Over the years we’ve helped the families of children who were injured in a range of circumstances, including accidents that took place:
- In the home
- At school
- On the road
- In other public places
Unfortunately child head injuries can result in brain damage which may have life-changing consequences. To help your child face these challenges, we’ll work with medical and rehabilitation specialists to make sure the best possible long-term care can be funded by your compensation.
We understand how important your child’s recovery is to the whole family and will endeavour to make sure your child receives the best care and support.
Head injuries and acquired brain injuries affect every child differently, creating new physical and cognitive challenges. Some of the main physical effects of child brain and head injuries are:
- Movement – If an injury occurs to one side of your child’s brain, electrical signals can’t pass messages onto the body which can create paralysis or weakness in the opposite side of their body.
- Dyspraxia/motor planning – Deliberate movements (normally involving sequences) can be affected. Movements such as reaching for an item and speech can become harder for your child.
- Headaches – These can result from accidents and may worsen because of stress or overexertion.
- Incontinence – As this is a physical and mental exercise, your child’s body might not pick up signs that help them go to the toilet.
- Seizures/epilepsy – Your child’s brain can scar after an injury which causes signals in the brain to become unstable, sometimes causing seizures.
- Sensory difficulties – Blurred vision, hearing problems and difficulties with smell and taste can be caused as your child’s brain will find it harder to understand information.
By making a compensation claim, money could be secured to help your child overcome these physical challenges as much as possible. Your child’s settlement could help pay for care from medical experts who can put in place a rehabilitation programme of therapy and treatments, home tutoring and equipment to make things at home a little easier.
Child brain and head injuries may cause cognitive and emotional difficulties, creating problems with:
- Memory
- Attention
- Speech and communication
- Awareness (judging your own behaviour)
- Understanding emotions
These can be particularly challenging for children as the brain is unlikely to have fully developed and they may have to learn how to do simple tasks again.
We’re also aware that a brain or head injury to a child can affect the whole family, your everyday life may have to change enormously and you might become worried about how you’ll cope both emotionally and financially.
Our lawyers are here to help and might be able to secure you compensation to pay for specialist care and equipment for your child, funds to cover your bills and money to pay for support for your family.
After you’ve contacted us we’ll start by helping you work out if anybody was to blame for the accident. If they were, we’ll try to work out the value of your claim by collecting expert evidence on how your child’s injuries have affected their life and their future needs.
To make your case as strong as possible, we may even talk to your child’s teachers, friends and family about the changes they’ve seen in your child.
It can take a while to work out the long-term impact of a head injury in a child so we’ll monitor your child’s progress as they grow up and support you as they progress through school. To help during this time, it might be possible to secure interim compensation payments (if your opponent has accepted responsibility) which can pay for care by medical specialists and educational support.
Once the long-term impact of the injury is clear, we’ll value your claim based on the impact of the injuries and the care and support needed and will try to negotiate a settlement for you. If necessary, we can refer you to our other legal teams who can advise on matters such as investing your compensation and setting up a personal injury trust for your child.
Normally your child’s compensation will be held by the court until they turn 18 but if you choose to set-up a personal injury trust, you can access some of the funds on your child’s behalf to help pay for their care. When your child reaches 18, they’ll be given control of the trust unless they don’t have the mental capacity to do so. Trusts can also mean that your child’s compensation award doesn’t affect the amount of means-tested benefits they can receive in the future.
You’ll normally be able to make a claim for your child at any time after their accident. This will be the case up until their 18th birthday and at this point the child can make their own claim at any time before their 21st birthday.
If your child doesn’t have the mental capacity to handle their own claim after they’ve turned 18, you might be able to make a claim on their behalf and this wouldn’t be subject to any time limits.
We’re consistently ranked amongst the very best serious injury lawyers in the country by independent legal guides, who say we're "incredibly knowledgeable, with the resources to make sure claimants are put in the best possible position" (Legal 500, 2021).
Our lawyers work closely with leading charities, including the Child Brain Injury Trust, local support groups and specialist NHS children’s services to seek improvements to the care of children with head injuries. Our close ties with these organisations also means that we can get specialist advice on what treatment and support would best benefit your child and family.
