Home > Accident Types > Injuries in Public Places > Compensation for Slips, Trips and Falls
If you or a member of your family is suffering from a personal injury caused by a slip, trip or fall, our specialist personal injury lawyers may be able to help you claim compensation. Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form.
Who Can Claim Compensation for a Trip or Fall?
Making an Injury Claim
Slips Trips and Falls in the Workplace
Compensation
Specialist Personal Injury Lawyers
Successful Claims for Slips Trips and Falls
It is usually possible for a person suffering a personal injury as the result of an accident to make a claim, if they can prove that someone else was responsible.
Slips and trips can unfortunately occur in a wide range of locations and situations. For example:
If it is clear that the incident could have been prevented, then the injured party could be entitled to claim compensation. Employers, local authorities and business owners have a responsibility to maintain their property to a safe level. If they have failed to take necessary measures to do this, then you could have a strong case.
Where possible you should try to take photographs of the area where the accident occurred. In cases where the location of the incident is on a public pavement, it is important to show the dimensions of the defect. This is most simply done by placing a ruler or an object of standard size, such as a coin or a matchbox, in the photograph with the defect.
It is also helpful to record as much detail as possible, including the names and addresses of any witnesses, remembering to keep receipts of any expenses related to the injury. Most importantly, you should seek legal advice from a specialist lawyer. They can help you to formulate all the evidence and assist you in making your claim.
In every case, medical evidence will be required, and it is necessary to show that the person you are making a claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (were negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence.
For slips and trips that occur at work, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply. This requires all employers to provide a safe working environment for employees, free from obstructions, defects or substances that could cause someone to slip, trip or fall.
If you were injured in an accident at work, try to ensure that the details are recorded in an accident book if one is available.
A compensation claim for a trip or fall in the workplace would usually be dealt with in the same way as any other employer liability claim.
Details of one of the cases our lawyers have successfully handled for an employee injured in a slipping accident at work can be found below:
If your claim is successful, and our Legal Line solicitors will be working hard to ensure that this will be the case, you will be entitled to two elements of a compensation award.
The first is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and what is known as loss of amenity. This is called general damages and can include an award for your inability to do things after the accident that you used to be able to do before, eg, wash your car, look after your garden, walk the dog, etc. The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period after an accident or for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.
The second element of a compensation award is for your losses and expenses and is known as special damages. It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to the accident, so that these can be reclaimed. The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if the accident had never occurred.
The Legal Line lawyers are experts in all areas of personal injury and have successfully recovered damages for many victims of slipping and tripping accidents. Using their extensive experience, they can provide specialist guidance, assistance and accident claim advice to help reach the best possible outcome.
See below examples of some of the many cases handled by our expert lawyers on behalf of the victims of injuries. Details of other cases can be found in our news and success stories sections:
She required hospital treatment, including stitches to a wound on her forehead, and it was several weeks before she was recovered. Our lawyers were able to recover £2,500 compensation on her behalf.
Our lawyers acted on her behalf in a public liability claim for this supermarket accident, as they are specialists in recovering personal injury compensation for the victims of accidents in public places. They recovered damages of £5,750 from the supermarket in respect of her injuries and ongoing symptoms.