Should I purse a personal injury claim for my child.

[flowerworld]

My child was injured at school, it was the schools fault. The injury itself was, I guess minor but did result in having to go to theatre and have general anaesthetic as well as a trip to a&e and again for scan and follow ups.

My question is if I should pursue a personal injury claim or leave it be. What are peoples general thoughts on pursuing this?

Why do you want to do that? An apology? Cash?

Has your child suffered any loss?

Are you American?

My understanding is that schools are broke -
teachers buy supplies out of their own pockets,
classrooms misuse the support staff for managing the whole class that is not sufficiently staffed -

children have accidents -
why would you be pursuing damages ?

Personally I wouldn’t, unless there were long term consequences of the injury.

Was it a genuine accident or neglect?
If the latter I would want them to address that and make sure it didn't happen again and I'd report to the Governors LA but I wouldn't want to make money through it because schools are already strapped for cash.

Only if you/ your child will incur ongoing costs as a result of the accident (i.e. if it was life changing).

It depends what happened and what the injury was. Having a GA is no small thing, all surgery is a risk and depending on what surgery he had there may be complications from the surgery in the future. Can you give more details ?

I think you should only be looking at a personal injury claim if your child will long term have to spend money to get care that they would not have needed without the injury and may not be able to afford.

If you think the injury was due to some critical failing which the school have not rectified, like a young or SEN child being left with no or inadequate supervisions, then by all means report to the governs or the LA and demand a proper investigation, changes in policy, retraining or sacking of certain staff etc, but simply demanding payment will only hurt all the children in the school, but not actually help your child.

Are you financially out of pocket because of the time off/treatment required (e.g. you/your partner lost out on salary because of caring responsibilities, costs for hospital parking/medication/mobility aids etc)? Will the injury/surgery have life long consequences for your child? If so, yes, I think it's worth speaking to a specialist about whether making a claim is worth it and what the likely outcome would be.

If there is no long-term damage or financial loss, I am not sure whether I personally would want to go through the stress of bringing a claim. Presumably you will be moving schools anyway? If not, bringing a claim will certainly make your child's position at the school untenable.

I hear what others are saying about schools being broke, but only money forces change. So if the negligence is likely to cause harm to others in the future, I can see why you would wish to pursue a claim. (Again, I wouldn't, purely because of how stressful I would find it, but if that is not an issue for you, it can't hurt to look into it.)

No. That's it. Just no.

i would assume (before I google) that they too will have some sort of insurance for that kind of thing?

We do need a bit more detail though - what actually happened? Was it a piece of equipment that was known not to be safe but was left there to use or did your child climb somewhere and fell and you felt they weren’t watched for example?

Have you had to pay for medical treatment?
You should be able to get these reimbursed.

I guess if you had to get taxis etc to the hospital then you could make a claim to get those paid back but it seems a lot of hassle.

I’m not sure what other costs you’ve encountered?

No. But ask the school what are they doing to prevent such an accident happening again. If you aren’t satisfied raise it with the school governors.

Schools are hard-up as it is.

Without details of how and what happened how can we possible know how to advise?

No

Why? Both my kids have had injuries at school. One was really the school’s fault, the other was sort of their fault. Didn’t even occur to me to go after the school for money.
Are you American? Why do want money for an injury, unless you lost a lot of wages from
days off and are in financial difficulty?

I’m self employed. I certainly lost income from the time off. Still didn’t sue the school. What an odd idea 🫤

Was their negligence? You would need to show that the school knew something was dangerous/ causing a hazard / unsafe and did nothing about it. Just because something happened on school premises it doesn’t automatically mean they were liable.

Does the child need ongoing specialist care/adaptation of the house to cater for their needs/medical equipment bought?

No?
Back off then.

How greedy.

As always with these discussions .. It depends. If it was a sports injury, it happens. If it was a slip, trip or fall, due to school negligence, like unmaintained steps, maybe.

What loss has your child, or you incurred.

It will be paid by insurance which the school has to have in any event so won't cause the school financial hardship.

Amy award/settlement will be held for your child when they reach 18, so if it will assist them to get a few thousand at that point go for it.

My sons have both broken bones in school. Unless it’s caused you significant financial hardship, or you child had a permanent disability as a result, I think you should just chalk it up to one of those things.

I mean, you'll only really get anything if the injury will have a long-term implication for your child, if you've had to lose earnings, or if there are additional costs for equipment your child needs. It doesn't sound like this is the case, so I doubt you'd actually be entitled to very much, if anything. And as PP says above, awards for children are often held until their 18 so if you're hoping to get some cash now, you might be disappointed.

Thankyou for all your opinions. The general consensus is that I should leave it so think that’s what I will do.

The accident for those asking was something that fell down on my child which wouldn’t have happened had it been better maintained. Could have happened to any child had they been in that place.