whats the best way to make a claim for a fall for 12yr old ?

loracan1

shegirl wrote: »

If the lad had of watched where he was going it wouldn't have happened...Or would it have happened if he had tripped on a stone,over a stick,if prating around?No...it must instantly all be the councils fault,surprising there isn't somebody tripping and breaking their arm in the same pothole every day...

how on earth are you privy to what happened?...nothing like a bit of hyperbole is there...


Seriously, do some of you sit around all day waiting to pounce?

joannaspanner

I find it strange the OP's first thoughts were about compensayshun and not even thinking about speaking to the council first?

grimboyd

kennyjosiah (OP) what on earth did you expect when asking 'advice' in effectively asking 'us' to pay for 'your' mistake

Pothole see, walk around, sorted!
Pothole don't see, oh sheet, medic!

Ever heard of the saying "keep ducking" or "its a jungle out there"?

Get real lad, it is and its up to 'you' to defend 'yourself' and 'your' child not 'us'

societys_child

vaio wrote: »

Yep, but the question is would he have fallen had the pot hole not been there?

The OP states: but on this one occassion his mind wasnt 100% on carefully stepping . . . . . so who's at fault?

Following your logic, the roads and pavements wouldn't be subject to any duty of maintenance as any pedestrian/driver will be able to spot the uneven slabs/6" potholes/3 ft holes and avoid them.

It's some sort of car park, not a road or pavement. If he'd fallen over the curb, who's fault would that have been?

Sure the boy has a duty to look where he is going Exactly! but the council (as a result of '00s of years of legal evolution) also have a duty to maintain their car parks, pavements & roads etc. The system has the ability to adjust compensation to take into account contributory actions.

Me? I expect the roads I walk & drive on to be properly maintained and if the council decide they want to try and save a few bob by not doing the maintenance they should they need to realise there is a possible downside in that if people are injured as a result then they rightly expect to be compensated. Not if it's their own fault.

Maintenance is done for a reason, in the case of cars & machinery it's because a few quid every couple of months on it will reduce the likelihood of a much more expensive catastrophic failure later.

Irrelevant

In terms of councils, society over the years has decided that it's better for society as a whole to pay a few bob to councils to fix holes rather than individual drivers and pedestrians suffering the costs of injuries & damaged cars resulting from unmaintained roads.

Any views on and, does it differ between state organisations (councils, NHS, police etc) and private, say a DIY neighbour drops something which injures one of yours or someone damages your car by negligent driving?
Not sure how this applies to the thread, but if someone drives negligently, they are to blame.

Just remind you again what the OP posted:
but on this one occassion his mind wasnt 100% on carefully stepping . . . .
If I drove like that and hit something, who's to blame?

mikey72

societys_child wrote: »

Just remind you again what the OP posted:
but on this one occassion his mind wasnt 100% on carefully stepping . . . .
If I drove like that and hit something, who's to blame?

If you drove like that, and I hit you, I bet you wouldn't be so keen to take the blame then.

societys_child

Eh? That would depend on the circumstances wouldn't it?

Don't think the pot hole actually ran into him tho', apparently he simply wasn't watching where he was going. Anyway, gotta go, need to buy some tea cups with "WARNING - hot drink - may contain hot liquid" printed on them. Can't be too careful can you . . .

mikey72

No matter how careless he was, if the council hadn't left the potholes there in the first place, he wouldn't have tripped over them. Seems simple to me.

vaio

societys_child wrote: »

Just remind you again what the OP posted:
but on this one occassion his mind wasnt 100% on carefully stepping . . . .
If I drove like that and hit something, who's to blame?

You seem to have missed the point I was trying to make. Yes the boy has a duty to look where he is going but that doesn't cancel out the duty the council has to maintain the road/pavement/car park. The balance between these two duties will be decided by solicitors or a judge

Because of this duty to maintain I don't need to concentrate 100% on "carefully stepping" on what I'm walking on because I have an expectation that there won't be any holes there. This logic also means that those unfortunates who have less than perfect sight (or even none at all) can also navigate footpaths & other council maintained areas without falling down unexpected holes.

On the driving front, my route into work includes a NSL bit that has a wicked pothole. I've reported it to our council and logged it on various pothole sites. On a dry day it's easily visible but in the rain and particularly at night it just looks like one of the many puddles of standing water that affect that road. I know it's there so avoid it, a stranger to the area wouldn't so would end up with a damaged wheel/tyre or worse.

The council have taken a commercial decision not to repair it (three months & counting) and so have saved (or rather delayed spending) £300/500/1k whatever but this comes at the risk of damage to cars and I feel that anyone whose car gets damaged should be compensated by the council. Do you not agree?

grimboyd

"if the council hadn't left the potholes there in the first place, he wouldn't have tripped over them. Seems simple to me"

With left wing comment like that, no wonder countries in state it is today

Lad, don't cross road on way home !!!!!!

mikey72

grimboyd wrote: »

"if the council hadn't left the potholes there in the first place, he wouldn't have tripped over them. Seems simple to me"

With left wing comment like that, no wonder countries in state it is today

Lad, don't cross road on way home !!!!!!

I don't think potholes care about left or right wing views.