Is court approval needed for personal injury claims on behalf of children?

Early settlements and parental indemnities

There have been many cases I have heard about over the years where parents of children were advised to simply accept a personal injury offer in settlement and “that would be the end of it”.

In some other cases, the advisors of those children went a little further to propose that the parent sign what is called a “parental indemnity” to conclude the personal injury claim for the child on the basis that the parent indemnifies the defendant if, later on, the child tries to bring a second claim having not been adequately compensated for the first claim.

In both of these scenarios, the child who had suffered the injury can potentially be left disadvantaged which is simply not fair on them.

The law and claims on behalf of children

It may be helpful to set out that the law treats a person below the age of 18 as a “child” a “minor”.

The child who has suffered personal injury can bring proceedings in their name against the defendant but they must do so having been represented by a person above the age of 18. That person, typically a parent or other family member, is referred to as a “litigation friend”.

It is the litigation friend who, on behalf of the child, instructs the solicitor and provides to them instructions. The litigation friend can give instructions to their solicitor to accept an offer of settlement for responsibility and/or value of the claim, but any settlement must still be approved by the court otherwise it is not a lawful or valid settlement. This is governed by Part 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

As such, it will be necessary for the child’s solicitor to seek the court’s approval as to any decision on responsibility for the incident as well as the adequacy of the compensation amount.

If the court refuses to approve the settlement then negotiations with the defendant will continue and hopefully a greater sum of money for the child will be agreed, subject again to the court’s approval.

Should the court approve the settlement then it will consider how any compensation is to be handled on behalf of the child. The court has the discretion to order the compensation in full to be paid into court so it can be paid out to the child on their 18th birthday, or for part of the sum to be paid out to the litigation friend for the benefit of the child.

It is, therefore, the position that a personal injury settlement involving a child can only be “valid” where it has been approved by the court.

For a free consultation about making a personal injury claim on behalf of a child call Slater and Gordon, call 0330 107 5076 or contact us and we'll be happy to call you.

All the above information was correct at the time of publication.