Children have accidents: it’s a fact. Because of this, many parents fail to ensure that the serious injuries their children may have are properly compensated. If a child is injured, even when they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing, their parent or carer may be able to secure damages on their behalf.
The most important thing to absorb is that warning signs aren’t an excuse for child accidents. In the normal course of things, if a member of the public ignores a warning sign, they are partly responsible for the accident. Children don’t read warning signs, and the law makes provision for this.
This applies even to areas where children know they shouldn’t be. Children are naturally attracted to building sites and forests, and the knowledge that Mum and Dad wouldn’t be happy to see them playing there isn’t enough of a deterrent sometimes. It’s up to the owners of the land to properly fence off the property when there are children nearby. If the owners don’t do this, they’re liable.
Seek expert advice
Not all personal injury solicitors are the same. Local advice and expertise in the subject matter of a claim is necessary. If little Ben suffers a personal injury in Manchester on a building site and his parents avoid personal injury solicitors in Manchester, aiming instead for London solicitors, the claim might be weakened. A local solicitor will know that the building site, near a playground, has been the subject of much complaining. If the parents had sought a personal injury solicitor in Manchester, the case would have been much stronger.
