By Stephen Kane. Last Updated 24th May 2023. If you have been injured in a slip, trip or fall accident due to a relevant third party breaching their duty of care, you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim.
In this guide, we explain when and how you could make a personal injury claim for slip, trip or fall compensation. Additionally, we’ll look at what duty of care you’re owed entails in different scenarios and share some examples of the types of accidents that could lead to a slip, trip or fall. We will also share some guideline trip, slip and fall compensation amounts and examine how they’re calculated. Furthermore, this guide will discuss the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor on our panel for your claim.
If you have any additional questions and slip, trip and fall claims after reading this guide, you can contact our advisors. Our friendly advisors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help answer your questions and offer free advice. You can contact our advisors today by:
- Calling us on 0161 696 9685
- Using our online contact form
- Using our online chat.
Select A Section
- Can I Make A Slip, Trip And Fall Claim?
- Slip And Fall Personal Injury Compensation Calculator
- Damages You Can Claim For After A Slip Or Fall
- Who Can Be At Fault Or Liable For Your Trip Or Fall Accident
- Pavement Slip Trip And Fall Claims Against The Council
- Slip And Fall Claims For Accidents In Public Spaces
- Slip Or Trip Injury Claims Against Your Landlord
- Claims For Slips And Falls In The Workplace
- Time Limits In Slip And Fall Claims
- Evidence To Support Slip And Fall Claims
- No Win No Fee Slip And Trip Claims
Can I Make A Slip, Trip And Fall Claim?
Ahead of making a slip, trip and fall claim, you might wonder about the eligibility criteria. You could claim slip and fall compensation as long as the following circumstances apply:
- You were owed a duty of care
- That duty of care was breached
- You subsequently were injured or suffered harm
There is various legislation in place that protects your health and safety depending on where you were when you had your slip and trip accident. This guide will explain what laws are in place to prevent negligence from occurring in public places, on the roads and at work.
As part of the personal injury claims process, you’ll also need to provide evidence that can show you have suffered harm and that someone else’s negligence caused your accident. Again, we’ll discuss how you can prove a slip and fall case later on in this guide.
However, if you are ready to start the slip or fall claims process or would like to know more about slip and fall compensation amounts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at any time for free no-obligation legal guidance.
Slip And Fall Personal Injury Compensation Calculator
When researching about personal injury claims, you may also be wondering ‘How much compensation for a fall, slip or trip claim could I receive?’
Compensation for successful slip, trip and fall claims could include both general and special damages.
These are discussed in further detail in the section below.
slip, trip and fall compensation claims guide
To help you gain a clearer understanding of how much you could receive in compensation following a successful claim for a fall or trip, we have created the table in this section. When creating this table, we have used the compensation figures listed in the most recent edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), published April 2022. The JCG is a document used by many legal professionals to help them value claims.
You should only use this table as a guide, as how much compensation you could receive will depend on the factors affecting your specific claim.
| Injury Type | Severity | Comments | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neck injuries | Severe (iii) | Fractures, dislocations or severe soft tissue damage that leads to chronic conditions. | £45,470 to £55,990 |
| Leg injuries | (iii) Serious | Instability in the leg due to serious comminuted or compound fractures that may require prolonged treatment. | £39,200 to £54,830 |
| Arm injuries | Less Severe | Despite suffering from significant disabilities, the person will have experienced a significant recovery. | £19,200 to £39,170 |
| Hand injuries | (f) | The fingers have suffered severe fractures that may require partial amputations. | Up to £36,740 |
| Back injuries | Moderate (ii) | Backache caused by disturbed ligaments and muscles. | £12,510 to £27,760 |
| Ankle injuries | Moderate | The person will have difficulty walking on uneven ground due to ligamentous tears or a fracture. | £13,740 to £26,590 |
| Foot injuries | Moderate | A permanent deformity with continuing symptoms due to displaced metatarsal fractures. | £13,740 to £24,990 |
| Shoulder Injuries | Serious | The lower part of the brachial plexus is damaged and the shoulder is dislocated which causes neck and shoulder pain. | £12,770 to £19,200 |
| Wrist injuries | (d) | A soft tissue injury or fracture that taken longer than a year to fully recover. | £6,080 to £10,350 |
| Injuries to the Pelvis and Hips | Lesser Injuries (ii) | A complete recovery following a minor soft tissue injury. | Up to £3,950 |
Contact our advisors today for more information about slip and trip claims.
