Claiming Compensation as a Teacher, Pupil or Visitor

Some of the most common types of school compensation claims that you may fall prey to:

Your children being injured by broken or badly kept school equipment. For example old chairs that fall apart when they sit on them, nails sticking out of desks, falling off faulty playground and gym equipment during playtime or in games lessons.

If there is asbestos in the school building this can give rise to asbestos related illness.

You or your child or a teacher could trip up or fall over inside the school building or in the grounds.

You could sustain a back injury from lifting or carrying a heavy object without bending your knees when you lift or without the correct training or any necessary equipment.

Your child could get some sort of sporting injury in games class or sports day.

Someone could get a bout of food poisoning from the canteen or from eating food from a shop on site.

If accepted safety procedures are not being carried out to the internal or statutory standard, this can lead to accidents too.

A good compensation claims company will be able to advise you whether a personal injury compensation claim is feasible in the circumstances of your case. Examples of accidents that are eligible for claims are, if a person trips or slips in the playground or on an internal road within the school, and that road has not been properly maintained leaving it in a dangerous condition. It would also be possible to make a personal injury claim if for example someone was injured by a broken or defective piece of equipment in the school, such as a piece of gym equipment collapsing and injuring people.

Had an accident? Can I claim? Not your fault? To make an accident compensation claim, you would need to prove that another person was responsible for your injury, for example the college, nursery, school or university where the accident happened.

Report the accident to a person in authority such as the Dean or Head Teacher.

Ask the person in authority to write the details in the accident book which should be on the premises.

Write down the names and addresses of any witnesses to the incident and the address of the venue.

If you want to claim expenses such as the cost of prescriptions and travelling expenses to medical appointments, remember to keep all your receipts.

If possible take photographs of the area where the accident happened. If you don't have a camera, use a phone camera or ask to borrow one from the school.

Ask the person in authority if anyone else has had a similar accident to you in the same place.

If you or your child have had an accident in a school, college, university or nursery contact an accident claims helpline in the UK for advice on finding good claims lawyers.