£5,000 awarded for trip on poorly maintained cobbles | Case Study

In 2015 Quittance's solicitors successfully secured compensation of £5,000 for a 32 year old man who suffered a broken bone in his ankle during an accident in a public place. The injury was sustained in a fall on badly maintained cobbles at work.

Injury details

The claimant was walking across a cobbled car park at his place of work. The cobbles were large, with uneven gaps where they had not been maintained.

He tripped and fell on the cobbles, immediately feeling sharp pain in his ankle. As the accident occurred at work, he reported it to his employer. The accident book was completed to log the incident.

Immediately after reporting the accident the claimant went to hospital. He was diagnosed with a fracture to a bone on the outside of his ankle, the right fibula.

The ankle became swollen quickly causing more discomfort. The injuries were treated on an outpatient basis and he was sent home to rest.

The man was unable to work for initially a period of one month. On his return, he was instructed by his GP to carry out light duties. Despite this his ankle reacted by causing further pain on his return.

Allegation

It was alleged that the company responsible for the car park were negligent in not maintaining it to a safe standard.

The claimant slipped and injured himself as a result of this failure to maintain the cobbles. The large gaps between cobbles made his foot slip and twist causing his ankle to fracture.

The injuries made him unable to work for a period of a month. After this time he was able to return on light duties only.

Conclusion and settlement

Initially liability was denied. The company and the owner of the car park both denied responsibility for maintaining the car park.

Quittance's solicitors examined the lease for the property. As a result the employer was shown to be responsible for maintenance of the cobbles.

Liability was then admitted.

Compensation was accepted by way of an out of Court settlement totalling £5,000.

Quittance can help

If you would like to discuss an accident in a public place call us free phone on 0800 612 7456 or complete an online form and we will call you back.