Edinburgh mum makes personal injury claim following playground accident

A school is a place of safety and security. When you drop the kids off at the gates at half past eight or quarter to nine in the morning you imagine they will be looked after for the duration of the day.

You expect them to finish school safe and sound, with hair probably a mess and no doubt a few teacher-related grumbles, but nevertheless leaving those gates in the same state of health that they went in and free from personal injuries.

That's what any parent should expect and if it fails to happen, and a child is hurt because of a school's negligence, then making a personal injury compensation claim is totally understandable.

Edinburgh mum-of-two Laura quite rightly expected her two young boys to be properly looked after at school and was devastated, coming to YouClaim for help, when one of them was seriously injured in a playground accident that should never have happened.

The day started like any other with Laura walking her sons the short distance from home to their school. Seeing them into the playground and, so she thought, into the safe custody of the teachers, she left the boys behind and continued on to her checkout job at a nearby supermarket.

The morning passed and Laura was sitting in the staff canteen eating her lunch when her mobile phone rang. It was her sons' school calling and they revealed that her youngest, five-year-old Callum, had been involved in an accident and had been taken to hospital suffering from personal injuries.

Exact details of the school accident were not explained over the phone and Laura immediately rushed to Edinburgh's nearby hospital to be with Callum.

Upon arrival she was allowed to see her son who, she quickly discovered, was suffering from a broken arm, head injuries and several fractured fingers as the result of some sort of playground accident. The youngster was sedated while doctors operated on his broken bones and stitched up the nasty cut on his forehead.

He was kept in hospital overnight for observation but the next day was discharged and Laura took him home in a taxi. It was on the way home that she first found out the truth about how Callum had received his personal injuries.

The youngster explained how he had been using the playground climbing frame during his lunch break and, playing a game with his friends, had climbed all the way to the top. It was then that the tragic accident occurred.

As he was making his way back down the climbing frame, one of the legs of the apparatus gave way, causing the entire piece of equipment to buckle and collapse. Callum was caught in the wreckage as the climbing frame tumbled to the ground and he was left lying in agony among the bent and broken metal.

Dinner ladies and teachers immediately rushed to help the tearful schoolboy and it was soon discovered that the playground accident had left him with some quite serious personal injuries. He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and it was then that Laura had received the call on her mobile phone.

Not surprisingly, Laura was angry and not just a little upset at the way her five-year-old son had been so badly injured because of a climbing frame that, quite obviously, the school should not have allowed to be used.

Although the prospect of making a personal injury compensation claim against the school did cross her mind at that point, she was more concerned with making sure Callum was okay and recovered as quickly as possible.

Several weeks later the youngster was fit enough to return to class and it was then that Laura looked into the possibility of making an accident claim against the school for the unnecessary pain and trauma that her son had gone through.

Using a friend's computer, she logged on to the Internet and came across YouClaim. Reading that they we were experts in school accident claims, glad that we wouldn't charge her a penny and impressed with our excellent success rate, she decided to give us a call.

One of our friendly claims advisors took the call and explained the process of making a personal injury compensation claim. They also answered all of Laura's questions and cleared up a few misconceptions she had about no win, no fee, explaining that, win or lose, Laura really wouldn't be left out of pocket.

Impressed, she asked us to take on the case and we ensured that a member of our panel of expert personal injury solicitors who was based in Edinburgh and specialised in school accidents set about working on the compensation claim right away.

Admitting that the climbing frame was years old and wasn't suitable for use, the school accepted responsibility for the playground accident and so there was no need for a court case.

All Callum had to do was attend an appointment with a local medical expert, arranged by Laura's personal injury solicitor, and he confirmed the extent of the boy's injuries. This didn't cost Laura a thing and she was even told to keep the bus tickets so that the cost of them could be claimed back.

Without the need for a court case, the school offered Laura compensation of £8,000 but her personal injury solicitor advised her to refuse this and demand more. This she did and several weeks later the school came back with an improved offer of £14,000.

She decided to accept this and a cheque soon arrived through the post for the full amount. True to our word, YouClaim hadn't charged her a penny, nor had her personal injury solicitor.

The £14,000 included money to cover the time Laura had to take off work to look after her son, funds to pay for some extra tuition to help Callum catch up with what he'd missed out on in school as well as compensation for the pain and trauma that the youngster had gone through.

As a result of the compensation claim, the local school authority introduced stricter guidelines concerning playground equipment and other schools in the area had old and dangerous apparatus replaced to ensure that no other innocent children would be injured.

Laura was very impressed with the way we'd helped her and said, "I was really chuffed with how YouClaim handled the whole case.

"The last thing I wanted was any more stress or hassle and they made everything so easy.

"I'd definitely recommend them to anybody else who's thinking about making a compensation claim."

Make a personal injury claim with YouClaim
If you are thinking about making a personal injury compensation claim then look no further.

YouClaim are experts in helping people to win damages and we've come to the aid of individuals from all over Scotland.

No matter whether you're from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, the Highlands or the islands, we're here today and every day to make sure that you win the personal injury compensation that you deserve.

Just like in Laura and Callum's case, we won't charge you a penny at any time and you can be sure that 100% of any damages awarded will be yours to keep.

If you'd like to find out more about making an accident claim, get in touch with YouClaim today. You can chat online to a member of our claims team, request a call back for a time more suitable or you can simply pick up the phone any time of the day or night and give our friendly and expert claims team a call on 0800 10 757 95.

Remember, no matter where in Scotland you are, we can help you make a totally cost-free personal injury compensation claim.