Can you claim injury compensation after tripping on a broken pavement?

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In the UK, your local council has a duty to maintain roads, paths and pavements to make sure that walkers and road users are safe from injury. If a surface hasn’t been maintained properly and you’ve tripped or fallen on an uneven pavement or pothole, you may be entitled to claim compensation for any injuries.

Here we look at the circumstances in which you’d have a valid pavement injury claim, and how to go about it.

What the law says about pavement accident claims

There are some common misconceptions out there as to what merits a valid claim for slip and trip personal injury compensation after a fall on a damaged path or pavement. Many people wrongly believe that any fall in public that leads to injuries (commonly wrist, ankle, foot, kneehip or ligament injuries) means they can sue the council. The truth however is very different, and to succeed with a claim there are certain criteria that must be met.

Firstly, to make a claim against a local authority or other land owner after a slip, trip or fall, the claimant must demonstrate that the defect (a raised edge, or hole, for example) which lead to their accident met specific size requirements, usually more than 1 inch.

Secondly, anyone looking to succeed with a claim will need to prove that the defendant failed to adequately inspect and maintain the pavements and road within their responsibility, and therefore left a dangerous hazard in situ.

Thirdly, a claimant will need to demonstrate that the hazard that caused them to sustain injury was present for a period of at least 6 months before their accident date.

Local council legal duties to prevent pavement accidents

While councils have a duty of care to prevent pavement accidents, they are understandably given some leeway in terms of how fast they can be expected to fix defects. The courts have stated that landowners and local authorities require ample time to inspect the footpaths and roads in their area, identify and then repair any hazards or faults to reduce the risk of injury to the public.

Any defects found that have a vertical tripping edge of 1″ or more should be listed for repair and removed from the footpath as quickly as possible. If a hazard has been in situ for 6 months or MORE, it should have been highlighted for repair IF the local authority correctly inspected the pavement in question.

In general, councils have the following responsibilities when it comes to roads and pavements:

  • To have a system to regularly inspect roads and footpaths for accident risks
  • To check busier routes more regularly than less used ones
  • To repair any defects within a reasonable time
  • To act on any public reports of dangerous surfaces within a reasonable time
  • To signpost any hazards or dangers to the public

Failing to uphold these responsibilities could leave a council open to having to pay compensation to anyone injured as a result of their negligence.

Trip hazard height – use photographic evidence to make a claim

To succeed with a claim for compensation for injuries sustained in a pavement accident, it is important to provide clear photographic evidence of the trip hazard height. This will help your solicitor to prove that an alleged 3rd party are liable, that an ‘actionable defect’ was in situ and should have been repaired.

Claimants should ensure that they have taken or obtained photographs of a hazard that caused them to fall BEFORE it is repaired. With most people now having a camera built in to their mobile phones, obtaining evidential photographs is easy and should always be done. To take a good photograph, the height of the defect should be shown against a clear measurement. Most people don’t carry a ruler or measure with them, but a 50p or other coin against the vertical edge of a pothole or raised paving stone makes for a good alternative as it provides something to indicate the size of the hole or raised edge at the centre of the claim.

Raised paving flagstone protruding by in excess of 25mm
Paving stone, raised by more than 1 inch

The hazard shown in the above example is on the acceptable edge of being deemed ‘actionable’ (a hazard likely to succeed in a claim for compensation) although it is borderline. The photographs show clear measurements with the defect just exceeding 25mm/1″ from the surrounding surface level. The location of the defect (in terms of background landmarks) and enabling the direction of travel to be seen further strengthens a claim for tripping accident compensation.

Close up of hazard with clear depth measurement
Proof of hazard position and direction of travel

As well as photographs, a strong claim will provide further evidence in the form of:

  • Witness contact details
  • An accident report noting the location and date
  • A medical report on the injuries sustained and treatment required
  • Receipts for any expenses incurred

How much compensation do you get for tripping on a pavement?

