When can you make a compensation claim on behalf of a child?
Someone under the age of 18 years can’t bring a claim for compensation themselves. An adult, usually a parent, has to act on their behalf as their 'litigation friend'. It is the duty of the litigation friend to provide instructions in the child's best interests.
Children can be affected by a whole host of medical negligence issues. Our overriding aim is to protect the interests of you and your child and achieve the most advantageous outcome for the long term. We make sure your case is fully investigated and guide you carefully through each step of the claim process.
Examples of compensation claims that can be made for children include:
- Birth injury (including Erb’s palsy)
- Cerebral palsy
- Neonatology – investigating conditions and diseases during the first few months of life
- Failure to diagnose or treat serious infections (e.g. septicaemia, meningitis and osteomyelitis)
- Neurology - investigating conditions such as epilepsy, hypoxia and brain injury
- Developmental issues including learning disabilities and physical disabilities
- Misdiagnosis of or failure to treat childhood illnesses (e.g. epilepsy, diabetes)
- Delays in diagnosis of tumours and cancers
- Prescription errors
- Misdiagnosis of fractures (for example a slipped upper femoral epiphysis) leading to a variety major long term problems.
How we can help you with your claim on behalf of a child:
- The size of our clinical negligence team and the breadth of our knowledge in compensation claims made for children means it is likely that we have already recovered compensation in a case with similar circumstances to yours
- In every compensation claim, our focus is on your individual requirements. We act with extra sensitivity when working on cases involving children and understand the stresses that bringing a medical negligence claim involves for parents
- We can help you find out why the system failed you and your child and prevent the same thing happening to somebody else
- Compensation cases involving children can be complex and some require high levels of expertise. We create a team of specialists including:
- the best independent case managers and consultants in the country
- barristers known for their expertise in clinical negligence work involving children
- clinical negligence lawyers with experience in specific types of compensation claims for children
- We can help you with applications to the Court of Protection for appointing a Deputy to manage the money of a child who has a serious injury as a result of medical negligence or for setting up a personal injury trust
- Our lawyers are specialists in medical negligence cases and our clinical negligence team is one of the most established, teams in the country
- We are highly ranked by two of the most prestigious, independent guides to the legal profession 'Chambers and Partners' and 'The Legal 500'.
Free initial consultation
Contact our team of specialist lawyers for a free, no obligation, consultation and we will listen to the circumstances of your child's medical treatment, and give you clear advice on the chances of you receiving compensation in a clinical negligence claim. If we think you have a claim, we can investigate your case using the financial security of a no win no fee agreement.
Call us on 01892 510 000 or fill in our short enquiry form and we will assess your compensation claim on behalf of a child.
