Arrange your FREE Initial Consultation
When an accident or medical negligence causes brain injury disability to a child, the impact on the child’s life, and on their family, is devastating.
Compensation can provide a lifeline to help with care, special education, therapies and adapted accommodation for children with cerebral palsy, severe neurological injury and acquired brain injury. It can also provide the necessary financial security to ensure that the child’s lifelong needs arising from their disability will always be met.
Child brain injury compensation claims require skilled handling by specialist solicitors to ensure that the child receives their full entitlement to compensation. Whether the injury was caused at birth, in early childhood or teens, as a result of a negligent accident or medical mistake, our specialist solicitors have the skills and expertise to secure the best support and highest compensation settlements for our clients.
Speak to our child brain injury solicitors
For more than 30 years, Boyes Turner's specialist brain injury solicitors have guided families of children with brain injury through the claims process to secure the compensation and specialist support that they need to manage their child’s disability and rebuild their lives.
You can contact us by telephone or by email for free, confidential advice from a personal injury or medical negligence solicitor. We will ask you to tell us briefly about the circumstances of your child’s injury, and advise you about any time limits which may apply and whether we can help you investigate your claim. Your solicitor will discuss with you how your claim will be funded and advise, fully and clearly, how that works and what it will mean for you. We offer a range of funding options, but most of our clients’ claims are handled on a ‘no win no fee’ basis.
We will notify the defendant (and their insurers) or the healthcare provider (usually represented by NHS Resolution) of the claim and invite them to respond, giving them an opportunity to admit liability for your child’s injury. Throughout the claim, we will handle all communication on your child’s behalf.
If liability is admitted, we will obtain a judgment from the court and apply for rehabilitation funding or a substantial interim payment to meet your child’s needs arising from their injury and disability. If liability is denied, we will advise you about the best way to proceed with your claim. This may involve issuing court proceedings or inviting the defendant insurer or NHS Resolution to enter into settlement negotiations or mediation.
Partner, Children
Our client’s injury left him severely disabled by a combination of neuropsychological, intellectual, social and behavioural difficulties. He will never be able to live independently, work or have mental capacity to manage his own affairs. He will need 24-hour daily care.
Read the full story.
Oct 2022
Mar 2020
Aug 2023
Jul 2024
Nov 2023
Jan 2022
Dec 2021
Jun 2021
Kim at Boyes Turner was recommended to me after I had received ineffective service from another company. From the outset, Kim has been professional, reassuring and supportive. I have always had faith in her ability to get the best outcome, not only financially, but also in helping my rehabilitation from a traumatic brain injury. She is friendly and empathetic, with unquestionable professional integrity. She was quick to grasp the important issues in my case, was meticulous in her investigating the details and analysing them, realistic in what the outcomes were likely to be and achieved a successful outcome. I would not hesitate in recommending her and Boyes Turner.
I came to Boyes Turner desperate after searching the web for a firm to use for my sons case. He was only a few months so my mind was all over the place, but from the very first point of contact I felt a sense of relieve and belonging. I was welcomed and looked after by amazing staff who always communicated everything so well and went the extra mile to explain things and ensure I understood what was happening every step of the way (THANK YOU SUSAN BROWN). Susan was amazing I felt like I not only had a solicitor but someone who understood my emotions as a mother and always handled me with so much compassion and that was all I needed to keep me going for the 6 years of the case. Years went by in a breeze because of how professional Boyes Turner was. I am so grateful I went through it all with them and mananged to get my son a good compensation. We look forward our new life where my sons needs are priority after struggling for so long. Thank you Boyes Turner and thank you Susan Brown. My family and I are ever indebted.
My daughter was born with a severe brain injury and was severely disabled as a result, I approached Boyes turner when she a few months old because I wanted answers. I remember the day well sitting in the carpark in total shock and dismay having been to a serious incident meeting within the hospital, the tone of that meeting had been to deny there had been any wrongdoing on the hospitals part and they tried to blame me. I mustered the courage to contact BT and it was the best decision I have ever made. From start to finish they have been professional, kind, explained the process through every step of the way, empathetic, responsive, they not only got me the answers I needed by instructing top of their class experts, they also won my daughter an award that now means she can be looked after, with the correct input and in the right accommodation for the rest of her life. Nothing can take the pain away of what happened to my little girl but with Boyes Turner's help we are now able to give her the life she deserves and I will be forever grateful
From the moment I picked up the phone and spoke to Richard Money-Kyrle I knew I had done the right thing by choosing Boyes Turner to take our claim forward and to represent my son. Both Richard Money-Kyrle and Alpa Rana have worked on our case and they both have been amazing throughout, explaining every step of the way and anything we didn’t understand and keeping me updated constantly. This gave me and my family a lot of reassurance. Both Richard and Alpa are friendly and gained my trust and have been really easy to talk to which has made the process a whole lot easier and smoother than anticipated. The outcome of the claim was far more than I could have wished for and that was down to their hard work and expertise. I couldn’t fault them they have been brilliant throughout the whole process I would recommend Boyes Turner to anyone.
We have worked with Boyes Turner for over 9 years to secure a settlement for my son after his birth injury. From start to finish they have kept us informed, answered all of our many questions and been personable and reassuring. We are so thankful we chose them to represent us during what has been an emotionally challenging time.
