Falling Object Compensation – Claim For Your Injuries

By Ian Morris | Updated May 3rd, 2024

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You’re entitled to claim compensation if you have been injured by a falling object at work or in public and it can be proven your employer or a third party was responsible.

Falling objects can cause head injuries such as concussion, brain damage, severe lacerations and psychological trauma. Claims for compensation commonly relate to an accident at work where an employer has failed to adequately ensure the safety of workers or visitors. Alternatively, it could be a public liability claim if a pedestrian or passer by is injured by an item that falls from height, such as a loose or unsecured part of a building, a falling shop or pub sign, or dangerous practices on construction sites that are adjacent to pedestrian areas.

When it can be shown that there has been a failure to comply with legal statutory duties to minimise and prevent the risk of injury from falling objects, a compensation claim will succeed.

When you can make a falling object claim

A compensation settlement will be awarded to the claimant if it can be proven that the object fell as a result of negligence and a lack of adequate risk management.

Falling object injuries often happen when people are working at height, and commonly on construction or demolition sites. In these environments, the site management company should have adequately assessed the risk of such accidents and taken every precaution to reduce the risk of injury as far as possible. This should include requiring workers and visitors to wear personal protective equipment such as hard hats, and also establishing safety zones with adequate signage near which pedestrians are prohibited from passing. Alternative walkways with adequate signage should be created to ensure that people are not likely to be standing in an area where masonry or other items could fall. If you have been injured by a falling object in this sort of situation, you are likely to have a very strong claim.

Other claims relate to dangerous buildings in disrepair that have footpaths beside them. Building owners and local authorities have a legal responsibility to ensure that unsafe buildings are either cordoned off and repaired, again with pedestrian exclusion zones clearly marked, or where repair is not possible such buildings should be demolished. If you have been injured because of an object that has fallen from a such a building, again you will have a strong claim for injury compensation.

Other common causes of falling object injuries include:

Shop or building signs that fall from height on to pedestrians standing or walking below.
Wall mounted pictures or mirrors in venues such as pubs or restaurants that fall on to patrons sitting or standing below.
Ceiling tiles in public venues that fall on to people standing or sitting below

Why claim injury compensation if you’re hit by a falling object?

If you have been injured as a result of a falling object, claiming personal injury compensation can help ease some of the problems you’ll experience and help in a number of ways:

It will compensate you for injuries that were not your fault.
A successful claim could fund private medical treatment and rehabilitation therapies to speed your recovery.
Settlements can help you recover any lost income now and in the future if you are prevented from working again.
In the case of a fatal accident, loved ones can claim compensation for their loss.

As all claims are made on a No Win No Fee basis, you will never be charged if your claim does not succeed. A successful claim will lead to a compensation settlement being made to you, with the value of the claim including any lost income and incurred costs as well as a settlement for the injuries and medical treatment that you have sustained.

How Direct2Compensation can help with your claim

Any person who suffers an injury because of a falling object is entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. As with all claims, it is important to make sure that the details of your accident have been recorded properly and that medical attention is sought for any injuries that you have sustained. For help with reporting your accident correctly, contact us for free advice.

At Direct2Compensation we have the right expertise to manage your claim successfully. We know your rights and can help you to understand whether you have a valid claim or not.

Direct2Compensation work with some of the best expert injury compensation solicitors in the UK. With our easy to understand claims process and ability to handle your claim quickly, simply and transparently, there are many reasons that make us the right choice.

To start your claim today, or even to find out a little bit more about the claims process and how we can help, call us on 01225 430285 or if you prefer, . In just a few minutes on the telephone with you, we’ll obtain the initial information needed for our solicitors to commence a claim.

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus falling object claim examples...

Good day On Friday I went to spar and the pole at the till point fell on my leg and I got hurt. I have not been to the doctors as i don’t have funds to go to one I have not been to work from Saturday up until today. Can you advise me on this matter please.

Was your accident reported in to the store accident book? If not, you should ensure that the store has a record of the injury.

Whilst at work I had a heavy notice board fall off the wall on me which winded me and caused neck and headache for about 1hr. No other injuries and didn’t require medical attention. Would I be entitled to claim?

If the board falling on to you has caused injuries that are sufficiently serious, you would be entitled to make a claim against your employer. In your case, you seem to have escaped serious injury and if your symptoms were eased within an hour or even a couple of days, you would not be sufficiently badly injured to enable a claim to proceed.

We often hear from people involved in accidents such as yours where an item has fallen on to their head that they have gone on to suffer ‘whiplash’ related symptoms with neck pain and associated discomfort. If that is the case for you, then you would be able to pursue this.

Hello Ian, around 2-3 months ago my area manager caught a falling tray(s) that almost hit my head from an elevated state. This near miss wasn’t recorded and no corrective action was implemented, 4-5 days ago the trays fell again and knocked me out. I was out cold for around a minute an ambulance was called and I was luckily okay, I went home with a severe headache and back ache but am slowly feeling better, i went back to work a couple of days ago to find no corrective action was taken on the object that fell on me. Also my manager gave no interest in my well being asking if someone was able to cover the shift, is a claim on the table?

Yes, you definitely do have a valid claim in this matter and I would very much like to help you further with getting your claim started.

Given that an Ambulance has attended the scene, there will be evidence to support your claim but you should ensure that an accident book entry has been completed at work. Further, it is important that you do not underestimate the damage/injury that such an incident can cause. You should keep an eye on all symptoms as it is likely that you will have sustained soft tissue injuries such as whiplash as well as muscle spasm and possible concussion. You should make sure that all relevant symptoms are recorded with your GP.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello i was moving a shelf at the supermarket i work at and the shelf fell and landed on my leg it wasn’t a serious injury but i had the rest of the day off and my leg still hurts when i move it the shelf was not fastened on properly which is why it fell on my leg and i should not of been even changing them as it wasn’t my job too but i was told to do it anyway.

