Uppal Taylor Solicitors
10 Bridgford Road
Nottingham
NG2 6AB

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If you wish to speak with one of our specialist solicitors, in the strictest confidence, then please call 0870 055 2260 - alternately please complete our online enquiry form.

A Claimant who has been resident in foster care may be able to bring a compensation claim if;

• They have suffered abuse (sexual, physical or emotional) by the foster parents
  
• They have suffered abuse (sexual, physical or emotional) by others within the foster placement.
  

What can the Claimant claim for?

In these types of actions a Claimant can claim for;

• Compensation for Pain, Suffering and Loss of Amenity
  
• Compensation for loss of earnings or loss of opportunity on the open labour market consequential to the abuse
• The costs of any psychotherapy or other treatment required on a private basis

For further information on Compensation and Damages please visit our ‘Damages Explained’ Page.

Compensation Claims in respect of Foster Care

When Children are taken into care, either under a Court Order or on a voluntary basis, they may be placed in foster care with foster parents who are either appointed by the Local Authority or a Private Fostering Organisation; in either case the child will usually be placed by the Local Authority.

Whilst the purpose of the foster placement is to promote the welfare of the child occasionally and regrettably these placements can result in the child being exposed to a damaging environment which may involve sexual, physical or emotional abuse (or all three) or the child being exploited. The effects of poor foster care can be serious and long-term. Children placed in foster care have sometimes come from damaging environments requiring care yet are subjected to a further damaging environment.

Possible claims for compensation

When these unfortunate circumstances of abuse and maltreatment occur within foster care the victim may be able to bring proceedings for compensation. A number of possible claims exist;

1. A claim in negligence against the Placing Local Authority
In order to establish negligence against the placing Local Authority the Claimant will need to prove that they breached their duty of care to the Claimant and this breach caused injury. This will depend on what the Local Authority knew or ought to have known about the placement. It will also depend on whether the Local Authority made appropriate checks on the foster parents in their approval, carried out appropriate inspections and acted properly in respect of any allegations or concerns that arose.

2. A claim in negligence against the Private Company (if the foster placement is part of a private company).
In such a case the Claimant would need to prove that the Private Foster Organisation owed to the Claimant a duty of care that the duty of care was breached and the breach caused injury to the Claimant. It will depend upon what the Private Foster Organisation knew or ought to have known and whether or not they carried out their function adequately.

3. A claim against the Private Company for Vicarious Liability
The Claimant would need to prove that (1) the abuse took place (2) that the Defendant is liable for the acts of its employees.

Proving that the Abuse Took Place
On some occasions the victim’s abuser may have been subject to criminal proceedings before the claim for compensation. If the abuser is convicted for the incidents of abuse the Claimant will be able to rely on the convictions to prove the abuse took place in the civil courts under the provisions of s.11 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968.

In some cases the abuser may have been acquitted or no criminal proceedings were brought. This does not mean that the Claimant is unable to prove that the abuse took place. The criminal courts require the prosecution to prove a case beyond ‘all reasonable doubt’; this is a very high burden of proof that must be satisfied for a conviction. However, in the civil courts the Claimant is required to prove his/her case ‘on the balance of probabilities’ i.e. that the events that the Claimant alleges took place were more likely than not to have occurred; this is a much lower standard of proof and past cases have been successful even if there is no conviction.

Abuse committed within the course of employment
It is a well established principal in English Law that employers can be held liable for those assaults committed by their employees acting within the course of their employment (This is known as the principle of Vicarious Liability). The House of Lords in Lister – v – Hesley Hall [2002] held that sexual abuse was not necessarily outside the scope of an employment, it depended upon whether there was a sufficiently close connection between the work which the employee had been employed to do and the acts of abuse. Foster parents who work for private foster organisations are likely to be employees for the purposes of an action but this will depend on the circumstances of the arrangement.

The position is different with Local Authority foster parents who, the courts have held, are not employees of the Local Authority and therefore the Local Authority cannot be Vicariously Liable for their acts.

4. A claim directly against the foster parents.
A Claimant is entitled to bring proceedings against their abuser directly for the assaults committed against them. Click Here for further information on bringing claims directly against the abuser.

5. An application to the CICA.
Any victim of a crime of violence, including sexual assaults and abuse, can make an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Click Here for information on making an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Uppal Taylor Solicitors have a specialist team of solicitors that have vast experience in dealing with claims arising out of abuse and maltreatment suffered whilst in foster care.

If you wish to speak with one of our specialist solicitors, in the strictest confidence, then please call 0870 055 2260 - alternately please complete our online enquiry form.