Slips, trips & falls

Faircloughs Personal Injury Solicitors | Trips, Slips & Falls | Trip Compensation Claims | Pavement Compensation Claims

WIGAN, GOLBORNE, HAYDOCK, NEWTON LE WILLOWS, LEIGH, ABRAM, WIGAN, PEMBERTON, ORRELL, SKELMERSDALE, ST HELENS, ATHERTON, TYLDESLEY, WESTHOUGHTON, ASPULL, BILLINGE, CLOCK FACE AND ALL THE SURROUNDING AREAS.

Common types of slip, trip and fall claims. 

The most common types of slips and trip claims that we deal with include:

• Trips on a pavement, path, road or public highway.
• Slips on a wet floor in a supermarket.
• Trips on items left on the floor of a shop or supermarket.
• Slips, trips and falls in the workplace.
• Slips or trips in schools.
• Trips in privately owned car parks.

Who is responsible for my accident? 

In order to be successful in making a claim for compensation, you must be able to assign blame to a specific person or company. In some circumstances, it may be difficult to work out exactly who is responsible for your accident. In most cases, the person who has control of the premises where the accident occurred is usually the person who we would blame for the accident as they have a duty of care to protect all lawful visitors to their premises. We would at Faircloughs in Wigan and Golborne, therefore, usually pursue slip, trip and fall compensation claims against this party.

Public Highway Accidents  

If you have an accident on a road, highway, or pavement, the local council may be responsible for your accident. Slip and trip claims against local authorities usually arise as a result of broken or improperly laid paving slabs, potholes, defective drain covers, or uneven surfaces. The council has a duty to carry our regular inspections and repair all dangerous defects within a reasonable period of time.

Shop and Supermarket Accidents

Slips and trips are very common in supermarkets and shops. The owner of the shop or supermarket has a duty under the Occupier’s Liability Act to ensure that all visitors to their premises are safe. If you have had an accident due to the negligence of the shop/supermarket owner, or a member of staff, you will be entitled to bring a claim against the owners of the premises. Most shops and supermarkets will have public liability insurance in place to cover the costs of any claims arising as a result of their negligence.

Some supermarkets will say that there is a system of inspection in place.

However, the burden of proof is on the supermarket to prove such a system existed and to provide witness statements to prove such a system.

Faircloughs have over 60 years of experience of running these cases.

Call us on 01942-665700 for no win no fee advice.

Accidents in the Workplace

Employers have a duty to adapt maintain and enforce a safe system of work and a safe place of employment.

Under the Workplace Regulations traffic routes for pedestrians must be kept free from obstruction and be made to keep safe otherwise this could amount to negligence on the employer’s behalf.

It is incumbent on employers to monitor systems of work in accordance with health and safety Law and to carry out risk assessments on particular jobs to help prevent accidents happening in the first place.

Risk assessments have been called a plan to action and should not be simply a tick box exercise.

At Faircloughs we have over 60 years of experience in health and safety Law having represented all major trades unions in many of our major cities.

Accidents at School

Accidents happen in schools every day, with some arising as a result of the negligence of teachers or other members of staff.

Teachers’ kitchen workers porters etc all are entitled to have their places of work kept safe for them. No-one goes to work to get injured and insurance is in place to cover the employers should blame be attached to them.

Workers who lose wages and get injured should not hesitate to seek free no win no fee advice from an accident Solicitors such as FAIRCLOUGHS IN WIGAN AND GOLBORNE.

Accidents in Privately Owned Car Parks

Potholes and defects are common causes slips and trips in car parks. When making a claim for an accident in a car park, it is important to find out who the car park is controlled and maintained by in order to pursue a personal injury claim. In some cases, this may be the local council, however, a large proportion of car parks are owned and maintained by private companies.

You should ensure you measure any defect and have someone in your presence take photographs of any defect to use in evidence.

Speak to someone at Faircloughs in Wigan and Golborne before you do anything else and seek treatment and make sure it is recorded properly how you got injured.

Take details of any witnesses and pass this on to a Faircloughs Solicitor as soon as possible. Do not delay get the advice from Faircloughs today on a no win no fee basis by calling 01942-665700 or visit the website Faircloughs.net.

After the accident what should I do to secure the evidence in my case? 

You will need to move quickly to secure your evidence and we suggest you do the following as soon as possible:

• Report the accident to the person responsible for your accident – if your accident happens in a shop or supermarket, you should inform a member of staff. Staff should always record details of the incident in their accident book.
• You are entitled to a copy of the entry which will provide you with proof that the accident occurred.
•  If there were any witnesses around at the time of your accident, find out if they are happy to provide you with their details so we can contact them for witness evidence.
•  Taking photographs of the cause of the accident and your injury if possible.
•  Seeking medical attention for your injury. This is important to manage the pain which can arise from the injury but can also be used as evidence of the injury you sustained.
• Trying to note down exactly what happened as soon as possible so that you do not forget important details of how and when the accident happened.

How Witness Statements Can Support Your Claim

When you are pursuing a claim for personal injuries you should try and gather as much evidence as possible. Evidence can come in the form of photographic evidence with appropriate screen shots with the date, time and location of the photograph.

The phone or camera in question should be preserved in order to be produced to the insurers or the Court at a later date. 95% of cases do not go to Court.

The reason for this is that the insurers have been persuaded by the evidence that you gather to compromise the claim.

Faircloughs Accident Claim Solicitors require your help in providing any evidence that you have obtained. It is not a question of simply filling in a few forms and then receiving a cheque at the end of the day.

In relation to collecting evidence, if for example you have tripped over an obstruction in the aisle way of a supermarket then a photograph showing the aisle way “up and down” will be very useful.

