Personal Injury Claim ?
Discussion
I dislocated and broke my fibula (ankle) resulting in 5 pins and a plate fitted. It ended up with a week stay in hospital due to complications.
With 8 weeks off work, and many days of boredom I decided to contact multiple solicitors regarding a personal injury claim to simply test the waters. I am not an 'ambulance chaser' by any means. Every company and solicitor I spoke to declined to take on my case, a few stating the injury was my own fault.
I was walking on a public path, the street consisting of blocks of victorian/edwardian town houses, some residential, some trading offices on each side. Each of these buildings has a basement level which measures 15ft from the pavement to the bottom level. There are sufficient metal railings protecting this drop. At one of the buildings, there is a large flagstone which runs from the pavement to the trading offices front door, almost like a ships plank / walkway, I had moved off the public path onto this flagstone as foot traffic was busy. Uppon moving off the public footpath I ended up going over the small 3ft railing protecting the drop each side of the flagstone/path/walkway.
I fell 15ft and luckily ony broke my ankle.
This railing was 2.4ft (760mm) and below my knee in height. All the other railings in the street were at least 4ft (1200mm)
Once recovered I returned to the place of accident and spoke with the owner of the building and informed him of my accident and raised concerns of the short barrier. He couldnt care less and I left it at that.
At a later date I was contacted by a solicitor who previously had not replied to me - he stated that he had contacted a building regulations health and safety advisor and felt that there was a case for a claim against the landlord of the building as all publicly accessible drops should be protected by a barrier of at least 990mm, and infact the barrier in question was 760mm.
The solicitor has initiated litigation against the landlord and advised that the claim be reffered to his public liability insurer.
Does anyone here have any experience in personal injury? building regulation or health and safety? and think that this course of action would be worth while?
With 8 weeks off work, and many days of boredom I decided to contact multiple solicitors regarding a personal injury claim to simply test the waters. I am not an 'ambulance chaser' by any means. Every company and solicitor I spoke to declined to take on my case, a few stating the injury was my own fault.
I was walking on a public path, the street consisting of blocks of victorian/edwardian town houses, some residential, some trading offices on each side. Each of these buildings has a basement level which measures 15ft from the pavement to the bottom level. There are sufficient metal railings protecting this drop. At one of the buildings, there is a large flagstone which runs from the pavement to the trading offices front door, almost like a ships plank / walkway, I had moved off the public path onto this flagstone as foot traffic was busy. Uppon moving off the public footpath I ended up going over the small 3ft railing protecting the drop each side of the flagstone/path/walkway.
I fell 15ft and luckily ony broke my ankle.
This railing was 2.4ft (760mm) and below my knee in height. All the other railings in the street were at least 4ft (1200mm)
Once recovered I returned to the place of accident and spoke with the owner of the building and informed him of my accident and raised concerns of the short barrier. He couldnt care less and I left it at that.
At a later date I was contacted by a solicitor who previously had not replied to me - he stated that he had contacted a building regulations health and safety advisor and felt that there was a case for a claim against the landlord of the building as all publicly accessible drops should be protected by a barrier of at least 990mm, and infact the barrier in question was 760mm.
The solicitor has initiated litigation against the landlord and advised that the claim be reffered to his public liability insurer.
Does anyone here have any experience in personal injury? building regulation or health and safety? and think that this course of action would be worth while?
Edited by lxm on Monday 2nd January 17:19
Edited by lxm on Monday 2nd January 18:20
lxm said:
I dislocated and broke my fibula (ankle) resulting in 5 pins and a plate fitted. It ended up with a week stay in hospital due to complications.
With 8 weeks off work, and many days of boredom I decided to contact multiple solicitors regarding a personal injury claim to simply test the waters. I am not an 'ambulance chaser' by any means. Every company and solicitor I spoke to declined to take on my case, a few stating the injury was my own fault.
I was walking on a public path, the street consisting of blocks of victorian/edwardian town houses, some residential, some trading offices on each side. Each of these buildings has a basement level which measures 15ft from the pavement to the bottom level. There are sufficient metal railings protecting this drop. At one of the buildings, there is a large flagstone which runs from the pavement to the trading offices front door, almost like a ships plank / walkway, I had moved off the public path onto this flagstone as foot traffic was busy. Uppon moving off the public footpath I ended up going over the small 3ft railing protecting the drop each side of the flagstone/path/walkway.
I fell 15ft and luckily ony broke my ankle.
This railing was 3ft (914mm) and below my knee in height. All the other railings in the street were at least 4ft (1200mm)
Once recovered I returned to the place of accident and spoke with the owner of the building and informed him of my accident and raised concerns of the short barrier. He couldnt care less and I left it at that.
At a later date I was contacted by a solicitor who previously had not replied to me - he stated that he had contacted a building regulations health and safety advisor and felt that there was a case for a claim against the landlord of the building as all publicly accessible drops should be protected by a barrier of at least 990mm, and infact the barrier in question was 914mm.
The solicitor has initiated litigation against the landlord and advised that the claim be reffered to his public liability insurer.
Does anyone here have any experience in personal injury? building regulation or health and safety? and think that this course of action would be worth while?
Agreed.With 8 weeks off work, and many days of boredom I decided to contact multiple solicitors regarding a personal injury claim to simply test the waters. I am not an 'ambulance chaser' by any means. Every company and solicitor I spoke to declined to take on my case, a few stating the injury was my own fault.
