Public liability, slips, trips and injury compensation
A slip or trip in a public place can happen in seconds but the consequences can last much longer. What may seem like a minor fall could leave you with a serious injury, meaning you may be off work for weeks.
These types of accidents are referred to as public liability claims. This is the legal term used to describe an incident where someone has been injured because of negligence or unsafe conditions in a place accessible to the public.
Accidents can happen on pavements, roads and other public areas if someone responsible for the area has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent a hazard from causing harm. Depending on where the accident happened, the person or organisation responsible could be a council or local authority.
The responsibility of a local authority to maintain public roads and pavements is different from occupiers' liability which concerns the responsibilities of those who occupy or control premises towards people who enter them.
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Who is responsible for an accident in a public place?
It is important to understand that no matter how severe the injury this does not determine who is to blame. In other words, you need to prove that someone or some organisation was to blame and is therefore held to be negligent. For most public liability claims, this can be challenging.
Usually, a council or local authority can only be held responsible for a hazard once they have had a reasonable amount of time to find out it is there and then fail to do something about it. This depends on the circumstances, including how the council manages inspections, repairs and maintenance and the resources available to them.
No one could reasonably expect all roads, pavements and public areas to be monitored 24 hours a day to prevent every potential hazard that could cause someone to become injured.
For example, a lorry delivering goods could dislodge a pavement slab and create a tripping hazard. The council may not have been aware that the hazard existed, meaning it may not have had a reasonable opportunity to fix it.
However if the council had been told about the hazard, the circumstances may be different. The amount of time they had to respond and whether their response was reasonable would need to be considered when deciding whether they were negligent.
Trips
Before Digby Brown can take on a case against a council or local authority there are a few things we need to help us assess whether a pavement trip compensation claim is likely to be successful.
The most common causes are trips on a kerb stone, pavement slab or pothole. However we need to know the height of the hazard that caused the trip. Generally speaking it must be vertical with anything under 20mm not usually high enough for a claim. Having this measurement can help us assess the size of the defect when considering whether a claim may be possible.
You can show us the height by taking a photograph with a 10p held on its edge against the hazard. If it is not higher than the top of the coin, a claim is unlikely to progress.
The photograph should show the exact area where you tripped and the defect that caused your accident. Other nearby defects may not be relevant if they did not contribute to your fall.
Slips
As with trips, evidence is needed to support a slipping accident claim. However, unlike a trip it is not usually necessary to measure the defect that caused the accident.
Slips can be more difficult to prove because the hazard is often temporary. This can make it harder to establish whether the council knew about the hazard and had enough time to put things right.
The important thing is to establish what caused the slipping hazard and how long it had been there. It can also help to know whether anyone else had reported the hazard, or whether someone had already slipped and told the council about it. The time between the council becoming aware of the hazard and the accident may also be relevant.
Winter weather
Another significant issue is weather-related accidents. Ice, snow and water can make any surface slippery and therefore potentially dangerous.
However it is not reasonable to expect that after some bad weather the council can make every road and pavement safe. As the council did not cause the ice and it may not have arisen through a lack of maintenance, the law is slow to hold a council responsible for someone slipping on ice.
Unless the council has had time to treat the road or pavement and has failed to do so, a claim for slipping because of bad weather is highly unlikely to succeed.
Only in exceptional circumstances may a council be held liable for ice on a public street. Once again, that will depend on the circumstances and the resources available to the council.
What evidence do I need for a public liability claim?
This may sound complicated but it is simply about gathering evidence to support your claim. The person bringing the claim must provide evidence showing how long the hazard had been there and whether the council knew, or should have known, about it.
Witnesses can be particularly helpful in this case. A local shop keeper or local resident for example might have complained about the hazard before or might have seen other people trip on the hazard. This can help establish how long the hazard had been there and whether the council had enough time to repair it.
The council may argue that it cannot be expected to repair every defect immediately. Evidence about the hazard, including witness accounts and photographs, can help establish whether it had a reasonable opportunity to carry out repairs.
The defect may be repaired after the incident, making it harder to establish what happened. Taking photographs of the location and hazard and gathering details of any witnesses as soon as possible can therefore be very important.
No win, no fee personal injury solicitors
The expression “No win, no fee” is often used in personal injury cases. It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses.
A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful.
In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.
Compensate 'no win, no fee' funding
Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.
If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing.
On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer
Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.
In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.
Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website.
Beware of compensation offers which may be too good
We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.
- How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
- If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
- Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
- If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
- It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
- These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.
We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value.
Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.
Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown
Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.
Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.
Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors
We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.
For further information about no win, no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.
How can Digby Brown help
Personal injury compensation has always been depicted in posters as someone slipping or tripping on the street. The reality is, the law is reasonable to both the victim and the defender. That means that a local council only has to do what it can reasonably do with the resources it has. For that reason, most slipping and tripping claims do not succeed.
If you believe your circumstances do meet the criteria and would like to speak to someone, please either fill in an enquiry form or call our Legal Enquiry Team, who are available seven days a week.
Don’t worry if you are unsure whether your circumstances would be defined as public liability. We’ll know that once we investigate what happened.
Frequently asked questions about public liability compensation
How long do I have to make a public liability claim?
In most cases you have three years from the date of the accident to make a public liability claim. If you were under 16 at the time, the three-year period usually starts on your 16th birthday.
There can be rare exceptions to this rule so we recommend getting in touch as early as you can so we can advise you on your options.
Who is responsible for an accident in a public place?
If you have an accident in a public place, the person or organisation responsible for maintaining that area may be legally responsible. This could include a local council, local authority or private business depending on where the accident happened.
However, not all public places are maintained by the council and are therefore dealt with differently. Some areas may be privately owned (such as shops, supermarkets, leisure centres or car parks) so responsibility will depend on where the accident happened and who was in charge of that area.
What should I do after a slip or trip in public?
After a slip or trip accident in a public place you should try to:
- Take photographs of the accident location and the hazard
- Identify any witnesses and gather contact details
- Note when and where the accident happened
- Report the hazard to the local authority, council or organisation responsible for the area
This evidence can help support a public liability claim and may also help prevent similar accidents from happening to someone else.
What compensation can I claim for an accident in a public place?
If you have been injured in an accident in a public place you may be able to claim compensation for your injury and the losses it has caused.
Depending on your circumstances this could include lost earnings, treatment and rehabilitation costs, travel expenses and other financial losses directly linked to your injury. If you’re unsure what to do next, get in touch and we can discuss your options with you.
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