The location of the pallet board protruding in the aisle way shown on a photograph will be very important when trying to establish that there is negligence on behalf of the supermarket.

In relation to collecting evidence with regards to your work accident or supermarket claim then you should obtain the names and addresses of any witnesses to the accident or those people who have picked you up from the floor itself.

The names and addresses of such people or even a simple telephone number will be crucial. The evidence in a case is something akin to the ingredients when baking a cake and then the law sits over all of those issues when the claim is presented to the insurers.

It is important that any evidence has been collected truthfully and honestly.

It is a team effort with your solicitor in order to be successful in a claim for personal injuries. Your solicitor cannot simply walk into the supermarket or factory or whatever and take photographs himself without the company’s permission.

However, when you are on the spot as such, in most cases you will be entitled to take a photograph. If in doubt ask the company itself for appropriate permission.

Always report your accident to your employers or the supermarket or wherever you have had your accident. If the company refuse to take that information from you then put an email together very carefully indeed to describe how you suffered injury and what caused the accident.

Please remember that you should accurately record how you suffered injuries/

Pre-existing Conditions And Your Claim

If you have an accident at work and are successful in proving that your employers for example were at fault, then you will receive compensation.

However, when you receive compensation this will be based upon the medical evidence put before the insurers/the Court.

The Defendants or the insurers are only liable to pay you compensation based on those injuries which they caused or contributed to at the time of the accident. If you have had a previous history for example with a bad back then that must be declared to the appropriate medical expert when you are examined.

If your history shows that you already had severe problems with your back for example then the medical expert will divide out and attribute what injury was caused by the accident and what continuing symptoms are as a result of the previous no-attributable back pain.

If your back injury for example has been aggravated by the work accident then you will recover only a proportion or percentage of the damages based upon the medical evidence concerned.

For example, you may have had an aggravation due to the back injury of 12 months. You will recover the pain and suffering and aggravation or acceleration for the 12 month period and no more.

If you continue to have back pain for the next 10 years you will only recover for that 12 month period. Of course, each case is different and the medical evidence has to be examined carefully.

Your medical records will be examined carefully. Each case turns on its facts and its medical evidence.

This article is not intended to provide you with any advice on your particular case.

If you have an accident and have already suffer

What is the slip, trip and fall compensation claim process? 

Accident compensation claims such as slip, and trip claims begin with your instructions to Faircloughs Solicitors to act on your behalf as your Solicitors. We will discuss the process of making a slip, trip or fall claim, the circumstances of the accident, and we will also take detailed instructions around the injuries you have sustained.

We will advise you at the first interview about your prospects of success, but this will be subject to receiving copy documentary evidence from the other side.

The Defendants are given about 3 months to come back to us with an admission of blame or denial of liability for the accident.

It is important for the claims process that we obtain evidence to strengthen your case. We will assist you in obtaining any medical evidence such as if you attended the GP in relation to your injuries, we would obtain your GP records. We will also locate an independent medical expert who can assess your injuries for the purpose of providing evidence on your compensation claim.

As soon as instructions have been provided and evidence is obtained, we will notify the relevant Defendant of the claim we intend to bring. We will seek disclosure from the Defendant of their records, such as their accident book in the event that the accident you suffered was logged, inspection records, and details of any procedures in place to prevent this type of accident. We will continue to liaise with the Defendant on your behalf and you will have no direct contact with them.

If you are contacted by the other side, you must tell us, and we will answer any correspondence emails etc.

We will negotiate a settlement with the Defendant and their insurers. We will ensure that within these settlement agreements, both general damages and special damages are included.

We have over 60 years of experience of accident claims and recovering compensation on a no win no fee basis.

If a settlement cannot be reached, it may be necessary to file the case with the Court who will provide you with advice and assistance in ensuring the claim is ran efficiently. 95% of cases are settled.

Faircloughs work on a no win no fee basis only taking the maximum allowed as a contribution to your costs with the rest being paid by the insurers.

If you lose you pay us nothing, no win no fee!!!

Slips and trips – Compensation paid to you.

You may be able to claim compensation for both general and special damages. General damages claims include compensation for your injuries and the pain, suffering and loss of amenity which you have sustained as a result. Special damages include the financial strain your injury has had. For example, if you have not been able to work as a result of your accident, then we will be able to make a claim for your loss of earnings.

You will be able to claim back expenses for any medical treatment and travel costs you may incur as a result of the accident, so keep hold of any receipts for your expenses.

The amount of general damages you receive will be based on your pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Valuation of your damages will vary based on the injury sustained. How much compensation could you be owed? Personal Injury compensation can be anything from £1,000 to £100,000 (or more) depending on the severity of the injuries sustained. It is therefore very difficult to assess the level of damages you may be entitled to without first assessing your injuries and your case in detail.

We will instruct an independent medical expert on your behalf and will gather all your NHS records to ensure your expert has all of your history and background before putting pen to paper.

When should I make a claim? 

The time limit for slip and trip claims is usually three years from the date of the accident. This means a claim needs to be brought within three years of the accident happening. This time limit can be varied under certain circumstances. To discuss these circumstances where the time limit for bringing a claim can be extended, please contact Faircloughs Solicitors. It is always best to initiate your claim as soon as possible so that the time limit does not expire before you have submitted your claim.

Only in exceptional cases will you be allowed to bring a claim outside the 3-year time limit.

Do not accept any offers of compensation without advice from a Solicitor at Faircloughs.

Insurance companies are there for shareholders we at FAIRCLOUGHS are independent and are not attached to any outside interests other than securing you the client the maximum amount of compensation.

Call Faircloughs on 01942-665700 or visit our website and fill out a contact form today!!!!!