Pupils win £125,000 in claims for school accidents

Published on Wednesday 1 July 2009 09:57

A TOTAL of £125,000 has been paid out to school pupils in the Lothians in compensation claims ranging from ripped trousers to serious playground accidents.

Children have received as much as 10,765 in injury claims from local councils in the Lothians following accidents resulting in head injuries, trapped fingers and broken legs.

Local authorities have also been sued after pupils' property – including jewellery, mobile phones and school uniforms – was lost, stolen or damaged.

Edinburgh City Council paid out the most in claims, shelling out 62,825 in the past five years for 28 injuries and four incidents relating to property.

West Lothian paid out just over 38,000 to pupils, while Midlothian Council compensated children to the tune of 23,900.

Pupils in East Lothian have received just 90 in compensation payouts from the council, despite 31 claims being made for a range of incidents, including missing gym shoes and tripping in the playground.

However, the council has estimated that it could have to pay out just over 19,000 in outstanding claims for injuries including a child's finger being trapped in a fire door, hockey goals falling on a pupil, and a five-year-old girl being scalded when soup was spilled on her.

The Evening News recently revealed that 200,000 had been paid out to teachers and school staff in compensation for accidents including slipping on food and tripping on a school bag.

All four Lothians councils have paid out thousands of pounds to employees claiming for injuries suffered in the region's schools.

The city council has paid out the most over the past four years – a massive 106,650 to just 13 employees, averaging out at 8,200 per claim. But Edinburgh solicitor Angus Logan believes payouts for injury claims are often higher than they need to be as a result of councils dragging their feet.

He says solicitors often have to result to raising court proceedings due to the length of time taken by councils to resolve a claim. Mr Logan, who works with Ritchie Neill on Brougham Street, said: "I find council insurers to be terribly slow.

"They don't admit liability and take months to make a decision. They would pay out less if they settled cases early and they did not invite litigation. I think it's probably a misguided attempt to save money in the wrong places."

A city council spokesman said: "Health and safety is taken very seriously across our school estate and that's why the number of claims has been low.

"However, with a large schools estate, claims are brought against us from time to time."