injury claim? should i? who should i use?

loopy_lass

Hi my daughter was injured at school and was basically told to stop acting about and get on with it and was left alone with torn ligaments in her leg (short version) now 3 years on, she still cant go back to judo and has trouble with her ankle giving way and aching when the weather is damp. The dr now says she may never be able to go back to judo and its affecting her ability in in GCSE P.E. so can forget about becoming a P.E. teacher! back to hairdressing for her!!

we never claimed off the school at the time, although the ofsted man said he was appauled at the whole scenario, so can i claim? who should i use?

any ideas? thanks

loops

Clive_Woody

loopy_lass wrote:

Hi my daughter was injured at school and was basically told to stop acting about and get on with it and was left alone with torn ligaments in her leg (short version) now 3 years on, she still cant go back to judo and has trouble with her ankle giving way and aching when the weather is damp. The dr now says she may never be able to go back to judo and its affecting her ability in in GCSE P.E. so can forget about becoming a P.E. teacher! back to hairdressing for her!!

we never claimed off the school at the time, although the ofsted man said he was appauled at the whole scenario, so can i claim? who should i use?

any ideas? thanks

loops

Whoops clicked on thanks button rather than quote....

Probably too late to make a claim. You could try one of these no win no fee solicitors, but I suspect they will not be interested.

Have you considered going to see a sports physio who may be able to help sort her leg out? Your average GP won't be much use, but may be able to refer you to somebody who can help.

aussielle

Claims have to be made within 3 years of the date of the accident

What area do you live in?

loopy_lass

i understood that for children the claim wasnt cut off at 3 years, anyways we didnt know the injury would affect her future until now. we live in north yorkshire.

can anyone suggest anyone through experience?

thanks loops

aussielle

I hadn't realised there was a different time limit for children. Having a quick read now it seems there are different rules.

So I can't be much help, my experience is personal but as an adult, I'm not much use to help you find a solicitor either, as unfortunately you are in a different area to me.

I would just make one suggestion..If you have a solicitor you like and trust for other legal matters, ask them to direct you, or ring local solicitors and ask if they have a specialist PI solicitor.

loopy_lass

yer i think i might... thanks...

Beamish

Be warned though, if you are able to make a claim for your daughter it could take years, my claim is now in its seventh year!, (admittedly it is for a serious assault though) but I was warned it could take upto 3 to 4 years

You will need all medical reports on the injury, witness statements,statements from the teacher involved,and will probably have to see independant doctors etc, it goes on and on and can be quite distressing at times as the solicitors see no sense of urgency.

But good luck

Beem

loopy_lass

thanks for that beem, luckily we do have the hospital report to fall back on, strangely enough the teacher involved or not as the case may be was a temp and who knows where she is now... also wouldnt surprise me if there were no entry in their incident book! however, i did write to the ofsted people who were just about to go into assess the school who took the matter up as a cause for concern! so should be plenty of documentation.

just peeves me that now 4 years down the line she is still bothered by it and wont be able to continue her PE ambition. The teacher concerned left her in an open public building with torn ligaments!!! some member of the public watched over her but sheeesh he could have been anyone and she could do nothing to defend herself due to her injury... the school didnt even know she had been injured and that i had gone to collect her after one of her sensible friends telephoned me. So basically i took her to the hospital and I phoned the school 4 days later to ask if they knew where she was!!!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

loops

Astaroth

The legal limit for injury claims is 3 years from the date of knowing. For a minor the date of knowing is considered their 18th b'day and therefore any minor that is injured has until their 21st b'day to issue court proceedings.

If you had legal expenses cover (can be called things like family legal protection etc) at the time then it will cover pursuing any claims for compensation for injuries.

RibenaBerry_2

I would second the comment about checking whether you have insurance for legal expenses. It is sometimes included in house insurance and people don't even realise. If you are insured, it could help you decide whether to go ahead.

Clive_Woody

RibenaBerry wrote:

I would second the comment about checking whether you have insurance for legal expenses. It is sometimes included in house insurance and people don't even realise. If you are insured, it could help you decide whether to go ahead.

You have to be careful with a lot of these 'legal' add on to insurance policies, if you read the T&Cs they state something along the lines of they will only take on the case if there is a very good chance of them winning it. In this case they may be a bit hesitant because of the time delay, but for the price of a phone call if you have this cover on your policy it might be worth seeking their opinion.