There has to be something wrong with the steps for you to be able to make a claim. There has to be negligence and someone has to be liable. To coin a common phrase, where there is blame, there may be a claim.
So here are a couple of examples where you may be able to make a personal injury compensation claim for tripping on dangerous steps.
Broken Steps
If steps are broken and you trip or fall as a result, whoever is responsible for the maintenance of the steps may be liable to compensate you. Whether they are liable or not could come down to what kind of notice they had about the damage, or whether they have a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance to stop a hazard arising.
If it is the council, the claim could be difficult because the duty they have is to have a reasonable system of inspection or maintenance. If it’s a landlord, it could come down more to what notice they had of a problem. If you had reported it and they failed to act on it, there may be a liability. If it’s at work, it comes down to the workplace traffic route regulations.
Loose Steps
This is similar to the above. There is a duty, and it will commonly come down to notice and inspection regimes. If a step is loose and wobbles whilst you are on it, causing a trip or a fall, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
Steep Steps
If steps are steep to an excessive degree that they pose a danger, we would need to win the argument that the steps are dangerous by design. This isn’t easy, but there can be other factors to take in to account like who uses the steps, for example. If the steps lead to an elderly persons residence, steep steps could be a serious danger.
Handrails also come in to play here. More so on employers and landlords, there is a duty to provide handrails to ensure safe passage up and down steps. If they are not provided and you fall, and a handrail could have prevented the fall or prevented a more serious injury, there may be a claim to answer for.
The prospects of success for your claim generally depend on who has the responsibility. Give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 and we will see if we can help you out.