Although your injury is not too severe, the scenario you describe is likely to give rise to you being able to succeed with a claim for compensation against your employer. It is important that you make sure that you have properly reported the accident at work and that an accident book has been filled in – in which you should (if you can) mention that you were not doing your usual job.

Hi a couple of weeks ago I was on the bus for our area and a light fitting fell off and hit me on the head. I reported it to the bus company who reported it to there insurance who are saying I need to take legal advice to take it further?

You did the right think in reporting the incident to the bus company. Making sure that the details of an accident are properly reported and recorded is a very important and helpful step in the process of claiming personal injury compensation.

In your case, if you were injured by the falling light fitting, you could instruct us to help you make a claim against the insurers of the bus company to recover compensation for your injuries and any associated losses – a matter that we would pursue on a No Win No Fee basis for you.

If you would like us to take this further for you, please use the ‘start a claim’ page of our site. One of our team will then contact you to talk you through the No Win No Fee claims process and get your claim started.

Hi,
I was in a store when a large advertising board fell from above and caught me on the top of the head my glasses were broken as it must have caught them. Even though this was caught on t.v and I asked for it to be put in a accident book gave all my details was told head office would get in touch within 3 working days. I had a headache for 4 days and even two weeks later my head is tender when I brush my hair. I never heard from anyone so a week later I went back to the store and was told by the manager she would e-mail them to get in touch. But still nothing. Is this neglect by the store?

The store in question are clearly not great at communication and should have responded to you before now. However, the fact that you reported the accident immediately and requested that it was listed in the accident book indicates that you have done all that could reasonably be asked of you to ensure that the accident has been properly reported and recorded. That you have subsequently returned to the store and been told by the Manager that someone would be in touch further strengthens your position.

On face value, I believe that the information you have provided would indicate that you would be likely to succeed with a claim in this case.

Hi there! So I was stocking some groceries at my job three nights ago and I was trying to take a box from one side of the u-boat, it ended up getting caught on the pile of boxes next to it, resulting the top box hitting me in the back of my head just about where my ear is, resulting in a nice bump. No concussion, but my head hurt for two days and for the first few hours after it happened anything loud made my ears ring and go numb. It turned out the box on top was a 15lbs box of laundry detergent stacked on top of a few boxes of pads so it gave way when it tipped as well. I didn’t know this until after the box was already on the floor and I picked it up to see what it was. I’m not the one who put the u-boat together either. I still have yet to file an accident report due to working third shift with no manager to help me write one. Gonna write one up tomorrow. On top of that, one of the other employees claims she saw me run into the uboat and purposely injure myself (when she was two aisles over and nobody came to check on me especially after screaming when the box fell on my head), which isn’t true and told this to the manager who actually put that u-boat together so I’m afraid they’re not gonna believe me. Even though I have decided to not go to the doctor, can I still request them to look at the cameras that have recorded what actually happened? I don’t want a stupid rumor going around the store that could ruin my reputation.

You cite a great reason for why it is so important to ensure that the details of any accident at work & injury are properly reported and recorded in the workplace. Whilst you appear to have escaped with a fairly minor injury, we would also always recommend seeking medical attention to ensure that the injury details and cause are noted on your medical records. A medical record of the injury is vital should any future developments from what could initially appear to be a minor injury are discovered as it would enable a link to be drawn back to the initial injury.

It sounds as if employer negligence could be established in your case given the dangerous stacking of boxes of weight at height.

Hi, my work colleague had an accident at work a good few years ago whereby a pack of ply leaning against a wall fell on him breaking his leg quite badly. He received some compensation but not as much as you would expect for such a bad accident. He is now having problems with the injury, suffering with arthritis in his older age.would he be able to make a second claim?

Sadly, I don’t think your colleague has any hope of gaining further compensation – I would imagine that the settlement they received some years ago would have been a full and final settlement.

I stopped a falling object weighing 100kg falling on someone’s head whilst unloading a vehicle, injuring myself in the process, but I’m not entitled to claim as it was my fault! How can this be?
Are you meant to let it fall on someone’s head?!?

As you know, we feel you have a claim that should be taken further and we’ve now spoken with you and submitted your details to one of our specialist injury compensation solicitors.

Recently been off work for two weeks and am currently starting my third week off. I was backing a container on to the premises ready to be unloaded, I stopped the container at designated area and as the container stopped it jolted and as I was walking away a box fell on the back of my head n neck, suffering with neck cramps and muscle cramps between the shoulders, unable to do much can’t even hold new born daughter for long before muscles start aching and hurting, just wondering if there is any possible claim? thanks.

We would gladly investigate this matter for you and on face value of the information you have provided so far, I don’t think we’d have any difficulty in placing your claim for accident at work compensation with one of our specialist no win no fee personal injury Solicitors.

You should make sure that your employers have a record of your accident and injuries within their accident book/accident reporting system. I assume that they are aware of the issue given your absence from work.

Hi, at work yesterday, I work in a school, I used a toilet with an old cistern on the wall. When I pulled the flush on a chain, the whole cistern came off the wall onto my head. I put my hands up to save it and my right hand was very sore afterwards and very swollen, I’m unable to fold my fingers over without getting pain. Would I be able to claim? – Vanessa.

You certainly can make a claim and we would like to help you to do so. Make sure that the details of the incident are on record in an accident book at the workplace and that you seek medical attention.