Personal Injury Claim - Walking Down a Street Trip

Moosic

Hi everyone, i'm new to the forums and desperately need help.

I got back yesterday from a short trip abroad, when i came home [ i live with my mom and dad when i'm not at uni ] i found to my horror that my mom [ who is over 65 ] had a fall in a local town. She had been walking down the footpath past shops and her feet or foot had got caught in a drain / water stopcock cover. Because of this she fell and injured herself extremely badly, she had five stitched in a gash around her eye, a black eye, dislocated fingers, extreme bruising to her hand, fingers, arm and shoulder.

A ambulance was called and luckily people had stayed with her until she the ambulance had got there. She is recovering well and i am due to go down to the place where it happened tomorrow to take photos of where it all took place.

I post as i need advice, never been in this situation before so will be looking for people to help me and guide me in the right direction. How do i go about proceedings against the council, who is to blame, is there a law in england which states about pavement, the state of them, maintenence etc. I also need to get a solititor so is there a good way of choosing one.

I really hope i can gather this info, get to know a few of you and see what help i can get for my family at this difficult time.

Thanks in advance.

Moosic

dacouch

Just because your mother has tripped it does not mean that legally its someone elses fault. To establish blame the other person needs to be Legally Negligent. Sometimes the law just classes incidents as accidents with no one to blame.

If you have Legal Expense Cover on your home insurance you can get legal advice and they will probably pay for legal costs if they feel you have a chance.

Alternatively you could chance your luck with a "No Win No Fee Solicitor" if they feel you have a good case they will probably take it on.

Moosic

dacouch wrote: »

To establish blame the other person needs to be Legally Negligent. Sometimes the law just classes incidents as accidents with no one to blame.

Ok, thanks for the reply dacouch, so who is actually the other person ?

Is there any regulation over how footpaths are layed ???

dacouch

The other person if its a drain is likely to be the council or utilitiy the drain belongs to .

There are some rules about how high a tripping hazard has to be before you can sue for tripping.

Was there anything wrong with the drain cover?

Moosic

The drain cover was lower than the pavement, well that seems to be what has happened. I havn't been there yet to look but will do first thing tommorow. I know from experience the paths down this area are more patio'd than normal tarmac.

Do you have the rules about how high a tripping hazard has to be before you can sue for tripping please ? I'll be very interested to find out thanks for your time.

Moosic.

dacouch

The the difference in height normally has to be 1 inch for you to have a case (They have had cass go through on smaller than 1 inch but it is very very rare

I'm not recommending the following company its just the easiest guide I found through google.

http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/other-accidents/pavement-accidents-personal-injury-compensation.htm#entitled_make_compensation_claim_pavement_accident

maninthestreet

Moosic wrote: »

The drain cover was lower than the pavement, well that seems to be what has happened. I havn't been there yet to look but will do first thing tommorow. I know from experience the paths down this area are more patio'd than normal tarmac.

Do you have the rules about how high a tripping hazard has to be before you can sue for tripping please ? I'll be very interested to find out thanks for your time.

Moosic.

Take a photograph of the offending drain cover and surrounding pavement, amd upload it to this forum.

Atermis

did you see the ££££ signs when you got back??

shouldnt you be more concerned about your mothers well being then chasing cash?

Brooker_Dave

Moosic wrote: »

I post as i need advice, never been in this situation before so will be looking for people to help me and guide me in the right direction. How do i go about proceedings against the council, who is to blame, is there a law in england which states about pavement, the state of them, maintenence etc. I also need to get a solititor so is there a good way of choosing one.

Just sign up with one of those ambulance chasing firms who advertise on the radio, then they'll get about £5000, and your mum will get £300.

And if you've ever wondered why council tax has risen so much, think of all the people who were not looking where they were going, and demanded compo...

Who needs libraries and swimming pools anyway?

Brooker_Dave

Atermis wrote: »

did you see the ££££ signs when you got back??

Mum's nosedived.

Kerching!!!

Moosic

Atermis wrote: »

did you see the ££££ signs when you got back??

shouldnt you be more concerned about your mothers well being then chasing cash?

Hey don't mean to be rude, it's more about principals than money. I'm off down there in a hour or so to take some pictures. Once i'm done i'll upload them to, mayb i shud show you how my mom looked like too.