Complete Guide to Sports Personal Injuries

When our kids are young, we like to get them involved in sports to learn skills, gain friends, and have fun experiences. However, have you ever thought about what happens when your child suffers sports personal injuries either at school or anywhere else? Of course, we aren't trying to put you or your children off but the information is important to know.

Nowadays, millions of children and teenagers play sports on a daily basis whether just for fun or at a competitive level. Unfortunately, sports injuries are common and it leads to stress for both the children and parents. At The Injury Firm, we like to dig beneath the surface and really get to grips with statistics which is what we’re offering here today. In addition to this, we will also look into compensation for medical bills and any other losses.

The Numbers

As they say, ‘the numbers don’t lie’ so let’s look at some below;

• Sports with regular collisions and physical contacts, like rugby and football, yield the highest injury numbers. This being said, injuries from other sports seem to be more severe such as swimming and gymnastics.

• In terms of sports injuries, over three and a half million children under 14 receive medical care each year. Considering the total number playing sports is 30 million, this is relatively high.

• Rather than the main event, nearly two-thirds of all sports injuries come during training and practice sessions.

• Finally, one-third of all parents admitted to not taking the same precautions for practice compared to games. Furthermore, research also suggests that coaches themselves take practice sessions less seriously.

Loses Due to Sports Injuries

Whether through their own insurance or a parent’s, health insurance comes in handy with sports injuries because treatments and follow-up care will generally be provided. As you would expect, there is a limit to this and you may have to pay deductibles which could soon create quite a list depending on the extent of your child’s sports injury.

At times, parents are able to file a ‘third party claim’ and this goes through the party responsible for your child’s injury whether it is a business, organization, or any other body. However, you need to be careful because insurance companies would rather pay out as little as possible than see you fully compensated. For this reason, we always recommend avoiding the signing of documents showing the extent of injuries until the costs of treatment have been calculated.

Personal Injury Claims: How Does Insurance Work?

 Whenever a personal injury case occurs, you can be sure the insurance company will be involved somewhere along the line. With most accidents, the two parties will offer insurance details and a significant portion of accident cases are actually settled between the claimant and the insurance company themselves. If you’ve been involved in an accident, below we have laid out exactly how it all works and how the insurance company will impact the outcome of a case.

Insurance Coverage for Personal Injury

When making this type of claim, one of the first things you should do is find out whether liability insurance was owned by the other party. For example, you should ask if the guilty party has car insurance when hit from behind in a vehicle. If you slipped in a supermarket, does the company have the right coverage to support all visitors on the property?

Sadly, not everybody sees insurance as a necessity these days which means the other party may have no coverage. In other cases, you may not be in contact with the other party and this is common in hit-and-run cases. Despite the bleak outlook, insurance still plays a role but it will be the insurance of the victim rather than the other party.

Coverage Amount

When buying insurance, you probably noticed that insurers offer varying amounts of coverage as well as the different types. If we use a typical road accident as an example, the most important consideration will be the insurance coverage of the at-fault party. Depending on their insurance, the case will proceed in different directions.

If the crash was fairly low impact and the injuries have been limited to whiplash or any other light tissue damage, the insurance company will only offer a low amount because the victim is in a tight spot. In this scenario, a court case would be fairly weak because there is little damage to the vehicle and you cannot necessarily prove injuries apart from slight bruising. Here, the jury might decide the accident is too small for consideration.

If the injuries are slightly worse and the driver’s insurance matches the minimum limit set by the state, the case will meet a fast end because the insurance coverage will be exhausted by even a modest jury verdict and the claims adjuster knows this.

In the third scenario, a personal injury case is always tough to settle when there is significant liability coverage. Here, the adjuster has more money to play with and will never want to push any further than absolutely necessary. In these cases, a lawsuit is typically required before the adjuster sees whether they were right or whether there is a risk of losing a whole lot more.

