Child Injury Payouts Guide (2026): How To Calculate Compensation For Children And Conclude A Claim
In this article – you will learn how compensation payouts for a child injury claim are determined, why children are considered vulnerable Claimants (the law providing them extra protections not afforded to adults) and how the court must be involved to conclude a child’s claim.
Accidents causing injury to children
Regretfully – children in the UK have many accidents that lead to an injury claim.
Accidents might take place in a road accident, due to a pavement trip and fall, an accident in a shop or even at school.
UK law generally protects children
The law in the UK is designed to protect and compensate children in the event of an accident, However, compensation is only possible if the accident is proven to be the legal fault of another person, business or body.
Children Are Considered More Vulnerable Than Adults
Children are considered vulnerable and as such the law goes the extra mile to try to protect them.
For example – a car accident causing whiplash injury to both a child and an adult passenger may result in a solicitor’s fees being paid by the party at fault for the child, but not the adult.
Payment of legal fees generally will be in addition to the compensation payout the child injury.
This is because a child is considered a vulnerable road user whereas an adult generally is not.
Calculating compensation payout for a child injury claim
If a child injury claim is successful – the amount of compensation payout a child can receive will depend upon:
- The nature and the severity of the child’s head injury.
- Financial losses and expenses incurred as a direct result of the child’s head injury. For example – medical expenses.
- Caselaw and judicial guidance that decides the level of compensation for pain and suffering for such a head injury.
- A barrister’s opinion on how much the level of compensation should be.
- The court’s assessment of the injuries and the barrister’s opinion at a minor settlement hearing.
The court will ensure a child injury payout is adequate
A parent or other appropriate relative can act as a litigation friend and so provide instructions in the injury claim on behalf of a child. However, for a child injury claim to conclude and a payout to be agreed upon the court must be involved in what is known as a minor settlement hearing or infant approval hearing.
During this hearing the court will look at evidence (including an opinion from a barrister on quantum) to ensure that the compensation payout is sufficient.
Compensation is protected until the child is an adult
Once the court is satisfied the compensation payout is sufficient – these monies will generally be paid into the Court Funds Office until the child reaches the age of 18.
The Court Acts In The Interest Of The Child
The court acts in the interest of the child to not only ensure that the child’s compensation payout is correct, but also that compensation is properly secured on behalf of the child until the child is deemed by the law to be an adult.
Examples of child injury payouts
To see examples of compensation payouts for a child claim for all manner of physical and psychological injury see our compensation amounts article.
FREE legal help
If your child has been injured in an accident – why not use our free telephone / online legal help. You can discuss the accident direct with a specialist solicitor and have your child injury payout questions answered.
Remember – to make a child claim a legal funding arrangement, such as no win no fee, must be first put in place.
