personal property may have been damaged due to the accident that caused the injuries. You could claim back money you spent on replacing their clothes or belongings.
Additionally, parents may have to take time off work to look after their injured child. It’s possible that the parent could make a claim for loss of earnings in this circumstance.
For more insight into how much your child’s claim could be worth, get in touch today. You could be connected with a solicitor from our panel if your claim is valid.
Start A No Win No Fee School Negligence Case
If you plan to make a school accident claim, it could be well worth getting professional support. For example, our panel’s lawyers have plenty of experience in handling school negligence cases and securing compensation using their knowledge of the claims process.
Working with one of our panel’s lawyers has many benefits, not least the No Win No Fee terms they offer. Some solicitors will charge you for their work no matter how the case goes, but that isn’t the case here.
Instead, our panel’s lawyers offer a Conditional Fee Agreement. You don’t pay anything for their work at any stage before or during the claim. If you lose, there’s no fee to pay.
Winning an accident at school claim entitles the lawyer to a small percentage of the compensation award. The percentage is legally guaranteed to be small because The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 sets a clear cap.
Whether you want advice on school negligence claims or want to check if a lawyer could take on your case, all you need to do is call. Our service is free and carries no obligation to take legal action, even if we find that you can.
Choose one of these options, all of which are open to you 24/7, to begin:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825.
- Contact us through our website.
- Click the live support tab that pops up on your screen.
Learn More About School Accident Claims
- Another of our guides regarding how to claim against a public school.
- Our article on child injury claims in general.
- Find out what to do if your child was injured in a public place.
- Information from the NHS on how to tell if you’ve broken a bone.
- HSE guide on reporting incidents in schools.
- More NHS information on dislocated shoulders.
Thank you for reading our guide on school accident claims. Get in touch for more information on any potential school negligence cases.
Guide by AI
Publisher ET