We use cookies to help provide a better website experience for you, as well as to understand how people use our website and to provide relevant advertising.
By clicking "I agree", you'll be letting us use cookies to improve your website experience. To find out more or to change your cookie preferences, click "Manage Cookies".
We value your privacy
Like many other websites, our website uses cookies. Cookies are small files placed on your computer when you visit our site. They serve a number of purposes, including ensuring that certain parts of the website work properly, allowing us to understand which areas of our website are the most popular and allowing us to provide more relevant advertising messages. They don't allow us to identify you specifically and no personal data is gathered about you.
If you'd prefer that cookies weren't placed on your computer when you visit our site, you can use the controls below to allow or disallow different types of cookie. Some cookies are essential for the website to work, so they can't be disallowed.
These cookies give us anonymised information on how people use our website. We use these cookies to help us tailor our site to meet the needs of our visitors, for example by making sure our most popular pages are easy to find.
These cookies serve a number of purposes, such as allowing you to share our content with your friends and social networks. We also use these cookies to provide targeted advertising, so you may see relevant adverts based on the pages you look at on our website.
Children have accidents all the time - it’s part of growing up. Most of these injuries are nobody’s fault but sometimes children are hurt because the proper safety measures weren’t in place. We’re here for you if your child has been injured in an accident that was the result of someone else’s negligence, and could help you make a child injury claim.
Our children’s accident solicitors understand that your child’s health and wellbeing will be your number one priority, so we’ll help you access the rehabilitation and support your child needs. We can offer support to your entire family, working hard to get you the compensation and justice you deserve.
We could help if your child has been injured:
At school, college or nursery (including school trips)
Our child injury lawyers could accept your claim on a No Win No Fee basis which means that you can concentrate on your child’s recovery without having to worry about legal fees*.
If you’re interested in making a claim on behalf of a child who has been involved in an accident, or you’d like to claim for an injury you yourself sustained before you turned 18, call us on 0800 056 4110 or contact our solicitors online. We offer a free initial consultation to discuss your child accident claim and how we could help.
When you contact us, you’ll speak to a member of our friendly team, who will talk to you about your child’s injury. This initial consultation is completely free - from there, we’ll advise you on the best way to take your child’s claim forward.
Contacting Those Responsible For Your Child’s Injuries
We’ll then get in touch with those responsible for your child’s accident at an early stage to see if they accept the blame for what happened. If they accept responsibility, we’ll try to secure some compensation up-front, which can fund private medical care and expenses while the claim is ongoing. These payments, known as interim payments, will be taken out of your child’s final compensation award.
Gathering Evidence
Our experts will look into your child’s case in detail, gathering evidence from various sources such as witnesses, CCTV and independent medical professionals.
We’ll employ medical professionals to find out how your child’s accident has impacted on their future health and they’ll recommend the care your child needs to make the best recovery possible.
Final Settlement & Compensation Awarded
We’ll always try and negotiate claims out of court, keeping the claim process as short as we can. However, if your opponent doesn’t accept responsibility or doesn’t agree with the amount of compensation we feel your child needs, we’ll start court proceedings. We’ll always stand by you and your child if you have to go to trial, and will always try to settle your claim out of court before dates are set.
All personal injury cases involving children have to go before a judge for an infant approval hearing. This hearing happens even when a compensation sum has been agreed with your opponent and is in place to make sure that your child gets a fair settlement.
By making a personal injury compensation claim on behalf of your child, you can access funds to help cover expenses and any medical treatment your child might need.
Every personal injury case is different, so there’s no set amount of compensation your child will receive. The amount of compensation your child will get will depend on your family’s circumstances, the severity of your child’s injuries and their chances of making a full recovery. In child injury cases we often have to consider how the child’s symptoms could develop in the future as some injuries can develop with growth.
Our children’s accident lawyers could help you get compensation for:
Private medical treatment – to help speed up and maximise recovery
Home tutors – if your child has to take a lot of time off school, compensation can pay for tutoring to help them keep up with their work
Loss of earnings – for any time off work you have to take to look after your child
Expenses – for the likes of travelling to medical appointments
Rehabilitation – to make sure your child makes the best recovery they can, compensation can pay for rehab and support both now and in the future
For more information on making a child injury claim, contact our experts today on 0800 056 4110.
If you’re making a claim on behalf of a child, you’ll usually be able to make a claim up until their 18th birthday. Nevertheless, if your child has been injured in an accident we do urge you to contact us as soon as possible because we could help them access rehabilitation and support to help with their recovery.
We could also help you make a claim if you were involved in an accident before you turned 18. If you want to claim compensation for an accident that happened while you were a child, you will have three years from your 18th birthday to make a claim.
Many of our cases are funded with a No Win No Fee agreement. This means that there’s no financial risk* to you when making a compensation claim.
At the start of your case we’ll discuss funding options for your child’s claim, advising you what we think is most suitable. If you have legal expenses insurance (LEI) or are covered by a trade union policy, these may be better options to fund your claim. Legal expenses insurance is included in many household insurance policies, so it’s always worth checking whether you’re already covered.
If we think you’re best supported by a No Win No Fee agreement, we’ll explain the process clearly. This involves setting up an insurance policy that will protect you, at no cost to you. You’ll only have to pay anything if your claim is successful – and even then your opponent will pay most of our fees.
Please visit our No Win No Fee page for more information on how it works.
