If your child has suffered a brain injury due to a liable third party’s failure to comply with any laws and regulations designed to ensure your child’s reasonable safety, you could claim compensation for them. In this guide, we will discuss how a child brain injury lawyer could help you with this.
Our guide will cover how to claim on behalf of a child and what evidence could help to prove liability for their injuries. Before beginning a claim, you may also want to know how compensation is calculated. This is why our guide includes information on how a settlement might be awarded and the expenses you could claim. At the end of our guide, there’s helpful information on how claims supported by No Win No Fee solicitors work.
Please contact our team for more information on making a personal injury compensation claim for yourself or on behalf of an injured party:
- Call 0800 073 8801
- Message us to ‘start a claim‘ online.
- Talk to an advisor via our live support.
Choose A Section
- How Can A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Help?
- How Do I Claim On My Child’s Behalf For A Brain Injury?
- What Would A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Need From Me?
- Can I Claim For Care Costs Caused By My Child’s Brain Injury?
- Should I Use A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Near Me?
- Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim For My Child’s Brain Injury?
- Learn More About How To Claim For Head And Brain Injuries
How Can A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Help?
Before we look at how a child brain injury lawyer could help with a claim, we will note that legally, you do not have to use a solicitor or lawyer. You could pursue a case on behalf of your child alone. However, cases involving brain injuries may be complex. They may involve complicated legal and medical terminology and processes. We believe that there are a number of benefits to working with a specialist solicitor.
Solicitors could help with child brain injury cases by:
- Explaining and guiding you through legal proceedings.
- Organising a medical assessment of your child. This may help to both identify any immediate medical or care needs and create further evidence to support your claim.
- Help applying for an interim payment to meet immediate care or medical needs.
- Handling your case on a No Win No Fee basis.
We will discuss these and other points through the guide below. Please contact our team for further information on child accident claims.
How Do I Claim On My Child’s Behalf For A Brain Injury?
As outlined, if your child has sustained a brain injury due to a liable third party’s actions or inactions, you could claim compensation on their behalf.
Those under the age of eighteen are not able to make a personal injury claim themselves. This means that they need another person to do so for them.
This person must be a suitable adult, such as a parent, guardian or a solicitor. This person will act as a litigation friend. In order to do so and claim on behalf of someone else you must apply to and be appointed by the court.
Criteria to act as a litigation friend include:
- Being able to make decisions in a fair and competent manner.
- Not having any conflicting interests.
- Completing a certificate of suitability.
If you do make a personal injury claim on behalf of someone else you will need to keep them informed about the case as best as possible and instruct their lawyer to act in the best interests of the child.
Please contact us for further information on how one of our child brain injury solicitors could help you.
What Would A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Need From Me?
If your child suffers a head injury, there are steps which you can take in order to make the claims process easier. One of the most important steps is to collect evidence which shows the injury suffered and who was responsible for it.
Types of evidence which you could collect may include:
- Medical evidence. A child head injury should be treated as soon as possible. Depending on the circumstances and severity, you may need to call 999, attend a hospital or visit your GP. Their medical records will help to support the case.
- Photographs or CCTV footage. Either of these may show the scene of the accident or the injuries sustained. You can request CCTV footage of yourself and your child.
- Witness details. Statements from anyone who witnessed the incident can help to corroborate your account of events.
- Accident reports. Whether the accident happened on the road, in a workplace, a public place or at school, there should be a record of the accident taking place. These may be records logged in an accident report book or a police report of a car accident.
After collecting supporting evidence you can collect one of our advisors. They could assess your case and help to determine whether they think you have a valid claim. If they think you do, you could be connected to a child brain injury lawyer.
Please contact our team for more advice on how to prove your claim for a child head injury.
Can I Claim For Care Costs Caused By My Child’s Brain Injury?
Two types of damages may be awarded for a successful child brain injury claim. The first of these is general damages. The purpose of general damages is to compensate you for the physical pain and mental suffering.
General damages may also include compensation for loss of amenity. This is designed to compensate for the loss of enjoyment when unable to do things such as work or participate in certain activities due to an injury. Our guide on how much you could claim looks at how such compensation may be calculated.
The second type is known as special damages. This is a very broad category. Its purpose is to put injured persons back in a similar financial position to where they were prior to the accident and injury. However, for child claims, the expenses may be yours. For example, you would have taken time off work to care for them.
Whether for child brain injury claims or any other type of compensation claim, special damages could also compensate for care costs. Such costs may be more immediate and relevant in this type of case. A brain injury may require around-the-clock care, either in the home or a specialist facility.
Further Special Damages
In addition to care costs, you may also be able to claim for:
- Medical costs and treatment. Your child’s brain injury may require immediate medical treatment or long-term care. Such costs may be included as part of the claim.
- Loss of earnings due to taking time off work to care for your child.
- Travel costs. You may need to travel to medical appointments for your child. You could recover the cost of doing so.
You may also be able to claim for other costs related to your child’s brain injury. You will need to submit evidence of any losses you intend to claim for. Evidence could include wage slips, invoices for care or medical treatment or bank statements.
A child brain injury lawyer could assess what expenses and losses you have already had to meet and may need to in the future. Please contact our team for further information.
Should I Use A Child Brain Injury Lawyer Near Me?
If your child, or a child in your care, suffers a serious brain injury, you may ask whether you need to claim with a lawyer near you. The quick answer to this is no. You are not restricted to choosing a solicitor or lawyer from your local area.
In many cases, lawyers can handle brain injury claims remotely. This may be over the phone, online or a combination of the two. Furthermore, it isn’t very likely that you will need to meet your solicitor or lawyer in person.
If your child is eligible to claim compensation, it is more important to find a lawyer specialising in similar claims than choosing one close to you. When choosing a law firm or individual lawyer, you can consider factors such as:
- Their experience. Have they handled similar claims in the past?
- Are there reviews of their services?
- How will they keep in contact with you?
Whilst being able to visit your solicitor in person may seem helpful, having someone who is experienced in handling this type of claim can be extremely benificial.
Please get in touch with our team today to be connected to a child brain injury lawyer.
Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim For My Child’s Brain Injury?
One of our child brain injury lawyers could help you to claim compensation. If they believe that you have a valid case, they may be able to do so under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This type of agreement may also be called a No Win No Fee agreement.
A CFA is a way for the solicitor to work on the brain injury claim without you being required to pay an upfront fee for your solicitor’s work. Instead, you will pay a ‘success fee’. This fee is legally capped and only charged if you win your claim.
This means that if your claim is not successful, there will be nothing to pay for your solicitor’s services. The fee payable will be deducted at the end of your claim. It is charged as a percentage of the compensation awarded, which will be agreed upon in advance and set out in the CFA.
If a child under your care has suffered a brain injury, claim compensation by getting in contact with our team.
- Call an advisor today on 0800 073 8801.
- Complete our contact form to ‘start a claim’.
- Or send a message over our live chat.
Learn More About How To Claim For Head And Brain Injuries
In this final part of our guide, you can find additional helpful resources.
- Advice and information about how a serious injury claim lawyer could help you.
- Get help from one of our accident claim solicitors.
- View our playground accident claims guide here.
External references:
- Information on head injury and concussions from the NHS.
- Learn more about head injuries in children in this resource from Great Ormond Street Hospital.
- Get advice on first aid for a baby or child head injury from the St John Ambulance.
Thank you for reading our guide. We hope we have shown how a child brain injury lawyer could help you. For further information, please contact our team.