Accident At Nursery School Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

    By Llauren Hope. Last Updated 17th February 2021. Welcome to our guide on accident at nursery school claims.

    Has your child been involved in a nursery school accident and been injured as a result? If they have and it was due to the negligence of the nursery school staff, then you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

    When we leave our children at a nursery in the care of someone else, we expect them to be kept safe from harm and well looked after by the teachers and nursery staff. Leaving our children, particularly for the first few times can be hard and we need to be able to feel that we can trust that the nursery staff will take good care of the most precious person in our life. The last thing we expect is to find that our child has been injured, in particular, when due to negligence. Apart from the worry about their child, feelings of guilt will probably be felt by most parents as well, as they question their choice of nursery, although of course, it wouldn’t have been the parent’s fault at all.

    If your child has been injured whilst at nursery due to the negligence of the nursery staff, you can make a claim for compensation. Claiming compensation for the accident at nursery school that caused your child’s injury will provide funding for any future medical treatments that may be necessary, or any special equipment needed due to their injury, and it can also reimburse the money you may have lost due to having to take time off of work and any other expenses and costs you may have incurred.

    Legal Helpline has an experienced panel of personal injury claim specialists that have helped many people over the years with suing a nursery for negligence successfully and will be more than happy to help you to get the compensation you and your child deserves.

    So to find out more about accident at a nursery school claims or to kickstart your own case, reach out to our team by:

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    Nursery school accident claims guide

    All nursery’s and schools have a duty of care to keep the children safe from harm at all times whilst in their care. If a child becomes injured because of the negligence of the nursery staff or the company or local authority that runs the nursery, then an accident at nursery school claim may be launched.

    Accident at nursery school

    Accident at nursery school

    If your child has been injured due to nursery negligence, then you may be wondering how to go about starting a compensation claim, or even if you are eligible to make a claim. This guide is a great source of information that can help you to learn more about an accident at nursery school claims and what they involve, what you should do if your child gets injured, what the most common injuries are that happen in a nursery, who is liable for an accident in a nursery, what you can include in your claim, how much you could potentially be awarded and much more.

    Making an accident at nursery school claim can be a long drawn out process and quite complex as although sometimes an act of negligence can be obvious, a lot of the time it isn’t which can make proving liability harder and so can cause the process to take longer. However, there’s no need to worry and feel overwhelmed, there is help available. You can seek professional help and advice on whether you have a legitimate claim and the best way to start it.

    Read through this guide initially to gain more insight into what is involved in making an accident at nursery school claim. Feel free to contact us at Legal Helpline for further guidance.

    What is a nursery school accident?

    Accidents that occur in a nursery school are fairly common as young children are very lively and don’t yet understand the concept of being careful. Thankfully the majority of accidents aren’t serious and only result in very minor injuries at most. However, occasionally more serious accidents can happen, leaving a child with a more severe injury.

    So, what are accidents in school? Accidents may occur purely due to rough play, running around and bumping into something or falling over as so many young children do. But preventable accidents also occur more often than they should due to the negligence of the nursery staff or company such as from leaving spillages on the floor making the floor slippery, not checking and maintaining play equipment regularly or leaving children unsupervised whilst eating for example.

    If an accident occurs resulting in an injured child and it was due to negligence, then there is a possibility that a compensation claim may be brought against the nursery.

    Who is liable for an accident or injury in a nursery school?

    One of the first questions we are asked is ‘Can I sue my child’s school for an injury? Simply put, yes, if they were to blame. In nearly all cases, when a child is injured whilst at nursery, someone is usually to blame and therefore liable to pay compensation for damages and the accident. Even when it is obvious that the accident was the child’s own fault, the nursery has a duty of care to protect the child at all times and so should have been able to prevent the child from becoming involved in an accident in the first place and therefore are ultimately responsible.

    In claims cases for an accident at nursery schools, some form of negligence is usually to blame. Negligence may occur in many forms, it could be that the management hasn’t provided safe playing equipment or made sure their staff are appropriately trained in nursery care. Or it could be that the nursery staff themselves have not carried out their duties as they should have to result in a child sustaining an injury.

    When a child is injured by another child however, it isn’t always so straight forward. The law in the UK protects children from having legal action taken against them. However, it’s still possible that the nursery may be found liable as they were ultimately in charge of the child’s safety and so should have protected them.

    All schools and nurseries are legally required to have relevant and adequate health and safety policies and procedures in place in order to prevent accidents from occurring and to ensure the safety of the children in their charge. If these are not followed correctly and a child sustains an injury as a result, the nursery will be found in breach of the legal responsibility.