Special Damages In Slip and Fall Claims
When a personal injury lawyer puts a claim together, there are a number of parts of the claim which can be used. Some will be relevant to your claim and some won’t, but the job of your solicitor is to ensure that they fully understand your claim and make sure that all parts are claimed for at the same time as once a claim is settled, they won’t be able to ask for more compensation.
The parts of a claim that can be included in a claim include:
General Damages
These are the part of the claim which covers the pain and suffering caused to the claimant by the accident and subsequent injuries. The payment amount for these is actually defined by UK legal professionals in a table that grades the injury from minor to severe. The exact amount of compensation is calculated by working out where your injury fits in to the scale so it’s important that you use a personal injury solicitor who can demonstrate exactly how seriously you were hurt.
Special Damages
These are the parts of a claim that have left you out of pocket and can be linked to the accident or your injury. You’ll usually need to provide evidence of the costs involved by way of receipt or bank statements. The special damages that you could claim include:
- Treatment costs (including any prescription medicines needed).
- Costs of a carer.
- Loss of earnings (and potential loss of earnings).
- Costs of travel (if, for instance, you’ve needed to use public transport to reach medical appointments).
Who Can Be At Fault Or Liable For Your Trip Or Fall Accident
For a lot of falls that happen outside, the local council could be responsible for the accident if it’s on a path, verge or road that is managed by them.
They could be responsible if the accident is caused by uneven flooring, damaged steps, potholes or broken kerbs that haven’t been fixed.
When inside a building the owner or occupier may be responsible for any slip trip and fall compensation payments that need to be made. Examples of when they may be liable for an accident include:
- When there is inadequate lighting which means a trip hazard cannot be seen properly.
- A floor is excessively wet or slippery with no visible warning signs.
- Flooring is damaged or uneven.
- There are unexpected obstacles in places where people would reasonably expect to be walking.
If any of these sound familiar to your accident, then you could make a claim against the local council or business owner of the building where your accident occurred.
We’ll cover some of the more common types of slip and trip accidents in the coming sections in more detail to provide you of an insight as to why somebody else could be liable for your injury.
Pavement Slip Trip And Fall Claims Against The Council
As mentioned earlier, pavement trip claims be caused by defects to pavements that are owned or managed by the local council. If you’re unsure which city council, county council or other authority are to blame, then let us know the location of the accident and we can find out for you.
The types of pavement defects that can lead to slip trip and fall compensation claims include:
- When cables or pipes have become exposed and are protruding through the concrete.
- When subsidence occurs and leaves the pavement uneven and unsafe to walk on.
- Wobbly, damaged and uneven paving slabs which cause you to trip.
- Damaged street furniture.
Essentially, any of these can lead to a compensation claim, especially when no warning sign is in place. Also, if the problem has been highlighted by spray paint then this will prove that the council, or one of its contractors, were aware of the defect and not repaired it. You should try to photograph anything in the list that has caused your accident to happen.
Slip And Fall Claims For Accidents In Public Spaces
Similarly, accidents in public places can lead to a successful compensation claim as shops, restaurants and other publicly accessible places have a duty of care to prevent you from becoming injured.
As with other types of accident, if the actions of the business owner caused you to become injured then you could make use of a no win no fee compensation claim against them.
For instance, if a spillage in a restaurant that hasn’t been cleaned up causes you to slip over (and causes injuries) then you would be within your rights to seek compensation.
Slip Or Trip Injury Claims Against Your Landlord
You may think that a slip or trip claim wouldn’t be possible if it happens in your rented property but there are instances where your landlord could be held liable for the accident and any injuries you suffer.
Essentially, if the accident is caused because of a lack of maintenance or your landlord hasn’t fixed a fault that you reported to them in a reasonable time frame then you could claim against them.
For instance, if you report a broken hand rail on the stairs of your property which isn’t repaired and you fall because it didn’t support your weight properly, then you could ask for compensation.