Compensation payouts depend on injury severity, your financial losses and the impact on your quality of life. Usually we will claim for the following on your behalf:

  • The pain and distress caused to you by the injuries sustained
  • Associated costs and losses
  • Lost earnings if you have been away from work as a result of the accident
  • Medical treatments, rehabilitation therapies and post accident care
  • Restrictions on your ability to fulfil your usual activities and social life
  • The psychological impact of your injury
  • Miscellaneous expenses (bus fares, painkillers etc)

There are guidelines issued by the courts for solicitors, but it’s impossible to say exactly how much you can expect as all cases vary. As a guide, some settlement values are listed in the table below for common fall injury claims, this is for the injury only, not including lost wages or expenses, for example:

Type of injuryCompensation amount
Neck injury£2,000 – £140,000
Minor brain or head injury£2,070 – £11,980
Finger injury£4,000 – £85,000
Wrist injury£3,310 – £44,690
Hip or pelvis injury£3,710 – £24,950
Fractured forearm£6,190 – £18,020
Permanent back injury£11,730 – £26,050
Serious shoulder injury£11,980 – £18,020
Ankle injury£12,900 – £46,980

How to report your pavement accident to the council

The UK Government website has a handy page where you can find the relevant department of the local council responsible for the area in which you fell. You should report your accident to them, describing the hazard and its location, what injuries you’ve sustained and what medical treatment you have received.

Try to take photographs of the accident site showing the depth or height of the hazard with clear measurements. You could also get the names and contact details of any witnesses, as this will provide further evidence.

Before sending all this in, our best advice is to hire a specialist personal injury solicitor to run your claim, as this will give you the best chance of succeeding.

The evidence you’ll need

In order to win injury compensation, claimants must gather as much evidence as possible to help their solicitor force the council to admit liability.

Medical evidence

If you haven’t had medical treatment, it is likely that your injuries will not be seen as sufficiently serious to warrant a claim for compensation. This is because medical evidence is needed to support your claim. If you have been suffering in silence and haven’t seen the GP, you still can. If the GP is happy to note that your injuries are consistent with those suffered as a result of a trip, for example, you can then prove your injuries and pursue a claim.

Hazard evidence

Even if your injuries are severe, the pavement must still have a vertical tripping edge in excess of 25mm for you to have a valid claim. That’s a fairly easy thing for a claimant to identify when they look at what’s caused their fall, and photographs of the hazard can be taken for proof.

The more complex issue is proving how long the raised flagstone or uneven pavement surface has been there. The claimant needs to demonstrate that the hazard that caused their accident has been in situ for a minimum of 6 months, and sometimes 12 months. So how do you do this?

Witnesses

To greatly increase the strength of  your claim, you can obtain witness evidence from local shop keepers, residents or other regular users of a pavement regarding its condition. These people may not have witnessed the claimant’s accident, but instead can be a witness to a hazard being present. They can state where the hazard is, what it is, the rough dimensions of the hazard and how long it has been in situ. If an independent person can state that they have seen the hazard in situ for a minimum of 6 months and sign a statement to that effect, it helps to show that the local authority have either failed to inspect the area or carry out adequate repairs.

For example, if the hazardous pavement is in a residential area, it is likely that the local residents will know how long it has been there for. Furthermore, one of them may have reported it to the council already. As an injured claimant, you should approach these residents and ask if they know about the damaged pavement and how long it has been there. If one of them does, you could ask them if they would be willing to act as a hazard witness.

Most people are more than willing to act as a witness to support a claimant, as this can help to make sure that the local authority speed up their inspection and repair regime.

How to start a no win no fee pavement accident claim

If you can prove council liability and your injuries are severe enough, you will be eligible to claim compensation for them. Our no win, no fee solicitors can claim for the following on your behalf:

  • The pain and distress caused to you by your injuries
  • Associated costs and losses (special damages)
  • Restrictions on your ability to fulfil your usual activities and social life

No win no fee enables you to make a claim without it costing you anything if the claim fails to succeed. If you win, your solicitor gets around 25% of the value of your claim.

Instructing the services of a specialist claims expert is always a good idea to give your claim the best possible chances of success.

At Direct2Compensation we know your rights and how to ensure that any claim for tripping accident compensation is presented in the best possible light. We know how to identify whether a hazard presents a valid claim, and how to ensure that the right evidence is in place to give you the best prospects of succeeding.

If you believe that you have a claim for compensation after a pavement accident, or want to ask about whether or not your injuries will entitle you to claim, you can call us on 01225 430285 or  and one of our expert team will be in touch. We’ll only need a few minutes of your time to let you know if you can make a claim and there is no charge for assessing your case.

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Comments & Questions

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

My 7 year old daughter tripped on a raised telephone manhole cover as well as the concrete being broke, she broke her wrist.
Do I have rights to claim?

Ian Morris

There is a potential to pursue a claim should the accident site meet the required criteria to hold the landowner or local authority liable. To this end, do you have any photographs of the raised manhole/access cover and broken concrete?

If so, please email the photographs to us along with a contact number and we’ll be able to advise you further and assist with the pursuit of a claim if it is viable to do so. You can email the photographs to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk

Reply

Hi there,
Two weeks ago I tripped due to a faulty streetlight as I couldn’t see a raised pavement.
I was treated at a local hospital but were unable to fix me up and they recommended to find a private doctor.
I suffered permanent injury to my front teeth and light injuries to the face.I also suffer from PTSD causing mental stress and nightmares. I was off for work for a week and the initial dental work will cost me dearly, plus further treatments.
Could you please kindly advise whether it’s worth to pursue a claim?

Ian Morris

When an existing light is not working and an accident occurs as a result, there is potential to pursue a claim. However, to succeed with a claim, the claimant will have to demonstrate that the light in question was not working for a sufficient time before their fall that the organisation responsible for the maintenance of the lights should have been aware and carried out repair. Of course, at this stage you would be unlikely to have any idea as to how long the light has been faulty.

With regards to your fall, was there any disrepair or ‘hazard’ that you tripped on or was it just the case that you didn’t see the step up on to the pavement that you tripped on?

Also, if you have reported the faulty light to the local authority, please provide details of the report to us.

Reply

My 11 year old son broke off one of his front teeth to the gum after hitting a raised area of the curb next to a badly damaged pavement on his scooter- I feel the the borough council needs to take account of the damage that has been done; can I claim compensation? (we have photographic evidence)

Ian Morris

There is certainly potential to pursue a claim against the local authority. However, to be able to do so, we need to be able to demonstrate that the accident site was sufficiently disrepaired that it meets the relevant criteria to enable a claim for personal injury compensation.

Reply

I tripped on a paving brick that was sticking by 1″ and broke my kneecap. Can I claim compensation?

Ian Morris

Yes, you can make a claim with us on a No Win No Fee basis. If you haven’t already done so, please obtain some photographs of the raised paving brick, showing a measurement to confirm the height of the tripping hazard.

Once you have the photographs, please email them to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk and include your contact number. We’ll then call you to get your claim for compensation started.

Reply

Hi, tripped over, while jogging, and have fractured my hip as a result of the fall. Have had to have a metal plate inserted and will need apx 6 months off work. The pavement I tripped over is trained by just less than an inch, would a claim be a waste of time??
Thanks

Ian Morris

In most cases, the threshold of a tripping hazard needing to meet or exceed 25mm/1″ is a strict requirement, but there are some occasions when this is not the case.

Without needing to go through all of the information, if you have photographs showing a clear measurement of the depth/height of the tripping hazard, please forward it to us to consider – ideally with an image showing the general area.

Reply

I had a fall on some loose paving slabs resulting in me hitting the road. This caused injury above my eye which was treated at hospital. I am yet to find out if this has damaged my sight long term. This happened last week. I have taken lots of pictures of my injury. Can I claim against local council?

Ian Morris

There is certainly a right to pursue a claim for compensation against the local authority or landowner in question. You mention having photographs, but do you have photographs of the accident site? So that we can further advise you, we need to see photographs of the cause of the injury in order to ascertain whether or not you could hold the local authority liable.

