potential personal injury claim against landlord or letting agent

Taradiamond1

I really dont want to be one of those 'where there is a blame there is a claim' type people but currently laying here in bed in pain and unable to sleep due to an injury sustained last year in a property I rent from a private landlord through a letting agent.

The property comes with a garden thst I have responsibility to maintain and can enjoy. The garden is accessed by a series of steps...the last series of steps is uneven and unlevel. Some steps are level and some veer down towards the garden. Although when I viewed the property I honestly didnt see too much of an issue other than there was no handrail.  One morning last year, after being in the flat about 4 months, I took a fall whilst taking my dog into the garden. Dog not involved ...... I put foot on step and my leg slipped down towards the garden. I sustained a comminuted fracture to my tibia and fibia which required 4 hours of surgery and metal rods and puns to fix and a dislocated ankle. The prognosis is that I will never fully recover. I will never be able to run or participate in high impact activies (I was a fairly keen runner) 

It has also meant that I lost my self employed work for the rest of that year. I spent 6 weeks in a wheelchair, then a further 16 weeks relearning how to walk on it. My consultant compared the injury as one he would expect to see in a car crash and described it in my notes as very serious. 

I luckily had employed work too that I could carry out from home but my self employed venture that I had only set up a year ago. It involves being on my feet up to 10 hours a day. I am still turning down work as I know if I do 2 days in a row I will be back on crutches and unable to walk for the following days.

I am thinking I cannot claim from landlord as I didnt highlight the steps as a problem. But surely he or his letting agent should have inspected the property prior to me moving in. Nothing had changed. It was a dry morning, the steps were not wet or damp. I have spoken to a solicitor who has simply said they are too busy to deal with sny more cases which makes me think it was a polute way of dealing a case that is unlikely to be successful. I have taken levels on all the steps and the one I slipped off is the worst, unlevel horizontally and vertically.

I welcome your thoughts on this please. 

user1977

It's not really a renting question, might be better on the insurance board as you'd be pursuing a personal injury claim against the landlord (who is almost certainly insured for such things, so really against their insurance company).

Taradiamond1

I was looking for an insurance board.... obviously not very well! Thank you. Will try again 

Taradiamond1

 really dont want to be one of those 'where there is a blame there is a claim' type people but currently laying here in bed in pain and unable to sleep due to an injury sustained last year in a property I rent from a private landlord through a letting agent.

The property comes with a garden thst I have responsibility to maintain and can enjoy. The garden is accessed by a series of steps...the last series of steps is uneven and unlevel. Some steps are level and some veer down towards the garden. Although when I viewed the property I honestly didnt see too much of an issue other than there was no handrail.  One morning last year, after being in the flat about 4 months, I took a fall whilst taking my dog into the garden. Dog not involved ...... I put foot on step and my leg slipped down towards the garden. I sustained a comminuted fracture to my tibia and fibia which required 4 hours of surgery and metal rods and puns to fix and a dislocated ankle. The prognosis is that I will never fully recover. I will never be able to run or participate in high impact activies (I was a fairly keen runner) 

It has also meant that I lost my self employed work for the rest of that year. I spent 6 weeks in a wheelchair, then a further 16 weeks relearning how to walk on it. My consultant compared the injury as one he would expect to see in a car crash and described it in my notes as very serious. 

I luckily had employed work too that I could carry out from home but my self employed venture that I had only set up a year ago. It involves being on my feet up to 10 hours a day. I am still turning down work as I know if I do 2 days in a row I will be back on crutches and unable to walk for the following days.

I am thinking I cannot claim from landlord as I didnt highlight the steps as a problem. But surely he or his letting agent should have inspected the property prior to me moving in. Nothing had changed. It was a dry morning, the steps were not wet or damp. I have spoken to a solicitor who has simply said they are too busy to deal with sny more cases which makes me think it was a polute way of dealing a case that is unlikely to be successful. I have taken levels on all the steps and the one I slipped off is the worst, unlevel horizontally and vertically.

