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Parental Liability In Personal Injury Accidents Involving Children...
Parental liability laws
vary from state to
state. This is true both for
accidents caused by children and accidents resulting in injury to a
child.
Still, the basic rights of children are maintained wherever you are in
the country.
In
any state, if a child is injured they
are given just as much right to
compensation as if they were an adult. All the same
liability rules
apply.
The only real
difference is that the minor will not likely be the one paying the
medical bills.
When a child
is injured they can
get money for pain and suffering in addition to medical
bills and other hard costs.
The child is entitled to money for
lost future earnings if it can be shown the permanent injury will
effect their earning ability.
The difference is that in the case of a minor the parent
or guardian has their own right to seek a settlement for the medical
expenses they paid on behalf of the child.
Because the child
will be unable to represent themselves in the negotiation process most
states require a judge to approve the settlement. This is
to make sure
the child’s best interests are being looked after.
Once the
settlement has been agreed upon the insurance company will likely go
out of their way to help you through this process.
It's in their
interest as much as yours to make sure this approval goes off without a
hitch. If this isn’t done properly the child could, in theory, sue for
more money at a later date.
Accidents Caused by Children...
When
the accident is caused by a child the parental liability rules become
tricky. There are only a few defined ages that govern when a person is
old enough to be legally responsible for something. So in most cases it
becomes a judgment call.
If the child
is very young though,
usually below eight years old, it's generally accepted that duty of
care cannot apply to them. Children at that age aren’t
able to
determine what a careful action is and therefore can’t be held liable
for an accident they cause.
If your personal injury was caused by
someone in this age group, through parental liability law you can try
to hold their parents
accountable for not controlling their child.
Liability can
generally be placed on children that are older than 8 yrs. To do this
you have to show that they were not as careful as most others in their
age group would have been.
Once a minor
reaches their teens they are
almost always considered old enough to be held liable.
This is
especially true once they begin driving.
Unfortunately, no
matter how negligent a minor is, they won’t likely be insured. In a car
accident they are insured through their parents' policy and this is
where you'd seek damages from.
In other accidents you can often go
through the parents'
homeowners insurance because the child is likely a
resident at that address.
There are parental liability rules in
place that let you go one step farther. In some states, if you can
prove that the child displayed gross negligence in causing your injury,
but there is no parental insurance to claim from, you can pursue a
personal injury lawsuit
directly against the child.
This will likely be a lengthy and complex
legal battle so you would want legal council and you would only want to
do it when the damages are severe.
The result of a favorable personal injury verdict would be the minor
having to pay you money once they turn eighteen and get a job.
Return
from Parental Liability to Lawsuit
Settlements
Return
from Parental Liability to the Personal
Injury Settlement Guide
Personal Injury Areas
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