Reply

On Sunday i was out for my daily exercise, and I tripped and fell over breaking my elbow. It seems the pavement is broken, cracked, raised etc.
Would I have a claim?

Ian Morris

Please forward photographs of the accident site to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with your contact number so that we can advise you as to whether or not you can make a claim.

Reply

i tripped on a pavement slab that was stuck up and dislocated my left index finger and banged my face. I had hospital treatment for my finger, can i claim compensation ?

Ian Morris

It is certainly possible that you would be able to claim compensation for an injury caused by tripping on a raised paving slab or disrepaired section of pavement.

Please email some photographs of the accident site to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can confirm whether the tripping hazard is likely to be an actionable defect for which you can pursue a claim.

Reply

I have fell over a raised pavement due to tree root growth. I sprained my jaw and have pain in my wrist and knee following the fall. I attended A&E for head and neck X-ray.

Ian Morris

Are you able to forward some photographs of the raised pavement that caused you to fall? Ideally, we would like to review the accident site as there is every possibility that we could pursue a claim for compensation for the injuries you have sustained.

Reply

Snapped my leg in 3 places while On roller skates at markeaton park derby in the car park, skate got stuck in a hole within the back car park and I couldn’t release it to which I ended up twisting and falling onto my leg and resulted in my leg being snapped in 3 places, currently undergoing surgery to have pins plates and a metal rod inserted

Ian Morris

You may well have a valid claim for personal injury compensation. If we can demonstrate that the hole in the car park surface is sufficiently big that it should have been identified during routine inspections and repaired, we can succeed with a claim for your serious injury. For us to properly assess this, we need to see the accident site. Are you able to send us some photographs of the hole that caused your injury? Ideally, we need a couple of close up photographs with measurements along with a couple of photographs showing the site from further back so that we can consider your claim further.

I appreciate that you are currently immobile and unable to attend the site yourself, but if you can ask a friend or family member to obtain the images, that would be most helpful. Please then email them to us with your contact details to: justice@direct2compensation.co.uk and we’ll be able to look at this for you.

Reply

I fell getting back into the car on a pothole on the pavement. It was dark and I did not see it and I fell on my foot which left it bruised and struggling to walk on, I could not put pressure on it and had to miss work as a result. I have a picture of the pothole and pictures of my bruising. Can I make a claim with this?

Ian Morris

Yes, you do have a right to make a claim if the pothole is sufficiently large and has been in situ for a while.

Reply

I lost my balance and fell heavily whilst crossing the road. There was a pot hole and a raised grid next to it and I caught my foot in the dip and then lost balance. I have broken my large toe with 2 fractures – one at the side of the toe and then one going straight across the joint of the toe.

I reported it to the council and heard nothing back so I again reported the issue and it is still in the road! I am waiting to see if it heals but they said as it’s on the joint there is always going to be damage. I couldn’t walk for 2 weeks and now I have to wear a boot for another 6 weeks and see if I require an operation after that time.

Ian Morris

Well done for reporting the accident to the local authority. Have you got any photographs of the accident site? If not, make sure some are obtained before it is repaired!

Fractures to the big toe, especially more serious boney injuries such as yours, are serious injuries and can cause long term problems. As such, our specialist Solicitors would ensure that appropriate medical evidence was used in your claim and that the maximum compensation settlement possible was obtained for you.

If you need any help or you are unable to take photographs, please call us on 01225430285 so that we can help you.

Reply

Hi there,

A couple of days ago I stepped off of the curb and onto the road surface. The road surface has subsided considerably, leaving it in even and with a steep and short slope. I didn’t see this and twisted my ankle.

I had to go to hospital and I have fractured it and torn a number of tendons and ligaments. I now can’t work for a minimum of 2 weeks as I am in a foot brace.

It is an unusual situation as it isn’t a typical raised slab injury but due to the steeply dipping road surface which isn’t in keeping with the general road level I’m left in a lot of pain!

Is this something which may warrant a claim?

