If your child suffered injuries at daycare in Dallas due to negligence, you are likely to feel overwhelmed with questions and concerns such as knowing the average daycare negligence settlement amount. How will you pay for your child’s medical bills and ongoing care? Will your child experience lasting physical or emotional effects? What legal options do you have to hold the daycare accountable?
Pursuing a daycare injury lawsuit allows your family to seek justice and financial recovery. Many parents wonder about typical daycare negligence settlement amounts. While every case is unique, understanding the factors that impact compensation can help set your expectations.
Factors Affecting Daycare Negligence Settlement Amounts
Various circumstances influence the potential value of a daycare negligence case. Key factors that determine daycare injury settlement amounts include:
Severity of Injuries
The more severe and permanent a child’s injuries, the higher the potential settlement could be. Catastrophic harm like brain damage, paralysis, or loss of a limb often results in larger settlements than cuts and broken bones. However, some moderate physical injuries can worsen over time and require substantial future medical care.
Long-Term Impacts
If a daycare injury causes significant changes to a child’s abilities, development, or quality of life, settlement amounts may increase. For example, a brain injury that impairs a child’s cognitive function or learning capacity can necessitate lifelong assistive services. Disfiguring injuries may cause self-esteem issues and limit opportunities. These intangible losses factor into settlement calculations.
Economic Damages
Economic damages encompass the direct financial costs of a daycare injury, such as:
- Emergency room visits
- Surgeries and hospitalizations
- Medications and medical equipment
- Specialist appointments
- Rehabilitative therapies
- Home health care
- Counseling
- Disability accommodations
- Lost wages for parents missing work
Settlements must account for both past expenses and projected future needs. Thoroughly documenting all injury-related costs is crucial to maximizing compensation.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages, while more subjective, are equally important in daycare negligence settlements. These damages recognize the profound physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life a child may face after a preventable injury.
Texas Civil Practice Code Section 41.001 defines non-economic damages as “damages awarded to compensate a claimant for physical pain and suffering, mental or emotional pain or anguish, loss of consortium, disfigurement, physical impairment, loss of companionship and society, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, injury to reputation, and all other non-pecuniary losses of any kind.”
An experienced attorney can help convey the immense impact of these intangible losses on your child and family to the insurance company or jury.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages could be available in rare cases involving gross negligence or intentional misconduct. These damages punish and deter particularly egregious behavior, such as a daycare continuing to employ a worker with a known history of child abuse. These bonus damages can significantly increase overall settlement amounts.
Strength of Evidence
The strength of evidence supporting your daycare negligence claim plays a major role in potential settlement value. Clear documentation of the daycare center facility’s failures and your child’s injuries is essential. If a child is injured or has experienced daycare abuse, some of the helpful evidence you can collect may include:
- Daycare incident reports
- Photographs of unsafe conditions or faulty equipment
- Video surveillance footage
- Records of past violations or complaints against the daycare
- Witness statements from staff or other parents
- Your child’s medical records and bills
- Expert analysis of expected future treatment needs
The more compelling your proof of negligence and damages, the stronger your position in settlement negotiations will be.
Read more: Common Examples of Negligence in Child Care
Daycare’s Insurance Coverage
A daycare’s insurance coverage limits can impact settlement potential. The higher the policy limits, the more money available to compensate injury victims. Some daycares carry only state minimum coverage, while others invest in multi-million dollar policies.
If a child is hurt at a daycare, who pays? Usually, the daycare’s insurance provider pays for damages. However, if a child’s damages exceed the available insurance, parents may need to explore additional options like suing the daycare owner’s personal assets or pursuing a claim against an affiliated company.
Average Settlement for Daycare Negligence
Given the numerous variables involved, providing a definitive average settlement for daycare negligence claims is challenging. Settlements can range from thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the case’s specifics.
However, some past daycare lawsuit settlements, personal injury cases, and daycare injury cases offer insight into potential recovery. For example:
- In 2024, a South Carolina family received a $16 million settlement after their infant died due allegedly due to a daycare’s unsafe sleep practices.
- In 2021, a New York mother settled for $$475,000 after their 7-year-old suffered brain damage after choking at a daycare.
- In 2018, a Washington daycare settled for $1.3 million daycare workers corroborated the children’s accounts of negligence, including mistreatment, and isolation.
These examples demonstrate the wide range of settlement possibilities. However, it is important to remember that each case is distinct. What another family received does not necessarily reflect what your claim may be worth.
The best way to get an accurate picture of your daycare negligence case’s potential value is to consult a knowledgeable child injury attorney. Personal injury lawyers that specialize in child and daycare injuries can review the unique facts of your situation. Contact us to give you a personalized assessment for your situation.
What Can You Sue a Daycare For?
Parents can sue daycare facilities for a variety of negligent actions that lead to harm, such as:
- Lack of supervision
- Dangerous property conditions
- Improper staff training
- Negligent hiring of employees with abusive backgrounds
- Failure to follow safe sleep guidelines for infants
- Unsanitary practices contributing to illness
- Failure to accommodate food allergies or medical needs
- Negligent transportation procedures
If you suspect your child’s injury stemmed from daycare negligence, do not hesitate to explore your legal options and file a lawsuit. You may be able to pursue compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, emotional distress, and more. An experienced daycare injury attorney can help identify all potential areas of recovery and help you in pursuing all avenues, including all relevant personal injury claims.
Daycare Injury Lawyers Fighting for Your Family
Daycare should be a place of learning, growth, and safety. When a child sustains serious injuries due to a facility’s carelessness and/or the child being not adequately supervised by staff, the long-term ramifications can be devastating. Your family deserves justice and financial security.
At Benton Accident & Injury Lawyers, we understand the immense stress and heartache you are experiencing. Our compassionate daycare negligence attorneys are here to provide the guidance and support you need during this difficult time.
Contact us today at (214) 777-7777 or through our online form to discuss your daycare negligence case. Our personal injury attorneys and daycare injury attorneys are here to listen, advise, and fight for you every step of the way.