    To learn more about accident at nursery school claims, please get in touch with our team.

    Incidents which can lead to an accident or injury at a nursery school

    There are many reasons as to why a parent or guardian might launch a claim for compensation following an accident that caused their child to become injured whilst at nursery. The following are the more common types of incidents that can lead to a compensation claim:

    • Staff training that is inadequate, or low staffing numbers – Appropriate staffing levels that are in-line with UK law requirements should clearly be stated in the nursery’s health and safety policies to ensure that the ratio of staff to children is correct for their age group as if there are too many children per member of staff, then some children are more likely to lack supervision which will lead to an increased likelihood of an accident occurring. Also, there should always be a senior member of staff that is adequately trained present at all times as well as at least one appropriately trained children’s first aider. If your child becomes injured as a result of neglecting these requirements, then you will have solid grounds for making a compensation claim.
    • Unsafe environment – All nurseries have a duty of care to provide a safe environment for the children they take care of. Health and safety policies and procedures should be set in place and regularly reviewed to ensure this is the case. Risk assessments should be performed and any risks attended to and dealt with immediately. An unsafe environment in a nursery might include sharp objects or corners at child height, broken, rusty or any unsafe play equipment still being used by the children, stairs or steps left open for the children to access, and areas where the children can get to open deep water or out onto the roads or public footpaths left unrestricted.
    • Negligence of the staff – If your child was injured because of something a member of staff did, or because the staff lack in abiding by the requirements of their job or role, then you will have a legitimate reason to make a compensation claim.

    In most circumstances, one of the above is generally found to be the reason behind how your child has sustained an injury whilst at nursery. Please feel free to contact Legal Helpline for further help if you are unsure as to whether you have a legitimate claim.

    Common injuries which happen in nursery schools

    So what are the most common childhood injuries? Some of the more common types of injuries that children sustain whilst in a nursery are:

    • Fractures and broken bones.
    • Cuts, lacerations and grazes.
    • Bumps and bruises.
    • Sprains and strains.

    The most common factors that can lead to an accident causing injury in a nursery include:

    • Areas that are defective inside or outside on the nursery premises.
    • Equipment that is broken or somehow defective such as toys, tables and chairs, play furniture.
    • Outdoor play equipment such as swings, slides and climbing frames that are poorly maintained.
    • Children participating in playtime or sports activities whilst unsupervised.
    • Food poisoning due to a lack of hygiene or wrongly prepared food.
    • Slip, trip and fall hazards due to spillages that have not been cleared or poorly maintained floor coverings.
    • Insufficient supervision at any time inside or outside on the nursery premises.

    Neither of these lists is extensive and if your child has suffered a different type of injury due to a different cause not mentioned above, it doesn’t mean that you will not be eligible to make a claim. Contact us at Legal Helpline to discuss your individual circumstances or to learn more about an accident at nursery school claims.

    Can I claim compensation for a historical nursery school accident?

    The general rule as far as compensation claims go is that you have to make your claim within a three year period from when the injury became apparent. However, for children, the personal injury claims time limit works slightly differently in that the three year period does not start until they reach 18 years old, and so you have until their 21st birthday to make a claim. In the majority of cases, it is best to start a claim as soon as possible, but there are cases where problems from an injury that was perceived as minor at the time, may not arise until months or years later.

    If your child was injured at nursery a few months or years ago, but they have not yet turned 21, then you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation. In accordance with required accidents at school procedures, a report of the accident should have been made at the time. Contact Legal Helpline for further advice on this matter.

    What do I need to know before making a claim for a nursery school accident?

    It is extremely important before starting any compensation claim, to know the actual facts about what happened. Where claims for accidents that happen in nursery schools are concerned, with the parental worry, concern and anxiety coupled along with the child’s pain and suffering, the details of what happened may become confused. Trying to get correct answers from a child about an incident that has occurred that caused them to become hurt and upset is actually really difficult.

    To figure out what actually took place when your child was injured requires a calm and simple approach when talking about it with your child. Questions that only need a short answer should be used such as:

    • Where were you when you got hurt?
    • What were you doing when you got hurt?
    • Did you get told to stop what you were doing by the teachers?
    • Where were the teachers?
    • Were you on your own?
    • Were any other children with you?

    Particular care needs to be taken when questioning your child if it is suspected that another child hurt them as they don’t always want to get anyone else in trouble.

    Once you have the basic facts of what happened, you can then elaborate a little more to hopefully get more detailed answers, although this can still be tricky the younger the child is. Questioning a child too much in one sitting however can be stressful for the child and so it may be better to question them over a period of time.

