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

By Ian Morris | Updated December 15th, 2023

198 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

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 accident 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, knee, hip 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.

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.

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 injury	Compensation 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.

198 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

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

I am in my seventies, normally fit and well walking my dog every day. This week I tripped on a path outside of my bungalow which is made of some sort of Tarmac or at least a black material. There is a raised bit of the path halfway across the path. I tripped, broke my shoulder and damages my hand and needed stitches in my head. I have taken photos and want to know if I can claim.

Please email your photographs to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with your name and contact details. We can then review the accident site and contact you to further discuss this matter and advise as to whether or not a claim for compensation can be made.

The pavement has dipped due to a previous mine shaft entrance in the vicinity and has caused the pavement to become uneven with both the curb stone and pavement sinking. The local authority has patched this area previously. My father in law has reported the state on the pavements around the area previously but nothing has been done. My 9-year-old daughter has now suffered a bruised arm, black eye and cut to nose as a direct result from this uneven and unmaintained pavement. Her scooter got stuck and she went over the handle bars.

This is certainly a matter we can investigate and pass to our specialist Solicitors. As the area had been complained about/reported before, it may make it easier to succeed with a claim.

Please forward photographs of the accident site (ideally with measurements) along with information about the previous reports of the defective areas and your contact details to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk and we can then help you with this matter.

On Sunday evening I tripped outside my house. There is a big crack between the pavement and the carpark and my foot went down the crack and I landed on my knee. The next day I couldn’t put weight on it, so went to hospital, had x-rays and learned that I had sprained my knee.

I have been advised by the Doctor to rest up. The knee still hurts this morning, which has resulted in me taking a week off work and lost my additional shifts. Also I’ve heard the pavement has been reported a few times and they’ve still not fixed it?! Could I make a claim as it’s only a sprain?

You certainly can make a claim for the sprain injury to your knee. A sprain injury is a common soft tissue injury associated with tripping accidents and such soft tissue injuries can often cause as many problems (if not more) than a bone injury.

As the crack that caused you to fall has been reported previously, it may add strength to your claim and this is a matter we would very much like to help you with.

If you can email some photographs (along with your contact number) of the crack that caused you to fall to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk, we can review the accident site and further advise you with regards to assisting with a claim for compensation. If you would like to speak to us, please call us on 01225430285.

Hi I tripped and fell on an uneven path measuring 2inch and broken my ankle.
This was on property seeing my father outside his flat.
This happened 2 days ago and my father has told the property’s maintenance, which they came out today and filled the hole.
Where do i stand?

Please send photographs of the hazard that caused you to fall and suffer the ankle injury to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with a contact number.

We can assist you in making a No Win No Fee claim for compensation for the pain and discomfort caused by the ankle injury and ensure that any rehabilitation therapies that may aid your recovery are obtained and that any loss of income or other costs you incur are also recovered.

Once we have your photos, we’ll be in contact to offer further help.

I fell down an uneven public footpath, fracture my thumb & wrist: it need plaster for 6 weeks, plaster taken out yesterday. Dr advise me it is take Long time heel it. They given me scarp wearing on my hand to reduced the damage so please advise me what to do.

If you have photographs of the area where you fell and cause of your accident, please send them to us via justice@direct2compensation.co.uk so that we can review the site and advise as to whether or not you can pursue a claim for the injury you have suffered.

Hi.i was walking round my estate this morning and tripped on a raised paving slab.this really shook me up as I went all my length. I suffered a badly graised and bruised knee so I’m struggling to walk.i banged my elbow and had a few cuts to my hands as I tried to stop myself hitting the floor..I didnt seek medical attention at the time and nobody was around to ask for help but its left me feeling very sore and shaken .can I claim against the council?

You may well be able to make a claim against the local authority. In order for us to advise further, we’ll need to see some initial photographs of the accident site. Ideally, we need a photograph showing a close up of the vertical edge of the raise slab with a clearly visible measure against it to demonstrate that it exceeds 25mm or 1″ in height, along with a few images of the area from further back.

If you can’t obtain any photographs, please call us on 01225430285 and we’ll see how we can help you.