Your Own Insurance Coverage

As we saw, there may be times where the only insurance you have is your own and the coverage is just as important here as it was with the at-fault party’s policy. In your coverage, there should be a ‘first party’ section and this describes your protection in certain circumstances. Using a car insurance policy as an example once again, most drivers will have ‘fully comprehensive’ which provides protection against underinsured or even uninsured drivers.

If the at-fault driver has no policy whatsoever, your claim will be filed as ‘uninsured motorist’; this option is required by law in some states whilst just being offered in others. After filing, your own insurance company will negotiate the claim just as if you were dealing with the insurance company of the at-fault party. On the other hand, ‘underinsured motorist’ claims are for drivers who have liability coverage but not enough to cover your losses and medical bills. If you have the right first-person coverage, the difference should be covered.

Talk to a Professional - With any sports injuries that could be described as anything more than ‘minor’, you will need to speak to experienced and skilled attorneys. For the most part, insurance will cover all medical bills but they don’t always compensate for anxiety, emotional distress, and other pain and suffering that come as a direct result of the injuries.

At The Injury Firm, we have helped hundreds of people over the years to achieve the results they desire. Without an expert service such as ourselves, you are likely to be offered a nominal amount for general damages and this is only if you’re lucky. By contacting us, you put yourself in the best position to receive the right amount of compensation.

Children’s Sports Injury Claims

If the maximum compensation is going to be received, the parents will need to consider a lawsuit. Although it might not go to court, it offers bargaining power when negotiating a settlement. Often, the threat of a lawsuit is enough to increase the compensation to a respectable amount so this is important to remember.

When filing a lawsuit, you need to know who was at fault for the injury of your child or at least who played a role. For example, this could be a particular person, business, coach, etc. Once the facts have been collected, the suit will need to be filed with the civil court in your state. Here, you will lay out all the details you have and who was liable along with the injuries suffered as a result.

If your lawsuit is to be respectable or even offer a little weight, it needs to prove how the defendant or their actions was negligent; this should lead directly to the injury. Did the defendant fail to take the correct precautions? Was there a lack of supervision over the children? Were the employees improperly trained? Were the facilities poorly maintained? Was the sports equipment damaged beyond suitability? Was the emergency care poor on-site?

Assumption of Risk

With sports injuries, there is a distinction to make on how the injury occurred. On the one hand, it may have come as a result of the sport itself; on the other, it may have come from the facilities or away from the sport. If the injury came whilst playing the sport in which he/she was participating, pointing the blame in any one direction will be significantly harder.

However, this only holds true to a certain extent because the injury could have been caused by another player in a malicious act. In any other context, the act may have been considered assault and therefore there is an opportunity to take action against the player as well as the league, school, organization, or whomever it may be.

Note on School Districts - Before we finish with some important questions to ask your attorney, we should note that filing a lawsuit against a school district or one of its employees can be tricky because they are typically owned by the government. If you want to sue a school district or any other government-owned entity, there are certain rules and laid out procedures to follow. Of course, we aren't saying you should avoid the practice entirely but you should get in contact with an experienced attorney such as The Injury Firm in Fort Lauderdale. Ultimately, we know the correct steps to take as well as the common pitfalls of suing a government entity.

Potential Questions

• After joining the local football team, my son has been asked to sign an injury waiver so they don’t hold accountability for any injuries; should we sign this?

• During a softball game, a fight broke out and my daughter was hurt; one player from the opposing team hit her repeatedly. Do I sue the player or the school?

• Whilst playing volleyball, my daughter was hurt and we received compensation from my insurance. However, the school is refusing to submit bills to their insurance; can we force them to do so?

Conclusion

There we have it, your complete guide to children’s sports personal injuries, insurance companies, and how the whole process works. If you need help or even just some advice, feel free to get in touch with the personal injruy attorneys at The Injury Firm in Fort Lauderdale today. With experience and the necessary skills, we will put you in a great position to succeed with any personal injury claims or settlements!