    When you are clear on how your child became injured, you must report it to the nursery and make sure they complete a school accident report as they have a legal obligation to report any serious accidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). If you fail to report the accident or incident, you will not be able to make a compensation claim.

    To discover more about what goes into accident at nursery school claims, please get in touch with our team.

    What should I do if my child is hurt at nursery school?

    Seeing your child hurt and in pain is hard enough for any parent to have to deal with, without the added stress and worry of dealing with a compensation claim for their injury as well, which is why it is imperative to seek legal help.

    Once your child has received treatment for their injury, getting justice for them being hurt in the first place will be next on any parent’s mind. Although a compensation claim will not change what has happened, it can allow your child to have any special treatments they may require or to just allow you to be able to look after them properly without the worry of mounting bills and expenses to pay.

    The majority of legal firms will understand the trauma you have suffered as the child’s parent and also the pain and suffering your child has experienced and so will attempt to get through the claiming process as quickly and efficiently as they possibly can for you in an attempt to make it as stress-free as possible.

    Due to the complexity of accident at nursery school compensation cases, as already mentioned, we would always strongly advise that you seek legal guidance and representation to ensure you are giving your child the best possible chance of a successful claim and the highest monetary award amount possible in relation to their pain and suffering.

    Legal Helpline offers a free, no-obligation consultancy session where the details surrounding the case can be discussed with an experienced personal injury lawyer. During this session, you can ask us whatever questions you may have about making your claim and we can gather all of the information from you so that we can conclude whether or not you have a valid claim, and if so, offer you guidance and assistance on which steps to take next.

    At this stage, it is a good idea to contact the HSE to ensure that the nursery has indeed reported your child’s accident. By viewing the information on this HSE PDF link which shows what types of accidents are required to be reported to the HSE, you may be able to gauge how serious your child’s accident is considered to be by the school.

    In most cases, we will offer to take on the compensation claim for you on a no win no fee basis. There is more about no win no fee further on in the guide, but essentially it means that we require no payments upfront and only charge for our legal fees if we win your case and these are paid as a small percentage (maximum of 25%) of your award amount. If we do not win, however, you do not need to pay a single penny to us.

    I or my child were hurt at a nursery school, what compensation can I claim?

    There are a number of different items that can be included in a compensation claim that then make up the final award amount. The compensation claim should include the following:

    • General damages – These account for the physical and psychological pain and suffering the child has endured. The severity of the injury will be considered with the more serious injuries gaining higher amounts.
    • Special damages – Although usually uncommon among accident at nursery school claims, this section covers any lost earnings on the child’s behalf. Any child actors or models that may have lost earnings or potential earnings can include this in their claim.
    • Medical Expenses – Any medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the child’s injury can be claimed for. These may include special treatment or equipment unavailable on the NHS for example.
    • Travel Costs – Any costs incurred as a direct result of the child’s accident can be reclaimed such as travel costs to and fro medical appointments. Also in this section, you can include any vehicle changes or adaptions that are needed due to the child’s injury.
    • Loss earnings – If the parent or guardian has needed time off of work to look after the injured child, then their lost earnings can be included as well as any future earnings if long term care for the child is required and they are forced to give up work.
    • Psychiatric Care – Although this can be considered under medical expenses, if the child is expected to suffer long term trauma and psychological problems as a result of their accident, there are special provisions put in place by law that can account for these.

    Nursery school accident and injury compensation calculator

    There are numerous injuries that may occur because of an accident at nursery school and every case will be unique in its circumstances, therefore it would be impossible to correctly state the amount of compensation your child might receive should the compensation claim be successful. However, with the use of our personal injury claims calculator, we can show average amounts of compensation that have been awarded in past cases for certain injuries to at least give some indication of what your child could possibly receive depending on their own individual circumstances.

    The table below lists some of the injuries that may be sustained by a child whilst at nursery and the average compensation amount.

    Reason for CompensationAverage Payout Amount
    Head Injuries - Minor£2,070 to £11,980
    Neck Injuries - SevereIn the region of £139,210
    Back Injuries - Minor to SevereFrom around £2,300 to £151,070
    Facial Scarring Injuries - Less Severe£16,860 to £45,440
    Arm Injuries - Simple Forearm Fractures£6,190 to £18,020
    Wrist Injuries - Severe£44,690 to £56,180
    Hand Injuries - Serious£27,220 to £58,100
    Leg Injuries - Less Serious£16,860 to £26,050
    Knee Injuries - Severe£48,920 to £65,440

    If your child’s injury is not on this list, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that you cannot make a compensation claim for it, just contact us at Legal Helpline and we’ll be able to help shed more light on the matter.

