If you are the victim of an injury caused by an accident that was not your fault then you could be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. Sometimes claims can be made against drivers who cause road traffic accidents, or against employers who allow their employees to get hurt in accidents for example. But sometimes it will not be immediately obvious who bears responsibility for your safety or who could face liability when you have come to harm, such as when you have been injured in a public place.
How to claim for an injury if you don’t know who owns the land or property guide
Rest assured that if you have been injured because a third party who owed you a duty of care failed to protect your safety you could still have the opportunity to make a compensation claim, even if you aren’t sure who to make the claim against. This article is a guide to how you can go about ascertaining who is responsible for causing an avoidable accident.
Be sure to get in touch with us if you have any questions you would like to have answered. Or if you would like to talk to us about starting a compensation claim. Our contact details are as follows.
- 0161 696 9685 to call our advice team directly
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Select A Section
- A Guide To Claims For A Personal Injury If You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land
- Calculate Compensation For Personal Injury Claim
- Examples Of Types Of Damages
- What Are Claims Where You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land?
- How Do I Find Out Who Owns What Land?
- Checking Who Is Liable For A Personal Injury
- You Don’t Know Who Owns Residential Property
- The Owner Of Private Property Is Unknown
- You Don’t Know Who Operates Public Property
- How The Occupiers Liability Act Can Help You Claim
- What Happens If The Owner Denies Liability For Your Accident?
- No Win No Fee Claims For An Injury If You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land
- Contact Us
- Learn More About Liability Injuries
A Guide To Claims For A Personal Injury If You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land
In order to make a personal injury claim and win compensation for an accident that occurred, you will need to be able to identify who or what was responsible. This third party will have owed you some sort of duty of care. You will need to prove that they had a duty of care, that this duty of care was violated, how it was violated, and how this led to you getting hurt.
This guide aims to inform you of what you can do about working towards making a personal injury compensation claim in situations where you do not know who or what entity controls the land or property on which you suffered your accident and injury. Overcoming this obstacle is vital to making a claim.
In this guide, we will explain how to find out who controls the land when you have suffered an injury on it. Also, how to prove liability and how to determine who is responsible for paying you compensation. Particularly in situations where it is unclear because it is not known who owns the property or different property owners are laying the blame on each other. Among other things, we will also address issues like what types of compensation you could be entitled to. Additionally, how you could make a compensation claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
Calculate Compensation For Personal Injury Claims
Calculating compensation for your injury is done by measuring the effects of your injury and assigning a financial value to them. The effects of an injury can be mental, physical, financial and on your general quality of life. Different factors that are measured include, among other things, the length of time take to recover from the injury, the pain of the injury and the degree to which you are left with permanent or long-lasting health issues by the injury.
The amount of compensation that can be awarded varies from case to case. It is based on a detailed assessment of all of the different factors affecting the injury. We won’t be able to give you a detailed assessment of your case until we have spoken to you about it. But this compensation calculator table shows the amounts of compensation that can be awarded and may be of some help. The figures come from the guidelines set out by the Judicial College. This is a document often used by legal professionals when putting a figure to the injury. General damages compensate a claimant for their pain and suffering.
| Injury Type | Details | General Damages Awarded (Judicial College Guidelines) |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of Index and Middle and/or Ring Fingers | Full amputation | £61,910 to £90,750 |
| Hand Injury (e) | Serious; for example, the hand is reduced to about 50% capacity | £29,000 to £61,910 |
| Hand Injury (g) | Less serious; such as severe crush injuries resulting in a severe impairment in function | £14,450 to £29,000 |
| Hand Injury (h) | Moderate; including injuries such as crush injuries, penetrating wounds and deep lacerations | £5,720 to £13,280 |
| Thumb Injury (s) | Very serious; appropriate where the thumb has been severed at the base and, despite being grafted back, is virtually useless. | £19,600 to £35,010 |
| Thumb Injury (u) | Moderate; includes injuries resulting in impairment of function and sensation. | £9,670 to £12,590 |
| Back Injury (i) | Moderatel injuries such as the compression or crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae causing constant pain and discomfort. | £27,760 to £38,780 |
| Neck Injury (i) | Moderate; injuries in this bracket may necessitate a spinal fusion. | £24,990 to £38,490 |
| Partial Hearing loss and / or Tinnitus (ii) | Moderate tinnitus and NIHL or moderate to severe tinnitus or NIHL on its own. | £14,900 to £29,710 |
| Elbow Injury (c) | Minor to moderate; includes simple fractures, tennis elbow and lacerations | Up to £12,590 |
| Head injuries (e) | Minor head or brain injury; in cases such as this, brain damage will be minor if present at all | £2,210 to £12,770 |
| Toe Injury (e) | Moderate; this bracket includes relatively straightforward fractures or the worsening of a degenerative condition. | Up to £9,600 |
Examples Of Types Of Damages
The damages that could make up your compensation claim include general damages and special damages. These are two types of compensation. They can be awarded at the same time, are summed up as follows.
