Call Free On: 0800 085 3627 (9am to 5pm)

Get FREE Advice

Find out if you have a claim

Make A Claim Now

Request Callback

 

Slips, Trips and Falls

If you’ve had a fall recently and suffered injury as a result, we may be able to help you in a claim for compensation.

Does it matter where you fall?

No! No matter where you have fallen, if you have been injured and it was not your fault and caused by something on the ground you were walking over, you may be able to make a personal injury compensation claim.

Falls whilst visiting premises: the Occupiers Liability Act

Doing your weekly shop in the supermarket or visiting any other private retailer or land owner? You have statutory protection:

Section 2 of The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 confers a duty upon any occupier of land (the person or organisation responsible for the land you were visiting) “to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there.”

In other words, if you are a visitor, the person who is responsible for the land you’re visiting has to ensure your reasonable safety.

Examples of when an occupier has allowed premises to be unsafe resulting in injury are:

  • Allowing debris in walkways;
  • Allowing holes or defects in the areas visitors are expected to walk, which might cause them to trip over and fall;
  • Allowing the ground to be wet and/or slippy without suitable visual warning sign's to visitors of that potential danger or placing mats down;
  • Missing drain covers in a car park
  • In fact an occupier doesn’t just have to watch for people falling over but make sure any potential danger is reduced, e.g. falling shelves or signs, faulty doors etc.

There are many more ways an occupier of land can be responsible for injuries caused to people visiting their premises.

To find out if your injuries could result in a claim call us now to speak to our team of experts.

Falls on a public path or road: The Highways Act 1980

If you have had a trip or fall whilst walking along the street and you have suffered a personal injury as a result, you may have a claim against your local authority.

The Highways Act 1980 confers an obligation on all local authorities to ensure that the streets and pathways they are responsible for are well maintained, regularly inspected for defects and repaired in a timely fashion.

Can I claim? The 25mm rule.

Defects in the highway are holes or discrepancies in the height of the walkway which cause a tripping edge which you are likely to catch your foot on, lose your footing on or cause you to lose your balance. People often catch their foot on defects resulting in a very painful fall.

In order for you to have a valid claim against your local authority the defect needs to be “actionable”. In other words, it is so potentially dangerous the council should have taken action to repair the pathway.

As a general rule of thumb, if the tripping edge of a defect on a public path is greater than 25mm (or 1 inch), which is the same size as a 50p piece, you have a potential claim. On the road, it needs to be over 45mm.

How can we help?

We have acted for thousands of unfortunate people, young and old, who have been injured whilst walking down the street. The injuries are always unexpected, and often very painful. Common injuries are broken wrists or sprained or fractured ankles.

If you are injured you need the right advice to ensure the correct party is pursued. You need specialists who can challenge arguments raised by occupiers in defence of a claim and who know their way around inspection records and challenge their validity and effectiveness.

Most of all, you need the compensation you deserve. Call Accident Injury Expert.co.uk to help you.

Handy tips

  1. Take a photo of where you fell.
    1. Put a 50 piece next to the defect so we can see how big the actual defect is. If you slipped on a substance, take a picture of that.
    2. Take a picture of the surrounding area showing where the defect is in relation to the rest of the world.
  2. If anyone helps you get back up, take their details. They might be a valuable witness.
  3. Always report your accident. Either to the shop owner, or the local authority.
    1. If it happened on private land, make sure you sign the accident book
    2. If it happened in the street, follow up any telephone complaint with a letter or email.
  4. Call Accident Injury Expert.co.uk for help straight away. The longer you leave it to make a claim, the less likely it is people will remember what happened.

Even if you think you might not have a claim, there’s no harm in asking to speak to one of our advisors for no obligation preliminary advice. We don’t do “hard sell” and if you do instruct us it will always be on a no win no fee basis. So get in touch today by completing our online claim form or call us free on 0800 085 3627