A child may be able to claim compensation for brain injury that was caused by:
Children and teenagers may be able to claim compensation for brain injury that was caused by:
The amount of compensation that can be claimed for a child or teenager who has suffered a brain injury will depend on the severity of their disability and the cost of meeting their needs arising from their brain injury disability throughout their life. Claims for children or teenagers with brain injury disability often include compensation for:
We understand that it can be very difficult to come to terms with a child’s serious injury which happens whilst the child was in the care of a member of the family or a friend. We approach these cases supportively and with compassion, and we focus on obtaining the child’s entitlement to compensation, working with parents to ensure that the injured child’s needs are met.
When a child is seriously injured, their rehabilitation, recovery and provision for any lifelong needs caused by their injury should take priority over concerns about the discomfort of bringing a claim against the family member or friend. In our experience of these cases, most families recognise that their child’s needs can best be met with the help of rehabilitation and compensation, and the importance of doing what’s right for the child.
We have helped many families obtain the compensation and support that they need for their child in sensitive or challenging claims arising from accidents where the child or teenager was severely injured:
Our solicitors are highly experienced in handling emotionally sensitive claims. We explore all possible causes for an accident or injury to find the best way forward for the claim. The defendant’s insurance company usually handles the claim and takes financial responsibility for paying the child’s compensation, even if the child or a member of their family was partly to blame. We act for the child and their best interests, but do so with sensitivity to the overall situation. We remain focussed on getting the child the help that they need from the defendant’s insurers, whilst supporting the family through what can be a very difficult time.
If the main cause of the accident was somebody else’s negligence, in most cases, we can still recover compensation for the child or teenager’s brain injury disability, even if their own actions made them partly to blame. Where our client’s actions or behaviour contributed to the cause of the accident, or increased their injury, their compensation may be ‘discounted’ in proportion to their ‘contributory negligence’.
In brain injury claims, even a discounted sum of compensation can be a lifeline to essential help with meeting the child’s needs for therapies, specialist equipment and care.
Our personal injury team are experts at recovering substantial compensation for severely injured children and teenagers, even where the defendant’s insurers argue that their own actions contributed to the accident or injury. Claims for serious injury arising from accidents which can involve allegations of contributory negligence include:
We always recommend that families of a brain-injured child or teenager contact us for advice before making their own decision about whether their child is likely to succeed with a compensation claim.
Read more about how we help clients in claims involving contributory negligence.
Children and teenagers under the age of 18 cannot legally make their own decisions in a brain injury compensation claim. We ensure that each child’s claim is handled in their best interests, and that important decisions are formally approved or made on their behalf, by their ‘litigation friend’, the court and, where needed, the Court of Protection.
Compensation claims for injured children must be made via a ‘litigation friend’. This is usually, but not always, the child’s parent. The child is our client and, as their solicitors, we act in their best interests. The litigation friend is our point of contact who gives us instructions and takes our advice on behalf of the child. Litigation friends must also act in the child’s best interests but they do not make decisions alone. We always support our clients’ litigation friends with our experienced solicitors’ expert advice. Where our client is an older teenager, we include them in discussions and take their views into account where they want to be involved.
The court must approve any compensation settlements involving a child. Court approval of any agreed settlement usually takes place at a short hearing, during which the legal representatives for both sides are called upon by the court to justify that the child’s proposed settlement is fair, given the full circumstances of the case. We usually recommend that the child’s parents attend the hearing.
A child’s compensation settlement must be paid into court to be invested on their behalf until they are 18. Where the child is unlikely to have mental capacity to manage their own finances when they reach the age of 18, their compensation must be protected by a Court of Protection deputy. This provides reassurance that a young person will not be influenced by others to make unwise decisions about the use of their money which is intended to provide for their future needs. Our deputyship lawyers ensure that our clients’ money is protected and managed as required by law but is accessible to our clients as necessary to meet their needs.
We understand that the families of our young, brain-injured clients may worry about how their vulnerable child or young adult will manage a large compensation settlement. Our clients are usually reassured to discover that there are many ways in which we routinely help protect our clients’ interim payments and settlements, to ensure that the money is used in the best way to meet their lifelong needs. Some of these ways include:
We can also help shield our most vulnerable clients from media reporting or others’ attention when they receive their compensation by securing a court order protecting their anonymity.
If you think your child might have suffered a brain injury as a result of an accident or medical mistakes, we recommend that you contact us for free, confidential advice straight away. We can advise you about preserving important evidence to help you protect your child’s entitlement to compensation, about responding to NHS Resolution or MNSI, or about making a claim and seeking an admission of liability or interim payment. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can begin to help.
We also welcome clients and their families who come to us at a later stage in the child or teenager’s development, when the family find that they need additional support to properly meet the child or teenager’s needs arising from their brain injury disability,
Parents who are considering making a claim for their child often find it helpful to contact us for advice:
We also help teenagers and young adults with cerebral palsy or birth-related neurodevelopmental disability who decide at a later date to find out more about their entitlement to claim compensation.
Many of our client families come to us after being referred by other families, support groups and other solicitors.
Where our client’s injury was caused by an insured driver, school or public body, our personal injury solicitors can often secure early access to rehabilitation, funded by the defendant’s insurer via The Rehabilitation Code. Early rehabilitation has been proven to increase the injured child’s recovery. Even small improvements from early rehabilitation can make a big difference to their independence, mobility and ability to use assistive technology to communicate, access education and leisure activities. Later on, this gives the young person a better chance of being able to work or live independently with support.
In medical negligence claims and in personal injury claims, as soon as we secure an admission of liability or judgment, we can apply for an interim payment. This is an advance payment of compensation, which can be used to meet the injured child’s immediate needs for therapies, care and educational support, specialist equipment and adapted or more suitable accommodation whilst we continue to work on their claim.
Partner
SEN Specialist