I walked out in front of the store and tripped on an uneven pavement and sustained minor injuries on both knees. I notify the shop owner about the incident but he said he can’t do anything about it and has reported the pavement to the council but no action. Can i sue the store owner for not having warning signs on that pavement and not making it sure it is fixed?

Yes, we can help you with this. If you have photographs of the disrepaired pavement surface that caused you to trip and fall, please forward the same to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk and we’ll then be in touch to discuss further pursuit of your claim for personal injury compensation.

Can I claim for my 17month old daughter which she tripped into a drain hole that is not covered by the council. Due to this she bumped her head & grazed her know, which I also had to pull out her foot.

A parent or legal guardian can make a claim on behalf of a child that they have legal responsibility for if that child is aged under 18 years of age. In the scenario you describe, there may be a right to make a claim. Before we can advise further, we do need to see some photographs of the hole that she fell in to. We would also need to know a little more about the injuries and the severity of them.

Please email photographs and further information to us at: justice@direct2compensation.co.uk in order that we can further consider this matter and advise you accordingly.

I went over on my ankle in a deep pothole, our paths down our road are atrocious. I’ve done some serious ligament damage and am in a boot and on crutches. Is there anything I can do, the area is a newly built area but they don’t take care of the roads or paths!!

You may well be able to pursue a claim for the injuries to your ankle and this is something we can help you with via our No Win No Fee service.

Have you taken any photographs of the pothole that caused you to fall? If you could obtain some, ideally with clear measurement showing the depth of the hole, that would be most helpful.

I fell on uneven flooring and a dip in the path and tripped over kerb and fell I am 18 weeks pregnant and i ended up smashing my Fitbit screen and hurting my knee and ankle and had to go to hospital to have baby checked out.

If you have photographs of the accident site, showing the uneven surface and dip that caused you to trip, we can review them to advise as to whether or not a claim can proceed.

I had a trip outside my workplace and the land is owned by them. I took pictures of the gravel etc but cannot prove the height of a 50p bit. However they tarmaced it straight after and have acknowledged to me it had been reported and should have been done earlier.
I have had injuries to my chest and foot. Do I have a claim?

It could well be that the employer commenting to you that the surface had already been reported and should have been repaired sooner, will see the employer having to admit liability. Did the employer mention that to you in writing? If so, the email could be vitally important evidence to support your claim.

Hi I tripped an Injured my big toe last week fri on an uneven raised pavement slab outside of a shop at my local shopping area. It was very painful. I went to A&E as I felt the pain got worse as the days went by, they sent me for xray and found the toes has been sprained, they advised me to rest the foot and take strong painkillers but the pain is still there and i’m finding it hard to move the toes sometimes.
I’ve taken photos and video of the faulty pavement. can I claim compensation?

You may well be able to make a claim. To make a claim for a ‘tripping accident’ (an injury caused through a damaged or disrepaired pavement surface), a claim can succeed if it can be demonstrated that the pavement is of a sufficient level of disrepair. For us to be able to advise as to whether or not you can make a claim, we’ll need to see the photographs you have taken of the raised paving slab. Please forward your photographs to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with a brief description of the accident, your injuries and your contact details. Our team will then review them and contact you to further discuss a potential claim for personal injury compensation.

I have somehow tripped on a pavement where there was part of the curb raised quite a lot!! It’s about a metre of curb higher than the rest and it sticks out also it moves as my friend I was with touched it to see. I don’t live in the area so I wouldn’t know to avoid it and that. I have trod on it and twisted my back. I already have a bad back but it is absolute agony and has made me not able to do anything as it’s that painful. I’ve not been docs but planning on it next week if the pains subsided. Can I claim compo? I took pics to show it. It’s so dangerous.

Please forward any photographs you have of the offending curb that tripped you to our team via justice@direct2compensation.co.uk Once we have seen your photographs, we can properly assess the prospects of pursuing a claim and could then contact you further to obtain some further information.

Hi there, 15 months ago I tripped on the path outside my flat and it gave me sciatic back pain. I managed to muddle through and after private physio work my back got better. I didnt put a claim in but recently i tripped again and injured my back and my shoulder. Can I claim? The path has slabs that are sticking up massively.

If you did not report the accident or the damaged pavement at the time, you should certainly do so now. You are able to make a claim for compensation but photographic evidence showing that the paving slabs are raised by more than 25mm (1″) from the surrounding surface will be needed to enable us to consider further as to whether or not you can make a claim.

