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Personal injury claims - real case studies - trip & fall accident
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Personal injury case studies
Here we discuss a claim for personal injuries suffered in a fall resulting from a defective pavement slab.
Trip and fall personal injury compensation
The claimant in this case was a very fit and active elderly lady. She had been walking along her local high street which had a wide pavement built with square modern paving slabs.
As she made her way along the high street, she caught her toe and a raised slab and fell to the floor. She naturally put her hands out to break her fall and as a result fractured her scaphoid bone in her wrist. This injury is very common following this sort of accident as the bone takes the full weight of the body as you fall.
The claimant was taken to hospital and her arm was put in plaster. She was asked to revisit the fracture clinic after 6 weeks and told to go home and rest.
The claimants husband made a call to The Claims Connection regarding a possible compensation claim. He did not know who would be to blame for the raised slab but felt it was necessary to make an enquiry because of the pain his wife had experienced. If nothing else he did not want this happening to anyone else.
Following our conversation with the claimant, we instructed our public liability solicitors to review the case. An agent was sent out to the scene of the accident to take photos of the defective pavement and allow us to gauge whether the raised slab met the general legal criteria that usually applies in these circumstances.
The crucial factor tends to be that the defect must be raised or indented by more than one inch. In this case the defect was at least 2 inches in depth and we subsequently agreed to pursue the case on behalf of the claimant.
The other important issues in determining liability against the responsible party - in this case on the local authority or council - relate to the maintenance and inspection records that must be kept. Where defects are spotted they must be repaired. If a council can show that they had inspected the area in question on a regular basis and that the defect must therefore have developed only recently, then a claim may be difficult to prove.
In this case though, the council could not show adequate maintenance records and their insurers admitted liability of 66%. Contributory negligence was argued against the claimant in that she failed to see the defect in front of her etc. After a detailed argument, this allegation was withdrawn and we managed to secure a 100% liability offer from the insurer.
The claimant did not make a full recovery from her injury. The bones in her wrist did not knit together too well and she was left with a permanent weakness of grip and general loss of strength in her arm. She was unable to do the household chores as before and could not hold a heavy shopping bag properly.
Because of the continuing symptoms, her claim for pain and suffering was agreed at £7000. In addition she received an award of £15000 for care and services not just for the period already elapsed but for the future as well. Her symptoms were not going to improve and so it was right that she was compensated for her continuing disability and the effect that this had on her quality of life.
Costs were paid in full by the insurer.
Summary - It is probably fair to argue that local councils should not be held liable in every circumstance for every incident that occurs on every pavement or highway. But local authorities do have regulations to comply with and if they fail in their duty and allow pathways to fall into disrepair, then the public may suffer personal injury or harm. In such circumstances it is perfectly appropriate that a compensation claim is made.