I welcome your thoughts on this please

DullGreyGuy

Do you have legal expenses cover on your home insurance? They'd cover a trip/fall type claim and give you a formal legal opinion on your prospects.

This isnt an area I've dealt with and so dont know the case law on how prior litigations have been resolved. As the owner the Landlord has a responsibility to inspect the property and ensure its in good order and safe. At the same time you'd had 4 months to highlight the issue of the stairs and hadn't which would potentially suggest they really arent that bad. 

What I cannot say, but a lawyer could, is if that just creates some contributory negligence on your part and so reduces the settlement you are due or if it'd nullify your claim. 

MobileSaver

Taradiamond1 said:

after being in the flat about 4 months, I took a fall whilst taking my dog into the garden. ... he or his letting agent should have inspected the property prior to me moving in

To be honest, after presumably taking your dog out at least once every day for four months (and presumably in that time you would have experienced both wet and dry weather/steps) you hadn't thought the steps were enough of a risk to alert the landlord so I can't see how the landlord would have come to any different conclusion in a one-off pre-move-in inspection.

Consequently I suspect your chances of proving negligence (and thus liability) are practically zero which would be borne out by the response you got from your solicitor.

I feel for the unfortunate situation you've found yourself in but doubt the time, effort and stress of chasing compensation will be worthwhile.

MultiFuelBurner

What communication about the steps did you send to the Landlord before the fall and after?

CSI_Yorkshire

Steps that you were supposed to maintain and had used for 4 months possibly every day for 4 months without deciding that anything needed fixing or modifying, but that you suggest the landlord should have noticed on a single inspection and fixed before you moved in?  I'm not sure that creates a very strong case.

PI claims are a bit odd sometimes though - all sorts of things that don't seem to be strong cases appear on our desks.  I agree with above, seek free legal advice (but not a no-win no-fee lawyer, that might end up costing you money).

fewcloudy

MobileSaver said:

Taradiamond1 said:

after being in the flat about 4 months, I took a fall whilst taking my dog into the garden. ... he or his letting agent should have inspected the property prior to me moving in

To be honest, after presumably taking your dog out at least once every day for four months (and presumably in that time you would have experienced both wet and dry weather/steps) you hadn't thought the steps were enough of a risk to alert the landlord so I can't see how the landlord would have come to any different conclusion in a one-off pre-move-in inspection.

Consequently I suspect your chances of proving negligence (and thus liability) are practically zero which would be borne out by the response you got from your solicitor.

I feel for the unfortunate situation you've found yourself in but doubt the time, effort and stress of chasing compensation will be worthwhile.

Hmmm, I'm not sure about that, but I am not an insurance expert.  However, I am frequently surprised to see/hear the results of claims that are made.

OP, a local solicitor being too busy would not put me off if I were in your position. There are bigger companies who specialise in this (and will doubtless hoover up more of any financial compensation you might receive) but if you don't ask you dont get.

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've merged two threads.

Taradiamond1

Thanks to everyone who posted.

The garden is not used and was not used daily as to get to the bit where I fell, you have to negotiate an incredibly steep flight of stairs which luckily have a hand rail, then travese a very uneven patio area. The dog is usually walked up the road every morning to to the recreation ground which is less than a minutes walk away. On this occasion I had already walked the dog and just thought I would take her there for a change before I went to work.

I spoke to the previous tenant who refused to use the garden because of the steps and the hazard they presented. She was less able bodied than me at the time. She said she mentioned it verbally but nothing in writing. I honestly thought I am fit, strong and healthy, some wonky steps to a garden I use sporadically arent worth worrying about.

Added to this my landlord is very slack at getting repairs done. I am sitting here in the kitchen with most of the cupboard doors unscrewed where they have fallen,or part fallen off. He has been aware of thos for over a year and has sent someone round to quote. No work ever done. Also waiting on a new front door as the rain comes in. Been waiting for this dince I moved in.

He is aware of my injury and how it happened. I believe he went to look at steps but nothing was done.