General damages
General damages is the compensation awarded for the injury itself. It represents a financial representation of the degree of harm done to you.
Special damages
Special damages is the compensation you can be awarded for the financial losses you experience as a result of an injury. An injury, particularly if it is quite a severe injury that changes your lifestyle or quality of life for an extended period, can affect your financial situation. Compensation can be awarded through special damages to restore your losses and expenditure. This is so long as you can provide proof of it in the form of things like receipts, wage slips, contract forms etc. The types of things that you can claim for in special damages include;
Medical expenses
These can include costs for medication, medical treatment, physiotherapy or psychological therapy.
Care costs
This can include living in sheltered accommodation due to a severe injury, receiving home care or receiving support in carrying out day-to-day tasks like shopping, cleaning, gardening etc.
Adaption costs.
This includes things like adapting homes and vehicles to accommodate a person with a disability or illness, i.e. handrails, ramps, stairlifts or other specialist equipment.
Transport costs
Many injuries could prevent you from being able to drive. During this time you may have to deal with costs relating to using public transport that you wouldn’t have done otherwise. You can claim back these costs if you are able to provide a record and proof of your journeys.
What Are Claims Where You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land?
Some injuries can occur in places where it is not immediately clear, at least from the perspective of the victim, who is the owner or persons responsible for the property. Cases like these are probably more common when an accident occurs in a public place.
This could be for a number of reasons. It could be the accident that occurred in a place where it could arguably be the fault of two different parties, such as if you had an accident roughly at the mid-point between the premises of two different premises. Another situation where you might have difficulty identifying who owns or is responsible for the land might be if you have an accident on a piece of vacant waste ground. The site of a derelict building or a disused car park. Accidents in places like these could include, slipping, tripping and falling over on the broken ground, or hurting yourself on discarded materials such as broken glass, scrap metal or old fencing.
How Do I Find Out Who Owns What Land?
A solicitor will have the legal knowledge and experience they need to look into a property or a piece of land and determine who owns it. Or at least who is responsible for it and therefore liable for peoples safety there. They can take on the responsibility of identifying the responsible party if they take on the claim. Some of the resources that you or your lawyer could employ to determine responsibility can include the Land Registry. Anyone can potentially use this to find information on who owns what land. The Land Registry has information on land that has been registered. Although the liable party may not be the person who owns it but the party who controls it. You can see the land registry website and some of the useful links at the bottom of the page for information about finding out who owns what land.
Checking Who Is Liable For A Personal Injury
Sometimes it may be unclear who is responsible for the land where your injury occurred. This may be because it is uncertain who owns it or who occupies it. This may be because you do not know at the time the injury occurs, or because the boundaries of the area are confused and unclear. It may help to find a map of the area and to take photos of the scene of the accident in order to confirm on what side of a boundary between two properties an accident has occurred.
There will be times where it is possible to determine who owns the land, but confusion will still arise because the owner and occupier of the land or property are two different people/ Also because it is unclear on which side the responsibility for your safety and liability for a claim is on. If you have a lawyer they will help you to determine who you should make the claim against. This is on the condition that your accident meets the personal injury criteria. Not all accidents causing injuries will be the fault of a third party.
