While injuries and accidents are part of childhood memories, injuries and accidents that occur due to negligence or lack of safety should be compensated. Child accidents tend to be more stressful as compared to adult accidents. Therefore, child injury cases and compensations are handled differently than adult personal injury cases.

Legally, a person under 18 years is considered a minor and cannot engage a child personal injury solicitor or claim compensation. Instead, they are represented by a next friend who should be a parent or legal guardian. Unfortunately, most parents and guardians hesitate to file child injury claims due to lack of information. They are not sure what types of claims they should file and lack monetary resources. Here are some important points you should know about filing child personal injury claims.

Making a child personal injury claims

Child accidents range from falls, slips, trips, pushes to birth injuries just to mention a few. As such guardians are allowed to file claims for accidents that occur at school, day care, public or private play grounds, during birth, and others caused by faulty children toys. Despite the type of injury or accident your child experiences, the first step should be seeking medical attention. The medical practitioner should record all physical injuries, symptoms, and distress that arose from the accident. This information is used as evidence in a court of law.

The next step should be contacting your child personal injury solicitor. Give an account of what happened, and the solicitor may visit your child to assess injury extents and note important things that may be useful in a court of law.

Recording and reporting accident and injury details

With the help of your child personal injury solicitor, you should have a clear account of the events that transpired during and after the accident. Crucial facts that can be used in court include; date and time of the accident, where the accident happened, the weather condition at the time of the accident, circumstances that led to the accident, photos of the accident scene, contact details of the witnesses and a police report.

Approach the injuries board

Your child personal injury solicitor should guide you in making an application for child injury assessment claim to the injuries board. The injuries board assesses the level of injuries and suggests the compensation of amount that should be paid to the child. At this point, you should consult your child personal injury solicitor to help you determine whether the suggested compensation is fair.

If you decide to accept the suggested compensation, your solicitor will start the court process to have the compensation paid. The court issues an order compelling the involved parties to pay the recommended compensation amount. In case you are not comfortable with the suggested compensation amount, a court proceeding should be issued. The court will rule on how much compensation the child will receive. Note that, the injuries board does not assess child medical negligence cases.