Maison Law of Ceres is committed to helping children recover and get back to their normal lives after a personal injury accident. Our lawyers ensure that an individual or a company responsible for harm to a child is held financially liable. We want child victims to get the best care possible, and we fight to make sure parents have the money to pay for that care.
Please contact us after an accident involving a child in Ceres for a free, no-obligation consultation for you and your family.
Should I Hire a Lawyer If My Child Gets Hurt?
If your child only suffers some minor bruising or scratches in an accident, you may not need a lawyer’s help for your case. Unfortunately, an accident involving a young victim often has much more serious consequences.
If an accident involves a more serious injury, and someone else was to blame for the harm to your child, you should speak to a lawyer. Children have less tissue to protect them in something like a scary car crash, bicycle collision, or a fall. Their bones aren’t as strong as an adult’s. The injuries children suffer now can also cause problems later in life as they grow, leaving them in need of additional support for care down the road.
These injuries lead to massive medical bills. The higher the price tag, the more an insurance company will fight parents on how much should be included in a settlement check.
These are just a few of the actions a skilled Maison Law Attorney will take to protect your child throughout the claims process:
- Fully investigate your child’s accident and the person at fault
- Gather all evidence to build a strong case
- Fight back if an insurer tries to blame you or your child for what happened
- Gather important medical charts and doctor testimony to prevent insurers from downplaying your child’s injuries
- Filing your claim and handling the frustrating negotiation process, allowing your child to focus on healing
- Making sure a settlement offer covers your child’s needs now and in the future
- If a settlement offer is too small, rejecting it, and demanding more
- If an insurance company won’t accept full blame for what happened, your lawyer files a lawsuit and takes the insurer to court
Perhaps the most important benefit of having an attorney handle your child’s case is the chance to earn much more for your child’s recovery than you could by filing a claim yourself.
A Duty to Keep Children Safe
California personal injury laws hold everyone responsible for keeping the youngest and most vulnerable of our population safe from harm. It means drivers should not make reckless decisions that put young passengers at risk. It means landlords and store owners should act to keep their properties and businesses free of hazards that might hurt a child.
When motorists or property and business owners fail to prevent accidents, and a young person is hurt, they can be held financially liable. Parents and their child must receive help paying for all doctor visits, surgeries, and physical therapy.
In cases resulting in minor injuries, parents can usually file claims themselves and get fair treatment. But cases involving injuries that come with bigger medical bills may require a lawyer’s help. The success of an injury claim will be critical for the child’s recovery now and for any complications that arise in their teen years as they grow into adulthood.
Accident Risks for Ceres Children
Family life can have us rushing around Ceres 7 days a week. Taking our kids to school, to a game, or to the store can be on the schedule. Every location we may take our children to, and the travel to get there, can present dangers.
The neighborhood where we live and our children play is also a place where a careless mistake by a driver or a neighbor could cause a devastating outcome.
A child’s time on the road or near the road may be the most dangerous threat they can face each week. A careless driver on Hatch Road might ram a car from behind, causing harm to the young passengers inside, despite being in child’s safety seats. Children might also be riding bikes in a quiet community when a driver cutting through strike the rider they didn’t take time to look for.
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that car crashes in the U.S. caused 1 in every 4 unintentional deaths for victims younger than 13.
There are other hazards to be found at stores, at parks, and in apartment complexes.
These are just a few of the types of child injury cases Maison Law takes on and wins for families:
- Traffic Accidents, including Pedestrian and Bicycle Collisions
- Accidents at Schools and On School Buses
- Accidents at Daycare Centers
- Accidents at Unsafe Businesses like Stores, Restaurants, Hotels, and Trampoline Parks
- Accidents at unsafe and unsupervised pools
- Accidents Inside or Outside Rental Properties
- Accidents at Unsafe Parks and Public Areas, Leaving Government Agencies Liable
- Accidents Caused by Unsafe Products in the Home Sold by Retailers and Manufacturers.
At each location, young victims are supposed to receive extra care from property and business owners and other adults. When that care isn’t provided and a child is hurt, parents can sue for all of the hardships a child and the child’s family suffer.
Will an Accident Claim Pay All of My Child’s Hospital Bills?
Yes. That’s what’s supposed to happen. However, insurance companies can extend parents “lowball” offers before they really know how much medical care a child will need to fully recover. Once a bad settlement is signed, parents can’t go back in the future to ask for more help when injuries flare up.
Insurers will try to ignore the physical therapy sessions a child will need to learn to walk normally again, or use a broken hand, wrist, or arm. They can ignore the long-term effects of a devastating injury, only paying for an emergency room visit.
A skilled lawyer would be working with the child’s doctors to determine what level of support they’ll need in the coming months, years, and decades. Then Maison Law lawyers file a claim that demands help with every hardship.
These are a few of the factors your attorney will make sure are considered when the insurance company writes an accident settlement check:
- Medical expenses, to cover past, current, and future medical costs.
- Property damage, which includes repair or replacement costs for damaged personal items.
- Out-of-pocket expenses, covering costs like transportation to medical appointments and prescriptions.
- Support awarded for the pain children must cope with and manage.
- Support for the emotional trauma caused by a frightening accident. This can include the anxiety and depression caused by a major injury and a long, difficult recovery. Children should also get the support they need to overcome any PTSD symptoms they carry away from an accident, especially a car crash or a dog attack.
- Loss of enjoyment of life, which will deal with reduced ability to enjoy activities.
- Wrongful death support. When the unthinkable happens, and someone’s mistake claims an precious child’s life, families must get justice and support. Parents can receive help with funeral costs and with remaining medical bills. They should also receive support for the loss of companionship they’ll have to cope with the rest of their lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I wait to file an injury claim for my child?
In California, children have until they are considered adults to file a claim. Parents can file at any time, but when a child turns 18, they have an additional two years to file a lawsuit over an accident and injury.
Should children get extra compensation after a personal injury accident?
Yes. Children are unique as accident victims. They can suffer more serious injuries and their injuries don’t always heal completely and can flare up in the years to come. As a child starts to develop into adulthood, an old injury might start causing issues with growth. A problem with the way a broken bone healed can cause pain and musculoskeletal problems. Children should have the additional support they need to cover any necessary surgeries, physical therapy, or medical equipment they may need to get follow up treatment. A Ceres Child Injury Lawyer would demand support for a family’s current needs and to cover the child’s requirements as they mature.
What if I can’t afford to hire a lawyer for my child’s case?
If you need a lawyer to secure more support for your child, you can afford to hire Maison Law. Our Child Injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t ask for anything up front, and only get paid if we win your case for your child. Then our fee is paid out of the money the insurance company turns over to your family.
Contact a Ceres Child Injury Attorney
After your child has suffered a serious injury caused by someone’s carelessness, contact a skilled Child Injury Lawyer to discuss your case, free of charge. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out about all the benefits available to you and your child, and how to hold an insurance company fully responsible.
Maison Law compassionately protects child victims and their families in Ceres and Stanislaus County. We make sure they receive every benefit available to rebuild their lives. That means we work hard to cause as little disruption to family life as possible during the claims process. We handle the sometimes frustrating battle with insurance companies so children can focus on getting better.