You Don’t Know Who Owns Residential Property
In a residential property, it may not always be clear if a duty of care applies. In a privately owned home, when the owner lives there they will be the occupier and owner. However, in privately rented properties, i.e. one that is rented by a tenant, there may be a degree of ambiguity over whether responsibility lies with the tenant or with the landlord. A lawyer or a legal expert should be able to resolve any confusion. If you have been affected by an injury you suffered in a private residence that was unsafe, you can contact us for free legal advice over who could be held responsible.
The Owner Of Private Property Is Unknown
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 those who are in control of a public or private space must ensure the safety as much as possible for those who use it for the intended purpose. In the Act, the term ”occupier” is used this can be the person who can reasonably predict an accident and remove the risk or hazard that may cause it.
If after inquires have been made, it is still not possible for you to work out who the actual controller of the property is, you may still be eligible to bring about a compensation claim. However, you will have to investigate who the controller is so that you can direct your claim to them. A personal injury solicitor can help with this. Please contact us if you are struggling to identify the controller of a property.
You Don’t Know Who Operates Public Property
When a property is owned and operated by the public sector, i.e. the local council, for example, it would be somewhat unusual for it to not be clear which public authority is responsible for it. However the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 also applies in these circumstances.
It should normally be made clear enough either on the property itself or online whether or not a certain authority is responsible for a property. In any case, if you are finding it hard to identify who the controller of a property is you can contact our team for advice. A solicitor from our panel could work to identify who the controller of a public property. This is is so that you could make a personal injury claim against them. On the condition, you have a valid claim.
How The Occupiers Liability Act Can Help You Claim
The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 and 1984 make it law that the occupier/ controller has a responsibility to ensure that their property is kept in a reasonably safe condition. So that it does not pose an avoidable threat to visitors. This means that you could be entitled to bring a compensation claim against the controller if their neglect of the condition of the property has created or allowed safety hazards. And, subsequently caused you to injure yourself in an accident on their property that was not your fault.
The act means that as well as maintaining the property, disposing of where possible of safety issues, things that cannot be removed should be marked out with the appropriate safety warnings.
What Happens If The Owner Denies Liability For Your Accident?
Identifying the responsible person or party may not always be straightforward. The owner of premises may not be the liable party. It could therefore be those that operate on the premises. In the Occupiers Liability Act, it refers to the ”occupier”. This could be someone who had control of the premises.
To hold a valid claim you must provide evidence and a reasonable argument that the controller failed in their duties to keep their property reasonably safe. You would have to prove you were owed a duty of care. This duty was in breach. And thereafter your injuries were a consequence.
However, things are not always as simple as this. Sometimes a property controller may deny responsibility. Either because they deny that their obligations extended as far as the location or cause of the accident. Or because they argue that you were the one at fault for your accident and injury because of your own negligence. Once the responsibility for the accident is contested then the case will have to go to court, to be settled in front of a judge.
Do All Personal Injury Cases Go To Court?
This is uncommon in personal injury cases. Most personal injury claims are settled in an agreement before the case gets to court.
If it appears that your case may be going to court, your lawyer will have to have a frank discussion with you about your chances of winning your case. The fact is that most third parties having a claim made against them would not take on the burden of a court case unless they felt that they had a clear chance of winning, otherwise it would not be worth the risk and the effort.
If your personal injury lawyer looks at your case and the case being made by the other side and decides that you do not have a good chance of winning, they will advise you on this.
No Win No Fee Claims For An Injury If You Don’t Know Who Owns The Land
Making a personal injury claim can sometimes be an arduous experience, it is possible it will come at a time when you are dealing with health and financial problems. You will not want to have either of these things exacerbated by the very thing that you are undertaking in order to partially rectify the situation.
For this instance, we generally advise going for a solicitor that offers No Win No Fee terms. This means you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement with your solicitor. Agreeing they will be paid a success fee on the conditions they win your case. No upfront fees to your solicitor. Also, no fees as the case progresses. If the case is lost you do not have to pay your solicitor. However, if the case wins the solicitor takes a percentage. The percentage is capped by law.
Contact Us
Call us on 0161 696 9685 to reach our team. message us on our live chat or use this page to request a phone call.
Learn More About Liability Injuries
Accident at work compensation claims
Slips, trips and falls on public pavement claims
How calculating compensation works.
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Published by AL.