Claims For Slips And Falls In The Workplace
All employers, under the Health and Safety at Work act, have a duty of care to their employees, visitors and customers and to ensure their safety.
This means that the workplace should be safe at all times for all tasks that need to be undertaken. If the employer doesn’t provide a safe working environment (either in the workplace or anywhere that work has to be undertaken) and you slip or trip because of a defect or fault, then you could seek compensation against your employer.
Trip and fall at work injury
Some employees worry about claiming against their employer, but it is illegal to be disciplined for making an honest claim against them and employers will have insurance in place to deal with accidents so don’t be put off from claiming what you may be entitled to.
Time Limits In Slip And Fall Claims
In order to make a valid personal injury claim, it must be started within a certain time limit. If you were injured due to negligence during a slip and fall accident, your time limit is likely to be three years, according to the information set out in the Limitation Act 1980.
This is three years from the date of your accident, but it can also be three years from the date you received a medical diagnosis for your injury. Once you start your claim, the claim can go on for as long as it needs to without any time limits to reach a settlement.
However, there may be exceptions to the time limit. As minors cannot represent themselves in a claim, the 3 year time limit will only begin on the date of their 18th birthday – the time before this is classed as suspended.
While they cannot a start a claim themselves during this period, one can still be started on their behalf by an appointed litigation friend.
A similar exception exists for people who are mentally unable to start a claim. Their 3-year time limit is suspended indefinitely. A litigation friend can represent them and start their claim, acting on their behalf during this period. If they regain, or gain the mental capacity to represent themselves, then their time limit will begin from this point.
A member of our team could answer any more questions you have about slip and fall claims, and even give you insight into how much compensation for a fall in the UK could be claimed.
Evidence To Support Slip And Fall Claims
As stated above, you might be eligible to claim fall compensation if you suffered injuries due to a liable party’s negligence. However, all slips and trips claims must be supported with evidence.
Evidence that could be useful for slip and fall claims includes:
- Accident footage. For example, you could request CCTV footage of yourself.
- Medical records. In addition to any treatment you had following your injuries, you might be asked to attend an independent medical assessment. This will help determine the severity of your injuries along with what impact they might have on your life.
- Witness contact information. Any witnesses can provide a statement later on if you note their contact details.
- Injury photographs if these are visible. For example, you might have bruising or swelling that could be photographed.
- Photographs of the accident scene. For example, if you tripped over uneven pavement, you could photograph this.
Our advisors can discuss slip and fall compensation amounts with you. In addition to this, they can give free advice about what you could submit to support your claim.
No Win No Fee Slip And Trip Claims
No Win No Fee agreements are an alternative method of making a compensation claim which removes a lot of barriers to making a claim for many people.
The more traditional method of hiring a solicitor, where you pay them an hourly rate for their service, does mean that you keep 100% of any compensation they receive for you but it also has a risk associated with it because, if they lose the case, you still have to pay them, what could be a large legal bill.
With No Win No Fee agreements, you don’t keep 100% of the compensation as a fixed percentage is agreed between you and the solicitor, who will pay for their service if they win you compensation, but the main benefit of No Win No Fee agreements is that, if your case is lost, you don’t have to pay them anything at all for their services.
In fact, you don’t ever have to send a No Win No Fee solicitor any payment as, if they win, the compensation is sent to them, they retain their agreed percentage and then send the rest directly to you.
Advice.co.uk believe this is the fairest and most stress-free way of claiming compensation so we only work with solicitors who offer No Win No Fee for all cases that they take on. If you’d like to begin your claim today, then please get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0161 696 9685 to speak with one of our specially trained advisers.
- Email us on [email protected]
- Or fill in this online form to begin your claim and we’ll get in touch at a convenient time.
Find Out More About Slip And Fall Claims
Here are some more guides and resources on slip and fall claims:
- Accident at Work Claims Guide – This guide provides detailed advice on how to claim compensation if you have suffered a slip, trip or fall or other injury because of an accident at work.
- Advice on Falls – A guide from the NHS about the treatment and prevention of falls.
- Broken Bones Guide – Information from the NHS surrounding the symptoms and treatment of different types of broken bones which may have been caused by a slip, trip or fall.
- Slips, Trips and Falls – Information from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about these types of accidents and how to prevent them.