I was walking on a public path, the street consisting of blocks of victorian/edwardian town houses, some residential, some trading offices on each side. Each of these buildings has a basement level which measures 15ft from the pavement to the bottom level. There are sufficient metal railings protecting this drop. At one of the buildings, there is a large flagstone which runs from the pavement to the trading offices front door, almost like a ships plank / walkway, I had moved off the public path onto this flagstone as foot traffic was busy. Uppon moving off the public footpath I ended up going over the small 3ft railing protecting the drop each side of the flagstone/path/walkway.
I fell 15ft and luckily ony broke my ankle.
This railing was 3ft (914mm) and below my knee in height. All the other railings in the street were at least 4ft (1200mm)
Once recovered I returned to the place of accident and spoke with the owner of the building and informed him of my accident and raised concerns of the short barrier. He couldnt care less and I left it at that.
At a later date I was contacted by a solicitor who previously had not replied to me - he stated that he had contacted a building regulations health and safety advisor and felt that there was a case for a claim against the landlord of the building as all publicly accessible drops should be protected by a barrier of at least 990mm, and infact the barrier in question was 914mm.
The solicitor has initiated litigation against the landlord and advised that the claim be reffered to his public liability insurer.
Does anyone here have any experience in personal injury? building regulation or health and safety? and think that this course of action would be worth while?
t and desperation.If the local authority regulation requires a higher drop-barrier than the one in place then you probably do have a claim.
It'll be one of those where the inadequate barrier height is partially liable for an incident in which you will probably also be deemed as partially responsible.
You'll still likely get a payday from the building's insurers, tho. Which is why a solicitor - doubtless on a 'no win no fee' basis - is happy enough to take it on.
It'll be one of those where the inadequate barrier height is partially liable for an incident in which you will probably also be deemed as partially responsible.
You'll still likely get a payday from the building's insurers, tho. Which is why a solicitor - doubtless on a 'no win no fee' basis - is happy enough to take it on.
Im not going to lie, if a public liability insurer is willing to settle a sum, why not ? The barrier should be a min of 990mm.... if it had been 990mm and not 760mm I would not have fallen.
I had to undergo surgery under general anasthetic, suffer surgery complications, have total non weight bearing 8 weeks off work, unable to do anything, and suffer aches and pains 5 months on?
I am surprised that no one else has fallen here. When standing at the barrier, at 6ft 1 it offers no protection at all. I also have a witness that states I didnt have a chance once the momentum was there.
Surely the landlord has a duty of care to the public - especially when the drop is immediately accessible from an open footpath? surely he has a duty of care to others accessing the front oh his building? The 40 odd other buildings have sufficent barriers on the flagstones leading to their doorways?
Edited by lxm on Monday 2nd January 17:29
lxm said:
Im not going to lie, if a public liability insurer is willing to settle a sum, why not ? The barrier should be a min of 990mm.... if it had been 990mm and not 760mm I would not have fallen.
lxm said:
I am surprised that no one else has fallen here. When standing at the barrier, at 6ft 1 it offers no protection at all. I also have a witness that states I didnt have a chance once the momentum was there.
Surely the landlord has a duty of care to the public - especially when the drop is immediately accessible from an open footpath? surely he has a duty of care to others accessing the front oh his building? The 40 odd other buildings have sufficent barriers on the flagstones leading to their doorways?
Surely you have to take personal responsibility?Surely the landlord has a duty of care to the public - especially when the drop is immediately accessible from an open footpath? surely he has a duty of care to others accessing the front oh his building? The 40 odd other buildings have sufficent barriers on the flagstones leading to their doorways?
Of course you must claim compensation for the fall that would not have happened if the railing was of the required height
It is also your duty to claim so as to have the railings replaced by ones of the required height and possibly prevent somebody else falling and possibly dying from their injuries
Get that claim in now and don't use a rubbish solicitor, find a good solicitor
It is also your duty to claim so as to have the railings replaced by ones of the required height and possibly prevent somebody else falling and possibly dying from their injuries
Get that claim in now and don't use a rubbish solicitor, find a good solicitor
The building's owner and his insurers have been 'told', via local authority building regulations, what the minimum height of safety barrier is that must be provided to safeguard against just such an incident as has occurred.
Neither the owner nor his insurers appear to have been interested in the building's conformity to the regulation. And an incident HAS occurred which may well not have occurred had the building conformed as required.
Whilst the victim certainly has an obligation to use the footpath in a careful and responsible manner, that doesn't lessen the building's owner/his insurer's obligation to conform to regulations laid down to prevent such an incident as has caused the victim's distress.
That wouldn't change even if the victim had been using the footpath irresponsibly, for example by being blind drunk etc.
The insurers will therefore be found partially, if not wholly, liable for the matter, and will likely also be ordered by the LA (under threat of penalty) to immediately conform to regulation (in order to prevent such an incident recurring).
Neither the owner nor his insurers appear to have been interested in the building's conformity to the regulation. And an incident HAS occurred which may well not have occurred had the building conformed as required.
Whilst the victim certainly has an obligation to use the footpath in a careful and responsible manner, that doesn't lessen the building's owner/his insurer's obligation to conform to regulations laid down to prevent such an incident as has caused the victim's distress.
That wouldn't change even if the victim had been using the footpath irresponsibly, for example by being blind drunk etc.
The insurers will therefore be found partially, if not wholly, liable for the matter, and will likely also be ordered by the LA (under threat of penalty) to immediately conform to regulation (in order to prevent such an incident recurring).
Edited by drainbrain on Monday 2nd January 17:49
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff