The claim for financial losses are usually quite easy for a solicitor to calculate on the child’s behalf.  The Child’s parents who would normally sustain the financial loss by taking time off work to look after the child etc would be advised to inform the accident claims solicitor to obtain a written letter from the child’s parent’s employer.  The other losses such as the repairs to the vehicle and car hire for instance will be simple basic math.

However this is different from the quantification of the personal injuries.  The calculation of a personal injury claim for a child or adult for that matter is not an exact science.  Following the accident the Solicitor would obtain all necessary medical records for the child including the GP and hospital.  These medical records would then be forwarded to an independent doctor who will examine the child and provide a written medical report setting out any relevant medical history of the child prior to the accident and take instructions from the child and or the parent about the accident circumstances and injuries complained of.  The doctor would then provide a full written report to the instructing solicitor about the nature and extent of the injuries to the child following the accident claim.  The doctor would also state in the report if-

• The child’s injuries have now resolved at the time of the examination and if so, when they resolved and if that time was reasonable having regard to the accident circumstances complained of

• The child’s injuries will be resolved following the examination, and if so when it is expected the child would recover from the accident.  A prognosis would be expected by the solicitor from the doctor as to when (i.e. a date in the future) the child is expected to fully recover from the injuries.

• The child’s injuries are permanent.  If that is the claim then the solicitor would expect the medical doctor to set out fully the extent and nature of the injury and how in both physically and mentally the child’s quality of life will be affected by the injuries suffered in the accident.

• The child’s injuries are so severe to require further medical experts from different disciplines to advise upon the full extent of the injuries to the child i.e. orthopaedic, urologist, accident and emergency consultant, psychologist amongst others.

• The child’s injuries are such that the expert will wish to take a “guarded” opinion about the nature and extent of the child’s injuries and will advise the solicitor to take a “wait and see” approach.  What this means here is that the medical expert is unable to say with certainty that the child will be able to recover from the child’s injuries by a certain time interval in the future following the examination.  Therefore to provide an more informed opinion about the injury to the child, the expert will request to the solicitor that he or she would wish to see the child again in, say, a further 12 months time and examine the child once again and see how the child has recovered.  The solicitor would then request a further medical examination at a later time and obtain another supplemental report on the injuries before settling the claim.

Negotiations to Settle The Claim

Once the medical report has been sent to the solicitor from the medical expert the written report would be reviewed by solicitor and a copy will be sent to the child’s parents for approval.   Once approved the solicitor will then consider the injuries of the child as set out in the report and compare the injuries with claims decided in the courts previously where other children had sustained similar injuries.  To solicitors this is called “precedents” and the compensation that will be payable to the child for the injury will be reflected by other cases decided in the past.  The solicitor will have to be guided by the awards in earlier claim decided in court.  Once the solicitor has considered the compensation amount that is reasonable for the injuries the child has sustained then the solicitor will advise the parent (or litigation friend) of what the solicitor considers is reasonable compensation.  Once the amount is agreed then the child’s solicitor will write to the other person at fault and attempt to settle the claim without even taking court action.

To settle the claim for compensation for the child’s injuries the solicitor will often put forward the names of the precedent cases in support of the claim.  For the financial losses the solicitor would have obtained documents in support such as the repair invoices, wage loss from the child parent’s employers, mileage allowance for travel and parking etc.  These would be sent to the other solicitor representing the defendant and negotiations will take place.  If the solicitors in the claim are unable to reach an agreement to settle the claim for injury and losses then the only other way to resolve the claim would be by the child’s solicitor taking court action or through mediation.

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The injury and child accident example claim would be against the driver of a motor car causing injury to the father, mother and child.  The father was the driver of the car, mother a front seat passenger and the child a rear seat passenger fitted securely in a child seat.  The road traffic accident was caused when other driver of the motor car, failed to stop at a set of traffic lights and hitting the child’s father’s motor car from behind.  This type of accident happens every day and often called a “rear end shunt.”  The father, mother and child will all have a claim against the other driver for personal injury (usually whiplash) or neck injuries, repairs for the vehicle, medical bills, replacement car hire, return of any insurance excess, loss of earnings, time for caring for the child and any other reasonable expense or loss.  Child injury and accident Solicitors will take a care to ensure that all the passengers and the driver will reclaim all their losses and expenses as well as a lump sum compensation payment or award to all injured family.
The child accident personal injury solicitors by way of a letter of claim will set out the road traffic accident particulars, the time of the accident, what happened, if there were any witnesses and provide full details of why the solicitors and the litigation friend on behalf of the infant child consider the other driver was to blame for the accident and the personal injuries sustained both physical and emotional.
The blame particulars that the child solicitor’s letter of claim would contain would look something like this:

The child’s and family’s accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant, their employee or agents in negligence due to:

• The other car driver drove his vehicle too fast causing personal injury to the child

• The other car driver failed to break in time or at all causing personal injury to the child

• The other car driver failed to notice the traffic lights were showing “red” causing personal injury to the child

• The other car driver failed to swerve or manoeuvre his vehicle so as to avoid the collision with the child’s passenger vehicle causing personal injury to the child

• The other car driver failed to stop in time or at all to avoid the accident causing personal injury to the child

• The other car driver failed to take heed of the road conditions, to slow down, sound his horn so as to avoid the collision causing personal injury to the child

• That the facts of the car accident speak for themselves causing personal injury to the child

Disclosure of Documents In The Letter of Claim

Unless liability is admitted in full solicitors for the infant child and the family will expect the other car driver to disclose all relevant documents in accordance with a Court Protocol which exists in personal injuries claims such as road traffic accidents.  It is a procedure that encourages solicitors acting for the parties to exchange information quickly to help speed up the claim for personal injury and accident claims.  Examples of documents the child’s solicitors would request would be something like the following:-

The Solicitor would routine disclosure of:

1. Maintenance of the vehicle (if there was something wrong with it)
2. Mot cerificate
3. Police report, if any

As a matter of procedure, solicitors for the injured child would be contacting the insurance company of the driver at fault and obtain further information.

The above is only a brief outline of the possible blame in negligence on behalf of the child and the child’s parents in respect of the accident against the Council, School or Occupiers, Owners of the area in question.

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Child’s Accident and Injury Claim

The letter of claim would then specify the nature of the child’s injuries such as a head injury, fractured arm or leg, back injury, neck injuries etc.  The solicitor here would specify the full extent of the injuries to the child or children if more than one involved in the accident.  The solicitor would then try to agree an independent medical expert with the party to blame for the accident.  The doctor would then examine the child in the presence of the mother or father (litigation friend) and provide a written report on the injuries sustained by the infant child.  The written report will then form the basis of the amount of damages or compensation the child will receive.  Obviously the more severe the injuries to the child the greater the amount of compensation will be awarded to the child.  As child injury and accident solicitors, we will be able to advise the parent or guardian of the amount of compensation for the injuries sustained to the child in respect of the accident.  As a general guide please click on the Accident Injury Dummy which is provided on our main web site – CLICK COMPENSATION GUIDE HERE – www.hutcheonlaw.co.uk

For more information on road traffic accidents and child injury accident solicitors CLICK ROAD ACCIDENT HERE

Settlement of Child Injury Compensation

Once the case is settled and the case in won, the compensation will be payable until the child reaches the age of 18 years which is the age when the law determines that a child can act for himself/herself without the need for a parent or guardian.  Up until the time the child who has been injured on the trampoline reaches 18 years of age the child must always act through a parent or guardian.  If the child needs money for education, welfare or benefit before reaching 18 years, the child’s accident injury solicitors will request from the court a payment  out of the compensation fund on account.

The compensation payment to the child following an accident claim will be invested on the child’s behalf at the Court Funds Office special court bank account which gains interest and is invested on behalf of the child until the child reaches the age of 18 years of age.

It is important once the case has been finalised that the parents and the child keep a note of the court case number and the address of the court.  If the family move address they should also remember to let the court know of the new address so that the court will be able to keep track of the family and remind the child when he or she reaches the age of 18 years that the compensation plus interest will be paid so that the final compensation claim for the injured child victim will finally come to an end.

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Child accident and injury solicitors

Posted in Home Page, Pedal Bike Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents Tagged: child accident solicitors injury road traffic passenger whiplash claims ]]> http://childinjuries.co.uk/2009/06/19/child-injuries-road-accident/feed/ 0 childinjur1es http://childinjuries.co.uk/2009/06/19/broken-bones/ http://childinjuries.co.uk/2009/06/19/broken-bones/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:45:26 +0000 Solicitor Advice http://childinjuries.co.uk/?p=174 ]]> Child’s Broken Arm

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