To make them pay? WWYD

[Marshmellowmallow]

I've name changed for this as alot of the details are outing.

My husband broke his leg on school premises about 4 months ago. His work have been paying him full pay for 6 weeks and after that was SSP which means we are currently losing about £300 a week on his usual wage.

Due to this and the fact that we relied on my husband doing overtime, we have fallen behind on our rent and we have gone massively into our overdraft. I am a stay at home mum so the only real income we we are living off is the £92 a week SSP and child benefit.

The bone has healed in his leg but he has severe ligament damage which we have been told won't heal for another 2 months atleast. The type of job he has means he has to use his leg and is not much use without it so can't go back on different duties etc.

I spoke to citizens advice regarding the debt and they asked whether I had began proceedings to sue the school. I said I hadn't thought of it. I mentioned it to some of the school mum's at the gate and they were all absolutely horrified thstbi would even contemplate suing the school.

Please no bashing, I'm physically and mentally exhausted from this. I haven't slept in weeks from worrying about the money. I just don't know what to do

AnoukSpirit - the school do owe a duty of care to any visitor to do what they reasonably can to ensure that visitors don't get injured on the premises. Negligence would be a breach of this duty of care

I would absolutely claim against the school. I have no idea why you would spread it about the whole school that you were doing so though

Just wanted to say I agree. Claim, that is what insurance is for and the head is an actual human being who would not want you to be suffering hard ship because of their negligence.

And stop telling people (who clearly don’t give s shit about your difficulties) your personal business.

I work in a school and we were sued years ago by a parent who tripped over in the yard. The whole thing was dealt with by the local authority legal department and we didn't have to get involved at all. We ended up benefiting because the LA paid to have our playground resurfaced following a health & safety inspection. I think if the school/LA were genuinely at fault then you should make a claim.

Absolutely put a claim in. Why should you and yours suffer because of the school's cock up? Ignore anyone who says otherwise

it wouldn’t sit right with me-you’ll forever sour your relationship with the school. Unless they haven’t learnt from it abc changed practice/fixed the problem I would let it stay as an unfortunate accident. Life is full of them**@sibling - the OPs family are suffering because of the school's negligence. If anyone has "soured" the relationship it's the school.

The same mums who are telling you that it’s a terrible idea to put in a claim would probably claim themselves in your shoes. Worth keeping that in mind when they get arsey with you.

You should sue, they will have insurance to cover this .

Also I’d keep private business like this to myself and not tell folk at the school gates. Everyone will know and have an opinion on it

The school premium going up is not your concern. If the school is liable they should pay. They may settle outside of insurance.

There's no need for anyone else to know, it's your business entirely.

What worries me is that getting money from the school will take time and you need money in the here and now.

Contact a reputable firm of solicitors with a Personal injury team OP. They will advise whether or not your claim has merit.

Don’t worry about the schools premiums. The way schools are insured varies. While all have insurance, some will be through the LA and some direct through s company. Many (most?) LAs effectively self insure for all but the highest value claims which means payments come from a fund which is public money set aside for this purpose.

Don’t let this put you off though if you believe the school has a duty of care to your DH and have been negligent. There is a protocol for PI claims which your solicitor and the school’s insurers/the LA will follow. There is an investigation period and timescale for them to provide a response on liability. If the claim is denied they must provide documents to support this. If it is admitted, your DH will need to provide medical evidence/report and proof of all financial loss. Solicitor’s generally receive fixed costs for claims up to £25k and do these are dealt with reasonably quickly but could still take a few months and longer if your DH takes a while to fully recover or the recovery period or need for further treatment is unclear. It is in the defendants interest to admit claims sooner where they are at fault as this reduces the amount of legal fees they will ultimately pay.

Your solicitor will walk you through all this.

I work in a role where we have public liability insurance, with a small number of claims being made each year, and in my experience there is no need to get a solicitor involved straight off.

The head should have already put the insurers on notice of this incident so ask him for their details so you can make contact.

Send them an email outlining what happened, the value of your claim and your justification behind this amount.

If they feel you have a case they will try to settle out of court because it’s cheaper, particularly in terms of time and legal fees to actually go to court and defend a claim.

If they don’t play ball then I’d get a solicitor involved.

Yes you need to pursue and no other parents need know nothing about this. At the end of the day its none of their business. School were clearly at fault otherwise why apologise (The LA will have her guts for that!) It also needs to be done now while it is relatively fresh in you and their minds etc. Just get on with it - it is never an immediate payment - you can prob rely on 2 to 3 yrs and do not accept the first offer!!!

btw claim should be on a number of fronts - economic loss in terms of income plus compensation for the injury itself, plus any additional expenses such as equipment needed by husband for recovery (exercise boards etc) prescriptions etc.

Once everything is back to normal consider getting some income insurance on DH given it leaves you in such a pickle

Claim.

Yes schools are short of funding but it's not your responsibility to prop up an underfunded education system at the expense of your family's welfare, if the school were at fault they carry the can.

SLT can take a fucking paycut if needed

Just saying sorry does not automatically assume liability.

Aka i say sorry that you fell over in my store does not mean i have accepted liabilty for your fall when it was your childs pram that caused you to fall over.

If they were at fault rightly sue them but if it was something like he feel over and just because he fell over does not mean he can successfully bring a claim unless the issuer can prove within reason they were the cause aka not sign posted wet floor lose floor tile.

But not responsible if he was reading a text and fell down a step.

Speak to a solicitor.