Personal injury claims on behalf of British schoolchildren were confirmed to be at an all time high last week, with media coverage from several national newspapers reporting that this marks a dramatic increase on claims made in previous years. The details emerged after a Freedom of Information request was made to Staffordshire County Council by an unidentified member of the public. A spokesperson for the council confirmed that in the last financial year they have been ordered by the Court to pay out in excess of £57,000 in compensation to schoolchildren in the county.

Eleven separate incidents

The largest single sum awarded was in a case involving a child who slipped on wet logs in a play area. Dedicated personal injury solicitors reclaimed £10,000 on her behalf, and several smaller sums on behalf of 10 other children in the Staffordshire area over the course of the financial years. BBC News reports that this figure is slightly lower than the number of recorded claims in the previous year, which totalled 14, but that the overall amount awarded is significantly larger; an increase of over 40% in the last year. The county has over 400 schools, many receiving the highest possible rating of “outstanding” upon inspection by UCAS. Other claims, dismissed by local counsellor Ian Parry who said that “accidents will happen”, included a child hit in the face with a bell, who was awarded over £4,000 by the Court. Another girl made a personal injury claim and was awarded over £5,000 when her arm and wrist became trapped in a trampoline as she folded it away while tidying up after a P.E. lesson.

Over £1.5million in claims

Similarly, it was revealed by Education Minister Angela Smith that in the period 2000-2005 over £1.5million was reclaimed as a result of claims made on behalf of schoolchildren in Northern Ireland alone. An injury compensation claim is often made by a child’s parent or guardian on their behalf. This figure does not take into account almost £300,000 claimed by teaching unions on behalf of Northern Ireland’s teachers in this period for personal injury sustained while on duty. The most frequent claim in this case was work-related stress.

Is the worst yet to come?

Although none of the recent claims were for injuries caused by one pupil to another, this news comes after increased media coverage of knife and gun crime in Britain’s schools. It seems that schools, supposed to be a safe environment for children and adults alike, are not quite as secure and risk-free as we think, as the alarming rise in the number of personal injury claims in the past few years demonstrates.