Accidents involving slips, trips and falls are amongst the most common claims for injury compensation.

If you have been injured in a public place and you wish to make a claim for compensation, you first need to find out the details of the person or organisation responsible for maintaining the area where the accident occurred. Proving liability can be difficult and this is best left to an expert, such as an injury claims solicitor. Personalinjuryclaims.net work in conjunction with a panel of such solicitors, and will ensure that your claim is passed to the law firm with the expertise best suited to your case, in order to gain the most favourable results for your claim.

Injuries sustained from trips, slips and falls can vary from cuts and bruises, to more serious injuries such as broken limbs; or in severe cases loss of mobility either permanent or temporary.

The following are examples of the most common areas where accidents occur:

• Tripping over something left lying around in a shop, e.g. merchandise left in the middle of aisles or items obstructing doorways.
• Slipping on wet floors, either caused by a spillage, or a leak from a fridge or freezer for example; or water brought in from outside when pavements are wet.
• Tripping outdoors on broken or uneven paving slabs.

All owners of public places have a duty of care for the people who use their buildings or land, which means ensuring that all measures of health and safety are carried out to provide a safe environment for public access. If an accident occurs on the premises as a direct result of their negligence, they will then be found liable to compensate for any injury incurred.

If you have sustained an injury and you feel a third party is liable to compensate you, it is imperative that you gather as much information as you can before contacting a personal injury claims company. If possible, take photographs at the scene; take names and addresses of any witnesses; and make sure that you have reported the incident to the manager of the building, as well as recording the incident in their accident book if applicable.

For injuries involving paving slabs or potholes, the liable party will no doubt be the local council. Due to the thousands of claims to councils for this type of injury, you will find that most local councils are adopting a far more vigilant policy when dealing with these types of claims. For instance, if the paving slab has been broken or cracked for less than 48 hours, the council may waive their responsibility as they would not have had time to inspect the pavement or carry out repairs. Councils also have strict rules regarding the height of uneven paving slabs, and will not pay out a compensation claim if the height is below a certain level. It is therefore as well to have as much information as possible regarding the area where the accident occurred before putting in a claim against the local council.