Our specialist team of personal injury solicitors are highly qualified and have years of experience in helping families claim compensation for a child injured in an accident.
This experience means we understand the issues that you and your child will be facing and we know that your child’s health is your number one priority. We’ll strive to get your child access to the best care possible, using our contacts at support groups across the country to put in place a dedicated rehabilitation plan.
Your child’s injury can impact upon the entire family, so we work closely with other departments at the firm in order to give you detailed advice on issues such as:
Educational problems
Accommodation
Ongoing care
Family matters
Financial matters
Ours is the UK’s largest personal injury team, with offices across the country - so you can be sure you’re getting the best legal help available. We’ve also won awards for our client care and focus on rehabilitation, picking up the Claimant Solicitor of the Year prize at the Rehabilitation First Awards on seven different occasions.
The compensation means that I can have the care that I really need rather than what’s provided as a bare minimum."
Rosie, client
Children's Accident Claims – Jack's Story
Jack was only a baby when his high chair was pushed over in a busy café by an autistic child who was out on a school trip. Jack was strapped into the chair and unable to move as the chair was flung to the floor – he sustained severe head injuries that would have a devastating effect on the rest of his life.
As a result of the accident, Jack suffered permanent hearing loss and behavioural changes. Now aged 11, he is able to attend a mainstream school, but still requires ongoing therapies and specialist equipment to support him with his hearing loss and learning issues.
We secured a settlement from the council in charge of the school, which specialises in teaching children with autistic spectrum disorders. If the school had provided better supervision on the school trip, Jack’s injuries could have been avoided and his life would have been very different.
“The settlement is a massive relief for us as it means he can get some specialist help with equipment and also some therapies to help him in future. This is vital funding which means we can look positively to the future and help Jack to get the very best from life.” - Deborah, Jack's Mother
"Jack will be likely to need help for the rest of his life and the settlement is based on expert medical evidence about his potential future needs. Hopefully it will give the family peace of mind that he will now receive the help he needs to realise his full potential." - Rebecca Maddock, Associate
Claims on behalf on a child under 18 must be made by a ’litigation friend’. The court can appoint anyone to be a litigation friend, including:
Parents and guardians
Family members and friends who are over 18
Solicitors
Professional advocates (e.g. an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate - IMCA)
Court of Protection deputies
Someone who has lasting power of attorney
The court will always check if you’re suitable to be a litigation friend and will ensure that your interests don’t conflict with those of the child. They will also make sure that you can make decisions relating to the case in a fair and competent way.
If the court grants you permission to be a litigation friend, we’ll always contact you with any information regarding your child’s case. You’ll also be responsible for telling them what’s happening and listening to what they want and how they feel about the case.
If you would like to make a claim on behalf of a child, contact us free today on 0800 056 4110 to find out more.
What Will Happen To My Child’s Compensation?
Compensation awarded in child injury cases is normally kept in a protected account until the child turns 18. Any amount awarded to the child has to be agreed to in an infant approval hearing before any funds can be paid out.
During infant approval hearings, the judge will consider all of the evidence in order to see if they agree with the amount of compensation which is being offered. The judge could ask you, as the litigation friend, for information on matters such as your child’s recovery and likely care costs you’ll incur.
Your child might need to attend these hearings but this can depend on their age and the severity of their injuries.
The court will hold any compensation that’s awarded to your child until they turn 18: at this point they will then receive their settlement as well as any interest. If your child needs to secure some of their compensation early - to cover care costs, for example - we can help you make an application to the court and the judge will decide whether this is in the child’s best interests.
Personal injury trusts
We can also help you set up a personal injury trust on your child’s behalf. Personal injury trusts can be helpful as they can mean that your child’s compensation won’t affect any means tested benefits that they receive when they turn 18.
Money put into a personal injury trust can mean that your child has security in the future and. Money placed in a trust can only be accessed by those who are appointed trustees. You can make yourself a trustee and in a case involving a child, the other trustee must be a solicitor. In order to get money out of the personal injury trust, all trustees must agree to its release.
For more information on setting up a personal injury trust, contact our personal injury trust experts on 0800 056 4110.
Why Choose Irwin Mitchell?
By making your child’s personal injury claim with us, you’ll be working with experienced lawyers with access to the support network you need at this challenging time.
If your child has been left with a disability because of their accident, your family’s lives can change significantly. Our Support and Rehabilitation Coordinators can help put in place measures to make this time a little easier, such as:
Organising assessments of your child’s immediate and long term needs
Co-ordinating services for your family to help with any changes to your lifestyle
Sorting practical support with day-to-day issues such as budgeting, coping strategies and support with ongoing rehabilitation
Monitoring progress of rehabilitation and implementing improvements
Public Law
We also have an in-house Public Law department who can help with any issues regarding your child’s education and disability entitlements. Our lawyers have helped children and their families with a range medical and social care issues, such as:
While handling your child’s personal injury claim we’ll always suggest other areas where we could support you and your family. For more information on making a claim with us, call 0800 056 4110.
All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated, Irwin Mitchell Scotland LLP. The law relating to funding is different in Scotland and you will receive separate advice about what that means as well as a separate funding agreement.
*To make a No Win No Fee claim, you need to enter into an agreement that's linked to a suitable insurance policy. We'll explain this in more detail before we start your claim.
Dialog that contains a form to request a callback.
Request A Callback
Enter you details below and we'll call you back, at a time of your choice
All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated,