So what happens if you trip and fall or stumble because of a pothole or a raised paving stone, or some other defect on the ground? Can you still make a claim for personal injury even if you were jogging or running at the time?
Your Rights
You can still make a claim for compensation, and it shouldn’t be held against you that you were running. You cannot be expected to watch your feet all of the time to avoid potential defects. If you did, you’re liable to run in to street furniture or other obstructions in the highway.
The duty is on whoever is responsible for the land where you fell. If it is public land maintained by the council or a local highways agency, the law that applies is normally the Highways Act 1980. Unfortunately, claiming for this is inherently difficult. The reason is that they have a special defence under Section 58 and Section 41 of the Act that they can use to defend the claim if they can prove that:
- They have adhered to a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance for the area where you fell; meaning the defect has arisen between inspection periods (Section 58).
- The defect is not classed as something dangerous enough to warrant action; irrelevant of the fact you fell (Section 41).
So how do we prove your case? Well we scrutinise any records that the other side disclose to us if they intend to defend the claim, and we can look at obtaining witness statements from local residents if there is a genuine argument that a defect has existed and not been dealt with. We can also look at Google Street view as the images are normally date stamped, and although the other side will often try and dispute the viability of using this as evidence, we have smashed apart defences in the past by showing that a defect has existed long before the insurers claim it has.
As for whether the defect is “dangerous enough” there is a rule of thumb we can use called “the one inch rule“, which means the prospects are better if a defect has a depth of at least one inch. If it doesn’t, they probably will try and defend the claim. But this isn’t a rule in law.
If the defect happens to be on private land, then the usual law is the Occupiers Liability Act and this imposes similar duties when it comes to reasonable systems of inspection and maintenance.
It’s important to make a claim in these kinds of scenarios because we find the injuries are usually quite bad – especially if you are running. So get in touch on 0800 634 75 75 for help and advice today.