Please send photographs of the accident site with a description of the incident to our team via justice@direct2compensation.co.uk and we can then review this further for you.

I was walking in high street. I felt dip in pavement and fell. Fractured neck of femur caused. Hospitalization and surgery. Off feet now for at least 6 weeks. Possible future hip replacement if pins dont work. Embedded foodstuff seen nearby but unsure if cause. Felt dip and slipped forward. Unable to return to where fell. Assisted by members of public.

It is possible to make a claim after falling due to a dip in a pavement surface. However, photographs showing the depth of the dip (ideally a level placed across the dip with clear measurements showing the width and depth of the dip) would be needed before we could advise as to whether or not you could make a claim.

Wednesday 11th December I tripped on pavement near my house. Could not move, waited 1.5 hours for ambulance on pavement reached hospital and discovered broken hip, hip now replaced and still in hospital then will require physio etc, I have photos of cracked and crooked payments and witness of the people who sat with me while awaiting ambulance.

Please forward your photographs to our new claims team at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with a brief description of the accident and your contact details. We’ll then review them and call you to discuss how we can help you with a claim for hip injury compensation.

I tripped over a raised path this morning ……. raised due to tree roots underneath. My injuries don’t warrant a hospital visit but believe me when I say I’m in pain. I hit the side of my face and just a few scrapes to my hands.
I have photos of my injuries.

You should take some clear photographs of the footpath in question and ideally use some sort of visible measurement against the raised edge that caused you to trip and fall. If the raised section that caused you to trip, protrudes from the surrounding surface level by 25mm (1″) or more from the pavement surface, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

You should also report the incident to the relevant local authority – but only after you have obtained photographic evidence.

If you would like us to review the photographs you take of the accident site in order that we can inform you as to whether or not the ‘hazard’ looks like something for which a claim could proceed, please email them to us at justice@direct2compensation.co.uk along with your contact number.

I need to know the maximum time that a council has to deny liability from the date that the Solicitors notified them of a particular pavement defect.

There is not a definitive maximum time in that there can be extensions to deadlines and requests for additional or extra investigation time made when any defendant handles a claim against them.

From the date of a claim being submitted, a defendant has a period of 21 days to ‘acknowledge’ the claim and confirm that they are the alleged defendant. From that date, they have a further period of over 3 months to formally investigate the claim before they will respond with an admission or denial of liability. Effectively, there is a period of 4 months or so from the date a claim is registered before any response of note should be expected.

If a defendant fails to respond in that period, a Solicitor will issue a further deadline for them to respond. If the defendant then fails to respond by the extended deadline a Solicitor will either issue a further deadline or issue proceedings to force them to respond in court.

My son fell after tripping on a cracked paving slab and has torn all 3 ligaments in his ankle, which will take about 3-6 months to heal according to hospital. Would he be able to claim against the council for being injured due to the damaged pathway? The cracked paving stones can be seen on Google street view so it has obviously there for a long time.

His fall was witnessed by a passenger who got off the bus and went to see if he was ok. She has given her email address and number as she is happy to make a witness statement.

There is certainly a right to make a claim for compensation for his ankle injury and the fact that the incident was witnessed by someone who has provided their details and is willing to provide a statement in support of a claim is good news.

Whether or not the claim will succeed will depend on what defence, if any the defendants can mount and whether or not the defective pavement area is deemed to be actionable under the law as it stands.

We would advise that photographs should be taken of the accident site showing the disrepaired area – including both close ups and images from slightly further back and that the accident is also reported to the relevant local authority.

My injury was a broken toe caused on an uneven path on a public walk way.

In the UK any person who is injured due to a disrepaired pavement or footpath has a right to make a claim for compensation.

To succeed with a claim, a claimant will need to demonstrate that the defect that caused them to trip or fall meets the required criteria for size or depth of the trip hazard.

A local authority or landowner may successfully defend a claim for tripping accident compensation if they can demonstrate that they had previously inspected the area of the accident and not found a defect or area needing repair within the past 6 months. The courts afford landowners or local authorities the option of relying on regular site inspections (annually or bi-annually) and on reports from members of the public should potholes or tripping hazards materialise.