Daughters broken leg ~making a claim..

~Trixiebelle~

Hi all,

Last week my daughter was on her trampoline and landed awkwardly breaking her leg quite badly. We went to the hospital by ambulance and had to stay there for 2 nights as she had to go to the OR to get the bones manipulated back in place. At the moment we are waiting and hopeing that they stay there without any further surgery (pins and wires etc..)

At the start of the school year we were offered with the school, pupil accident insurance. We paid for 24 hour cover so we are covered for the accident at home. I have (luckily until now!:() no experience of making an insurance claim and would love to hear from anyone that has had to claim through this kind of accident insurance for children.

I am absent from work now as i couldnt possibly leave her as she is only 6 and has a full length cast on her leg and is very uncomfortable and still very sore. Does this insurance cover for loss of earnings?? From what i can gather it says only medical expenses but how can i possibly put in a claim now as we have no idea if she will have future problem with it. As it stands now the medical bill is €150?? for 2 nights in hospital(public patient) and we have to travel to the childrens hospital once a week to receive xrays, which i believe doesnt cost as she was an inpatient and as for the ambulance that brought us there???...:o The medical bills as such are small but we are seem to be taking quite a hit finacially. Can we claim for anything other than the medical bills???

Our money situation isnt the best at the moment and this really couldnt have come at a worst time!! Nevermind, the upset for our little girl that has to go through this:(.... any advice would be gratefully appreciated!!:)

Ogham

I am pretty sure those school insurance policies are just flat rate payments - i.e a certain amount for a broken leg, another amount for a broken arm etc. You really need to see the policy to be sure of what is covered. Have you not got a copy - or even a phone number to call?
I could be wrong - but if I was you I wouldn't be expecting payment for loss of earnings etc.

oldyouth

Firstly, I hope your little one will get better soon.
I used to get those application forms from the school and dismissed them as not being worth the money. If an accident happened at school, I'd sue the buggers and everyone has this right, regardless of whether they have this policy or not.
I'm nearly certain that these policies are restricted to direct medical expenses and permanent disablement from a loss of limb, blindness etc. There is usually nothing paid for temporary conditions. Personal Accident policies for adults cover loss of earnings, but kids don't earn so it is never included.
I'm not an expert on these things but I think you are restricted here to medical expenses
This is the Allianz policy, if that is the one you have http://www.allianz.ie/Other_Products/Schools/Pupil_Personal_Accident/Pupil_Personal_Accident_Brochure.pdf

GerardKeating

oldyouth wrote: »

If an accident happened at school, I'd sue the buggers and everyone has this right, regardless of whether they have this policy or not.

That would assume the accident was the schools fault, which might not be the case...

Mr. Presentable

OP, I have been through this. Contact the school and get the policy number and contact details for the Insurer. Call the insurer and get the forms sent out. Fill them in and return them with any hospital/doctor/pharmacy receipts. It took mine about two weeks for the payment to come through. They only cover your costs, not any "damages".

oldyouth

GerardKeating wrote: »

That would assume the accident was the schools fault, which might not be the case...

Trust me, when your child is at school, the school has a very strict duty of care.

seanybiker

I thought the school insurance was only if ya lost a leg or an eye or something like that. I rmemeber years ago when I got the insurance in school, ya got more money for losing an eye than dieing lol.

Since ya stated it only pays the medical bills then its kinda obvious it wont pay for loss of earnings.

waraf

TBH I very much doubt trampolining is covered under the insurance policy

rainbowtrout

Also is your daughter on her summer holidays yet? You didn't say if she was in primary or secondary? Does the policy cover holiday periods, weekends etc?

homer911

My son broke his leg last year, in the middle of his school exams. He was covered by the same policy.

Keep all your receipts - you will get 100% of medical expenses back. Get a form from your child's school or download it from the Allianz site. You will need to get it signed by the Doctor who examined your child. You can submit an interim claim (keep a copy of it) and submit further claims later. (We took him to see a consultant 7 months after the accident to check him out and got this cost back too)

~Trixiebelle~

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Also is your daughter on her summer holidays yet? You didn't say if she was in primary or secondary? Does the policy cover holiday periods, weekends etc?

As i said she is 6 so she is still in primary school. They still have 2 weeks left in school. I did opt for the 24hour cover which includes outside school hours.

~Trixiebelle~

Ogham wrote: »

I am pretty sure those school insurance policies are just flat rate payments - i.e a certain amount for a broken leg, another amount for a broken arm etc. You really need to see the policy to be sure of what is covered. Have you not got a copy - or even a phone number to call?
I could be wrong - but if I was you I wouldn't be expecting payment for loss of earnings etc.

Thats exactly what i thought when i was looking at the printout which we received when we were offered it at the start of the year. The link Oldyouth(thanks btw!) posted is the insurance we have which looks completely different to the actual brochure... they gave examples of broken leg/arm payouts etc...

~Trixiebelle~

homer911 wrote: »

My son broke his leg last year, in the middle of his school exams. He was covered by the same policy.

Keep all your receipts - you will get 100% of medical expenses back. Get a form from your child's school or download it from the Allianz site. You will need to get it signed by the Doctor who examined your child. You can submit an interim claim (keep a copy of it) and submit further claims later. (We took him to see a consultant 7 months after the accident to check him out and got this cost back too)

Thanks homer, i was worried about the aftermath after the cast was off not just while it is on.... physio would be covered under medical?? its just that i am more worried about the future problems as the break is in her tibia and growth plate which i believe can cause problems with the development of the broken leg.. causing limps and unequal growth compared to the other leg.etc..