    Nursery school accident no win no fee accident claims

    One of the main problems that put people off of making a compensation claim, is the thought of how they will be able to afford the necessary legal fees especially if it takes several months or even years to come to a conclusion, and also the worry of the risk of a huge financial loss if their case was not successful.

    At Legal Helpline, as mentioned earlier, we offer a no win no fee service. With this service, you are not required to pay any monies upfront or during the whole of the claiming process, and in the situation where the case is unsuccessful, you will not be required to pay any legal fees at all and so, therefore, eliminating any risk to your current finances. In the situation where your case is successful, however, and the court’s award you compensation, although we will then ask for payment of our legal fees, we take this as a small percentage of the awarded amount, therefore still not denting your current finances at all.

    Our no win no fee policy offers our clients the opportunity to claim the compensation that they deserve without the stress or worry of financial risk.

    Why make your nursery school accident claim with Legal Helpline?

    Legal Helpline has been around for a while now and consists of a Claims Management Company, we have a panel of highly experienced personal injury specialist solicitors that have successfully dealt with many accident at nursery school cases. We have come to understand the distress felt by not only the child but often even more so by the parent after the child has been injured whilst at nursery and so treat each case with care and consideration in order to prevent any stress or worry from further increasing during the claiming process.

    We are a reliable and friendly team that keep our clients fully up to date on the progress of their claim and work hard to get the best possible outcome for them.

    Making your accident at nursery school compensation claim with Legal Helpline will make it any easier, simple thing to do as we will undertake everything that needs to be done in preparation for taking it to court. This then allows you freedom from the potential stress and worry you would have felt if you were going it alone so that you can concentrate on your child’s recovery and well-being.

    Speak to Legal Helpline today

    You’ve nearly reached the end of our guide to accident at nursery school claims.

    If your child was injured whilst at nursery, it is likely that someone was to blame and a compensation claim for your child’s injuries can be made. Seeking legal help from a personal injury claims management firm is the best first step to take as they will have experience in dealing with cases like yours and know what needs to be done to ensure its success and that your child receives the compensation they deserve.

    Legal Helpline has years of experience and can help you to make your compensation claim on a no win no fee basis. You’ll be offered a free consultancy session and will not be required to pay any legal costs upfront or during the process, what have you got to lose? Call us on 0161 696 9685 and we will endeavour to help you and your child successfully claim the compensation award you deserve.

    More helpful guides and information

    In this last section of our guide on accident at nursery school claims, we’ve included some other guides you may find interesting, as well as the answers to some frequently asked questions.

    Arm Injury Claims

    If you suffered an arm injury while working in a nursery school, or your child suffered an arm injury while attending nursery school, this page explains how to claim compensation for an accident at work.

    Accidents In A Public Park

    If you’ve injured yourself in an accident in a public park, this guide will tell you what you need to know.

    Head Injury Claims

    Click here to read our in-depth guide to head injury claims.

    Gov.UK – Reporting a serious child accident

    Here is the HSE guide on reporting accidents to Ofsted and reporting safeguarding incidents or nursery accidents.

    Gov.UK – Keeping children safe in Education

    This link takes us to the HSE guidelines on how to keep children safe whilst at nursery or school. If your child was injured because these guidelines were not being followed, you may have a legitimate cause to claim compensation for negligence.

    Accident at Nursery School Claims FAQ’s

    What to do if a child has an accident at nursery?

    If your child is injured in an accident while in nursery school, whatever the reason or who was at fault, the first thing you should do is take your child to the doctor to get their wounds treated as soon as possible. This will also give you the chance to get a thorough check-up of your child injuries to determine the extent of the harm.

    Can you sue a nursery for negligence?

    Your child being injured during an accident while at nursery school is never a pleasant experience. If that accident happened as a result of nursery staff negligence, you could be eligible to make a claim against them. However, you must be able to prove that your child injury was a result of a breach in the duty of care.

    What accidents can happen in a nursery?

    The following is a list of accidents your child could potentially befall while at nursery:

    • Falls.
    • Scalds and burns.
    • Glass-related accidents.
    • Poisoning.
    • Suffocating and choking.
    • Strangulation including blind cords.
    • Drowning.

    If your child has suffered any of the above because of negligence at their nursery school, you could have grounds to launch an accident at nursery school against them.

    Thank you for reading our guide on accident at nursery school claims.