To claim compensation against a farm?

[Cat1984]

My 5 year old dd broke her arm badly at a school trip to the farm over a week ago and had to be operated on and now has wires holding her bones in place at the elbow, she has no movement in her index finger on her right arm and me and her school are trying to decide whether or not to let her go back to school. She's really traumatised by it all and keeps having flashbacks and getting upset, she even told me she never wants to go on another school trip. I've been told by a few people that I should sue the school or farm or claim compensation but I'm not sure about it because I'm so drained and exhausted my brain is barely working atm. WIBU to put in a claim?

Any claim will be based on the Occupier's Liability Act. The question is "Was anyone negligent?" The farm first and then the school.

There is not an automatic right to compensation and negligence needs to be proved.

Very few such cases succeed as in very few cases is negligence proved or indeed there.

Btw this info comes from someone who deals with such things on a day to day basis!

My dc had a bad elbow fracture that resulted in being wired and pinned. Sensation took 8months plus to return to one of his fingers plus some physio.

Accidents happen. Reception children should be supervised 1:4 on trips but in play areas it's impossible to watch 4 children at the same time unless you insist they all stay together. Same as your own kids. Most schools have play equipment in playgrounds now which will be supervised when children are on it but it will be more like 1 adult watching lots of children. Should that be stopped too in case a child falls and injures them self? My year 1 class love going in the adventure playground at the school I work in. They aren't allowed during break and lunchtimes because of risk of injury so I take them out there in afternoons when there is no older children but it is just me supervising 30 children. Perhaps I should stop this in case one child falls and I don't catch them?

Sounds an awful injury, poor mite and poor you

I hope the injury heals well and I agree with Augusta et al. I'm staggered at the amount of posters saying don't sue, it was an accident as if there were a coach load of MNers at the farm watching carefully.

I'm saying, find out what happened best you can, see how the injury heals and whether it's likely there'll be future issues and when you've got all the facts, make a decision then.

I've lost count of the number of broken bones that have occurred in my children's friends groups. None were because of negligence or could have been prevented, kids do have accidents and breaks are common.

Hope the OP's daughter gets better but suing isn't always the answer.

My children's school has been sued at least twice for children with broken bones that have happen while playing on schools outdoor play equipment. With a teacher there and two ta's at least present - they couldn't do anymore to ensure safety.

If that's the case then the claims will fail and the parents of the children in question will have to pay the school's costs.

My daughter broke her leg in two places jumping off a soft cube onto a mat at a soft play area aged 4 - accidents happen OP x

Go and have a look at the farm's play area so you get some idea of how it happened. It may be that the farm needs to make the area safer.

Discuss it with the school - go through the accident form which will be very detailed. You need all the details. Discuss what steps they're taking if they need to improve anything.

After that, give yourself time to think once you have all the info.

Your dd sounds shaken up which is natural. When she's ready, talk her through what happened and how it felt. Make sure she knows it's very unusual and not likely to ever happen again so long as she thinks about what she can and can't do.

Augusta - sadly sheltered if you think that is the case, even if school got parents to sign wavers that if accidents happen on school play equipment that are not to blame in case of accident - they aren't worth the paper they are written on. Even with a high level of supervision 9/10 times the school will be made to pay

Quite a number of years ago my DS cracked his head open in a splash park feature in a large park.
I felt it was the design in the equipment and it's use that had caused the cut - DS was only playing as intended.
I asked for investigation etc and was assured it met H and S standards and it had been unfortunate. I hadn't intended to sue - I may well have done had the investigation shown something up (I honestly can't say what I'd have done) - but it was piece of mind for me that it was an unfortunate accident and no other child was placed at higher risk of also having a bald patch and scar on their head for life.

I hope your DD makes a full recovery. Broken bones can be awkward to heal but surgeons are very skilled at setting metal plates to get the best possible recovery. Make sure you get her physio afterwards as well as it will help.

RubbleBubble00

No they won't. Really, they won't

It is actually rare that claims against school's are upheld.

I don't want to out myself on here but this info comes from someone who deals with this on a day to day basis. Very few even make it to court never mind win.

In the most 3 year survey the average of claims against schools that were successful was 1 in 20.

That should be most recent 3 year suvey

even if school got parents to sign wavers that if accidents happen on school play equipment that are not to blame in case of accident - they aren't worth the paper they are written on.

Well, of course. Due to the fact that that's the law. You can't sign away your child's right to compensation for damage caused to him by someone else's negligence, and you would be a seriously negligent parent yourself if you tried to do so.

I'm sorry about your daughter's injury but you have to ask yourself whether it's worth suing. You'll be putting yourself under a lot of stress, you won't be too popular with the school and you might lose and incur huge costs.

Augusta How do you know no-one was negligent, StillStaying? Were you there?,of course I wasn't fucking there, what a stupid thing to say.

Accidents happen and I'd not be in any rush to make a claim, why would you?

Surely a children's soft play area should be safe though? I don't know any soft play where a child could fall badly enough to break a bone and if it is dangerous then the children should be supervised on the dangerous parts?

I broke my left arm at soft play when I was two. Bad break. It healed well and I was writing and drawing with my left hand as soon as the cast was off.

Accidents happen - I was there with my dad and I fell before he could get to me. I went back to nursery, am sure I had lots of fuss made of me and kids drawing on my cast, and that was that.

Don't put yourself through the stress of sueing. Hope your DD heals quickly and forgets all about it soon.

It is actually rare that claims against school's are upheld

I agree with this.

I've heard judges be critical of claims against school for supervision issues on more than one occasion.

Clear negligence is a different matter but I'd still proceed carefully.

How do you know no-one was negligent, StillStaying? Were you there?,

of course I wasn't fucking there, what a stupid thing to say.

So why did you claim so positively that no-one was negligent? Don't you think that that might have involved a smidgen of stupidity on your part?

Accidents happen and I'd not be in any rush to make a claim, why would you?

Because some accidents are avoidable by people taking reasonable care. If your child was left seriously injured by a car accident caused by someone failing to take reasonable care when driving, would you shrug your shoulders and say "Accidents happen"?

If one of my kids were injured in a serious accident I'd be focusing on their health, recovery and rehabilitation rather than rushing out to claim compensation.

I think that would be my priority.

No-one has suggested "rushing out", StillStaying. You can focus on your children's health and recovery whilst still looking at compensation. OP has 18 years in which to do that.

If you child were seriously injured in a car accident and you really wouldn't contemplate suing a negligent driver at all, you would be failing them. Suppose your children never recover fully? Would you still refuse to sue? There are relatively few serious injuries that don't have some sort of long term effect, whether physical or mental or both.

I'd be focusing on their health, recovery and rehabilitation

Which i'm sure the OP is. But if there is a claim insurers have rehab team and can help with this kind of thing. That's what they're there for.

Also I work in this area....there aren't 'loads of claims', insurance isn't exorbitant and of those claims there are a lot don't go anywhere near court.

Oh for god sake accidents happen. Your daughter could just as easily suffered the same break tripping over her own feet. Sounds to me like you are the one making your daughter fearful by the way you are going on. As for going back to school it is really not a huge thing, schools manage this all the time.
Most likely she will go in a few mins early to get to the classroom without being in the midst of a large number of people, she will possibly get the option to stay in at breaks and get to choose a friend or two to stay in with her.
It is a broken arm kids break bones and do other stuff to themselves all the time.

CAT1984, Who is advising you to try to get compensation and do they have your best interests at heart or do they just have a mean attitude towards school?

The compensation would have to be specifically for the harm done to your DD (if she never gets finger movement back), so you would have to wait a while anyway to see if that problem resolves itself.

I've broken arms 3 x and cut open badly another time (resulted in minor nerve displacement). That sounds like heck of a break to cause loss of control of the fingers.

I was answering Augusta when I referred to looking after my child rather than seek compensation.

In my opinion I'd not seek to sue the school or farm and I'd ignore any friends advice to do so.

I knew a little girl who broke her leg whilst falling down the second to bottom carpeted step of her staircase at home. Should her parents be sued for negligence?

My own dd knocked out two teeth by tripping over her own feet and falling against the safety gate we had put in place to protect her little brother. Does that mean I am no longer a fit parent?

As a parent, with two rather clumsy children (though thankfully now nearly grownup), I am a bit worried by the implication that every accident is the result of negligence. If we introduce this attitude towards every aspect of society, this will also be the way society judges us: that no accidents should ever happen and that if they do, it is the fault of the adult in charge who should promptly be held to account.

I feel that it will make both parents and schools paranoid of any activity that could cause physical damage. That is, any activity other than sitting still with an iPad. And we already know that an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is damaging our children.

It may well be that if the OP brings a case against the school, she will lose. But the result will also be that the school will stop outings of this type. They will feel uncomfortable and afraid next time.

And of course it is not the case that a successful court case does not cost the school: it will cost them masses in staff time, covering for whoever has to prepare the case and give witness and reassuring other parents. Those costs will not be covered by the OP.

rickety-ticket's plan seems much better: have a quiet look at the farm, discuss it quietly with the school and only act if you are sure there is a health and safety aspect that could be improved

And best wishes for a speedy recovery.