Fell into Water Drain - Missing Manhole cover

G_M

Ignore all the pessimists above.

Write to Thames Water with a claim for lost earnings, plus, say, £3000 for physical and mental distress.

If they reject the claim, write a similar letter to your tenants - they should obviously have maintained the drain cover as part of their implied contractual duty of 'tenant-like behaviour'..

If that does not work, the fence installers clearly share responsibility. they were on site, must have known of the danger, and should have warned you.

Does the postman use that passageway at all? If so, Royal Mail would also be liable.

Let us know how you get on, and best of luck.

Glover1862

The drain is not on my property, the area is not included in the deeds and no mention of it in any of the paperwork, in fact it's not even near my property, it's as you approach it and I have no idea who owns the path. It might sound trivial but people claim for a lot less. Don't think many here would be happy falling in and drain that cleared your head. I'm not saying claiming is right and as I mentioned I've never claimed anything off insurance. I've posted in the wrong forum I think but found think where else to post.

The cover had rusted so badly that it had sharp edges and most of it had turned to dust, clearly not been maintained in years. I had no intention of claiming yesterday but the pain is much worse and quite a few mentioned I should claim, I actually said I didn't think I have a claim but thought I'd post a question. I wish I hadn't now its my tenant who's the nurse that said I should get myself checked as quite a nasty fall, she's happy to be a witness. Chappers, thanks for your post, hope things improve.

jackyann

I think that it was quite clear that it wasn't on your property.
It also sounded to me as if the fence installers wouldn't have been aware of it.
I would certainly try Thames Water - although if it's a little used alleyway, they may well have no knowledge of what "someone" has been doing.
It sounds to me like one of those little alleyways, not really owned by anyone, where the only people who use it are the nearby residents, in which case you may find it very difficult to find anyone who will take responsibility.

chappers

All of these things aside, if you fell in over your head, I would seriously get yourself checked out, especially if you are in serious pain.
Thames Water are ultimately responsible for their property, regardless of whether they had been informed or not and this accident could have been a lot worse.
Organisations don't get off personal injury claims, by claiming ignorance, a judgement would be decided on the probability of whether the accident could be avoided, prevented or forseen and poor maintenance would be prime example of negligence.
What you would claim for at this juncture though I'm not sure, but I would make a complaint to Thames Water in writing so that it is documented and also please do go and see the doctor and get it documented, including how the accident happened, as you never know the long term consequences.

casper_g

Have a read of this: http://www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk/injury-lawyers-blog/2013/04/17/raised-drain-manhole-tripping-accident-solicitors/

The responsibility will either belong with the water company, the council (if the path is adopted) or the land owner.

The land on which the drain is located may belong to one of the houses nearby, as these access passages often come into being when houses have rights of way over one another's land and at some point in the past the owners chose to fence off the passageway from their private gardens.

Perhaps it might also be the case that responsibility for maintenance of the passageway is shared between all the properties that have use of it. You could then make yourself really popular by trying to sue yourself and all your neighbours....

Glover1862

Thanks for the reply, yes I'm still not better so going to the doctor today, I assume it's similar to a car accident where at the time everything seems fine but next day the pain sets in. I'm fairly sure nothing is broken, it's a dull pain and made worse by moving, still off though.


The water company have said the manhole belongs to them and they are getting the manhole cover replaced, they agree that it was in a poor state and have taken pictures of the rusted cover.


Thanks for the link, I'm not sure who owns the land but would the responsibility for the manhole be the Water companies. Below is interesting, from the link.


"The claim could fall within the Highways Act or the Occupiers Liability Act depending on whether its public land or private land. For each of these Acts, the responsibility is to reasonably take all steps to prevent an accident or an injury. It’s generally accepted that the definition of “reasonable steps” is having a system of inspection and maintenance in place. So if whoever is responsible can prove that they have a good system of inspection, but the defect became apparent in between inspection regimes, they can defend the claim."

ROY47

To the original poster .....

Get a life and move on
life isn't about claiming for injuries

southcoastrgi

ROY47 wrote: »

To the original poster .....

Get a life and move on
life isn't about claiming for injuries

I don't see why not someone is to blame so why should the op suffer

Furts

southcoastrgi wrote: »

I don't see why not someone is to blame so why should the op suffer

I have made a post above and people might think I am not in favour of a claim being made. The reality is this "accident" should not have occurred and OP has suffered as a result. A claim should be made but I suspect OP is far from squeeky clean over numerous issues, hence a claim will not be straight forward. I also expect the claim will be scaled back.

custardy

G_M wrote: »

Ignore all the pessimists above.

Write to Thames Water with a claim for lost earnings, plus, say, £3000 for physical and mental distress.

If they reject the claim, write a similar letter to your tenants - they should obviously have maintained the drain cover as part of their implied contractual duty of 'tenant-like behaviour'..

If that does not work, the fence installers clearly share responsibility. they were on site, must have known of the danger, and should have warned you.

Does the postman use that passageway at all? If so, Royal Mail would also be liable.

Let us know how you get on, and best of luck.

So explain how RM would be liable and how you would be proving that?