Many thanks

Ian Morris

Disrepair of a pavement/road surface, whether that be a pothole, raised slab or subsidence, can lead to a successful claim for personal injury compensation.

In this case, we would initially like to see some photographs of the accident site – ideally with some measurements if possible.

Reply

I was walking in an outdoor shopping centre and all of a sudden I tripped on a slab that was wobbly. I heavily fell to my knee. Pictures taken of my knee. I was 8 months pregnant, I’m now 8.5.

We took a video of the slab, and not only did we send it to the council they said we have inspected it and it will be fixed. No mention of any compensation and I said I was heavily pregnant.

Ian Morris

We would be more than happy to look at the footage of the hazardous paving slab that caused you to fall in order to advise you further about a potential claim for compensation. It is good that you have obtained evidence of the injuries and the accident site before reporting the incident to the landowners.

You can email the footage and further information to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can look at this for you with a view to helping you start your claim for compensation.

Reply

Hello, I am contacting you on behalf of my mother who recently had a fall near our home. We have recently moved into the area and there is a lack of street lighting. As my mother was making her way to work in the early hours she has tripped on an uneven paving slab, which measures approx 1 inch higher than the rest.

My mother sustained a fractured elbow but also a black eye and minor abrasions to her face. Would it be worth us making a claim against the local authority?

Kind regards

Ian Morris

You may be able to claim against the local authority. Please email some photographs of the raised slab (showing measurements) to me along with a contact number. As the cause of the accident is a raised edge that exceeds the minimum 25mm/1 inch requirement, I feel it is worthwhile pursuing this further.

Reply

I tripped over a paving slab hit my head and hurt my hands and right leg side of knee and hit my shoulder of the floor apparently it was reported 2years ago and the person in question was basically told they wouldn’t do it my shoulder is hurting and arm and leg a neighbour ran to pick me up off the floor I hit the floor hard I went flying and have a lot of muscular pain now in my right arm and shoulder.

Ian Morris

Do you have photographs of the damaged pavement that you can send to us to view? If so, please email them to us with your contact details and a brief description of the accident to: justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can review the details and advise you further.

As the faulty slab had been reported previously, it strengthens your claim and this is a matter we would like to pursue.

Reply

I fell yesterday on damaged paving. I have mild concussion, cuts and bruises and a sprained shoulder. A lady from the nearby coffee shop told me an elderly lady had fallen there a few weeks earlier.

Ian Morris

Hi Lisa. We can help you make a claim for compensation if the cause of the accident can be attributed to negligence. As the pavement is damaged, we need to see photographs of the accident site. Are you able to email some to us to review? If so, please email them to justice@direct2compensation.co.uk If you don’t feel able to get photos, please let us know and we can see what we can do to help you.

Reply

Part of our road was corded off previously due to road works, after the barrier had been removed there was still defects on the road which led to my wife falling over and hurting her self is she liable for a claim?

Ian Morris

If you know the details of the contractor who was undertaking the work and you have photographic evidence of the debris that they left behind that caused your wife to fall, please email the photographs and your contact details to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can review this and further consider a potential claim.

Reply

Hi,

I’m heavily pregnant and tripped on a raised slab whilst walking using my arm to shield my stomach as I fell. I stil hit my stomach on the floor, nasty cuts to my hand swollen knuckle and finger, scuffed chin and muscle pain the following day resulting in me not being able to lift my arms fully. I also had to spend 2 hours in hospital to monitor my baby. Photos of the slab taken. Is this something you can help with?

Ian Morris

We can absolutely help you with this claim. Please email the photographs of the raised slab that caused you to fall along with your contact number to: justice@direct2compensation.co.uk

Once we have received your email, our team will review the accident site and then contact you to take further details, so that our specialist Solicitors can make your claim for compensation.

Reply

I was on my way to work when I tripped over a paving flagstone. I was in hospital for 4 nights as I have fractured my right knee and I am still out of work. I have photos of the accident site.

Ian Morris

Please forward the photographs of the accident site to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can review the area and advise you further regarding a potential claim for compensation.

Reply
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