My child was injured while at a friend’s house, what can I do?
It can be extremely nerve-wracking to get a phone call from another parent, informing your child has been injured while at their friends house. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, unintentional injury is the leading cause of serious injury and death among children from the ages of birth and 19 years.
Every year in the U.S., around 12,000 children lose their life because of an accidental injury. Another 9.2 million are required to spend time in the emergency room, ICU, and/or hospital. Following a child’s injury, you as the parent might not be sure what to do next.
The first, and more important step you should take is to get your child medical attention. Only after he or she has been treated should you consult a personal injury lawyer for advice and to explore your legal rights. The following are considerations to think about if your child was injured while at a friends house.
Report the Injury
If you child was injured at a friend’s house or relative’s home, you might feel hesitant to report the injury for fear of a strained relationship. Naturally, you may not want to cause tension, argument, stress, or the loss of a relationship. However, if you fail to report the injury, and you do end up filing a personal injury claim, your case could be affected.
The defense, who may be hired by the other party’s insurance company could argue that you delayed in reporting the incident, and that could excuse the defendant’s insurance company from having to cover the claim. That is because insurance companies require policyholders to provide notice of claim very soon after an injury-causing event occurs. Failure to provide this notice could excuse the insurance company from having to provide coverage.
But delaying the provision of notice could also cause the defense to contend that the child might have sustained the injury at another time. In other words, they were not injured at their friend’s house as you say, but rather sometimes after that time.
For a legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer, call 434-817-3100
If you are offered a private settlement by your friend’s parents, you should politely decline. By accepting any form of compensation from them, you might unknowingly settle the claim and be barred from seeking any additional compensation. That would prevent you from trying to recover compensation in a personal injury case. Although you may feel reluctant to report the incident, you may also not be aware of how much your child’s injury will cost over the course of the next few months or even years.
Homeowners insurance serves a purpose. If you file a claim against your child’s friend’s parents, their homeowners insurance company may take over. This means, as long as the insurance company will cover it, you won’t actually need to take the parents to court.
Homeowners Insurance Usually Covers these Injuries
It’s common for people to worry about burdening the homeowner with debt following an injury. But homeowners insurance usually protects the homeowner against any injuries that occur on the property. This is true even when the homeowner was at fault for causing the injury that occurred. That could be the case for a variety of reasons, such as if there was a dangerous condition on the property, the owner’s dog attacked the child, the owner failed to provide adequate supervision of the child and a terrible accident occurred, or a number of other situations that could cause a serious injury or death.
In this case, the money would not come out of the pocket of the homeowner, but from their insurance company. This is very similar to the way car accident claims work. Yes, it is possible for the homeowner’s premium to increase, but when it comes to your own child’s wellbeing, you might feel that this is okay – and it should be.
If you intend to file a claim, you should get started as soon as possible. The claims process is complex and requires a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer Charlottesville, VA relies on at MartinWren, P.C. to oversee the case. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Call 434-817-3100 or complete a Case Evaluation form