Had to Send a Kid to Get Stitches

[BumbleBee]

First time in almost 4 years of running my own daycare. UGH!

Kid had an arm full of cardboard blocks and was walking to the shelf to put them away. Tripped over his own two feet and went head first into the edge of the shelf--couldn't catch himself because his arms were full of blocks.

Called licensing, filled out state paperwork, called liability insurance agent and started a claim.

Saw the kid today, he's running around acting normal. Already ran into the door at home. Hasn't slowed him down at all. He already had a black eye from running into a night stand at home. Now he has 5 stitches in the other eyebrow.

Hate it when it happens at daycare!

[Mike]

Hopefully that kind of thing doesn't happen very often when I start doing daycare, but I know it will once in a while. Kids tend to be ahead of themselves sometimes, but then, so do adults. :: It's good you were prepared to deal with it. All we can do is try our best to prevent injuries and be ready when they happen. Every child I know of, even myself as a child, has gotten hurt at least once in their life, usually many more times than that.

It's good that he's acting normal. They do tend to get over things a lot faster than us older people do.

[Josiegirl]

As hard as it is that it happened on your watch, kids can be very accident prone and you know it was nothing you did or could have prevented. Some things simply happen.
Sounds like your follow-up was excellent and the parents must realize what their child is capable of.
Just wanted to add that if your dcps are anything like mine, they probably come in almost daily telling you tales of what their child did at home. Falling down stones, on the front sidewalk, at Grandma's house.....it happens. If accidents rarely happen at dc, you could be patting yourself on the back. One of my SA dcks was grocery shopping with his mom, got to the parking lot, had his arm stuck in the carriage, fell on the ground, cut his chin open and passed out. Had several stitches. One of those klutzy kid moments.

[Blackcat31]

First time in almost 4 years of running my own daycare. UGH!

Kid had an arm full of cardboard blocks and was walking to the shelf to put them away. Tripped over his own two feet and went head first into the edge of the shelf--couldn't catch himself because his arms were full of blocks.

Called licensing, filled out state paperwork, called liability insurance agent and started a claim.

Saw the kid today, he's running around acting normal. Already ran into the door at home. Hasn't slowed him down at all. He already had a black eye from running into a night stand at home. Now he has 5 stitches in the other eyebrow.

Hate it when it happens at daycare!

:hug:
It happens..

Ive had a kid break their arm (day before first day of Kindy too)
Ive had a kid split their tongue in two (fell from monkey bars and bit his tongue)
Ive had a kid break his finger and have to the bone stick out the back...way out (smashing rocks together with a friend and got his hand in the way)

Not a single parent was upset. To be fair, one of them ^ was my own kid.

I was right there every time.
We do what we can to keep them safe.

Glad it isn't slowing your lttle dude down.

[Silly Songs]

Why do you file a claim ? To pay for medical expenses ?

[Unregistered]

Exact same thing happened to my kiddo when he was in 3 year old preschool. I didn't have a daycare back then... DS tripped and bumped his head into the corner of a bookshelf just perfectly and he needed stitches about an inch over his eye. It gushed blood like a waterfall. He still has a scar almost 6 years later.

I never once blamed the preschool. I felt bad that it happened to them. I know they felt awful,

[Thriftylady]

I don't think I would have started an insurance claim yet. Some people say that could be seen as an admission of fault. I don't know though. The child's medical insurance should pay for this.

[BumbleBee]

I don't think I would have started an insurance claim yet. Some people say that could be seen as an admission of fault. I don't know though. The child's medical insurance should pay for this.

I wasn't sure so I called my agent & they said they'd start one and if anything came up it would be ready to go. I've never had to use my liability insurance or had an accident that required medical attention before so I was calling them to ask what I should do. Maybe I jumped the gun, idk. I'm still learning.

[LysesKids]

I wasn't sure so I called my agent & they said they'd start one and if anything came up it would be ready to go. I've never had to use my liability insurance or had an accident that required medical attention before so I was calling them to ask what I should do. Maybe I jumped the gun, idk. I'm still learning.

Yeah, I learned that one the hard way... now that a claim was opened, even if they pay nothing out, it is considered a Zero claim, but still a strike against you; I had it happen during the ice storm a year ago February... still fighting to get my deductible lowered & I have a "record" even though nothing came of it - my insurance agent told me had they known that even asking about a possible claim can trigger an actual claim being started even if that wasn't the intention because they ask certain questions from the adjusters as to potential options

[Unregistered]

Yeah, I learned that one the hard way... now that a claim was opened, even if they pay nothing out, it is considered a Zero claim, but still a strike against you; I had it happen during the ice storm a year ago February... still fighting to get my deductible lowered & I have a "record" even though nothing came of it - my insurance agent told me had they known that even asking about a possible claim can trigger an actual claim being started even if that wasn't the intention because they ask certain questions from the adjusters as to potential options

I take it that it's a win-win for the insurance company. I called my homeowner's insurance after a storm that knocked a tree down and they told me that nothing would be covered but they were opening a claim "just in case." Something they said made me think that it makes the ins company look good when a claim is zeroed out. PLUS they raise your rates.

[Josiegirl]

Ugh, good to know about insurance companies. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me why it would count against a person's insurance when they're trying to do the right thing and be proactive but never even file a claim. That's just wrong.

[Daycare Insurance]

First time in almost 4 years of running my own daycare. UGH!

Kid had an arm full of cardboard blocks and was walking to the shelf to put them away. Tripped over his own two feet and went head first into the edge of the shelf--couldn't catch himself because his arms were full of blocks.

Called licensing, filled out state paperwork, called liability insurance agent and started a claim.

Saw the kid today, he's running around acting normal. Already ran into the door at home. Hasn't slowed him down at all. He already had a black eye from running into a night stand at home. Now he has 5 stitches in the other eyebrow.

Hate it when it happens at daycare!

Its always unfortunate hen accidents happen but they do happen! It sounds like you did everything correctly. We always suggest providers do exactly what you did when you have an incident. Documentation and "ouch reports" are extremely important.

This is definitely an incident we would suggest you call your insurance company and get a claim started. If you have a stand alone insurance policy with accident medical coverage, an incident like this is exactly what it is designed to cover. If a parent knows that they don't have to stress about how the medical bills will be paid, it definitely can help the situation.

Some companies, ours being one of them does not raise your rates for making accident claims. Of course it is true that an habitual claims frequency can jeopardize your coverage over time but any incident that occurs should be submitted to your insurance company for examination.

[happymom]

As a parent of a child who had an injury claim through daycare I can say it was a pain in the butt!

Since neither of us really knew how it worked, the entire process took over 6 months start to finish. It ended in the insurance company partial paying my son's bill and my daycare writing me a check for the $100 deductible.

Since the bill for the stitches was all processed in my name, I was responsible for the bill. I should have just paid it and then submitted it to the daycare to handle insurance reimbursement, but instead dealt with several late notices from the healthcare center until we finally figured out what the insurance company had done (short paid the bill after 6 months of fighting, leaving me, the client, responsible for the deductible).

Just sharing my experience to hopefully make things easier on you and your daycare parent!

[happymom]

I should have mentioned that I did not pay the bill at the daycare's request. She wanted it processed through the insurance company before anyone paid anything.