As a firm of lawyers who only represent victims for accident claims, we take on a significant amount of claims for personal injury compensation involving drain and manhole covers. It’s fairly obvious to see why – many covers don’t appear to be of sound constructions, and many are driven over day in and day out by vehicles.
It’s common for covers to become tripping hazards when they either come loose and protrude, or sink down and cause a lip. To the unsuspecting walker, tripping and landing hard on the ground can cause some serious injuries.
Your Rights
There are commonly two courses of action for this type of case – one against the local council or highways authority, and the other against a private company if the land is not public land. If its public land, the claim may be pursued down the route of the Highways Act 1980 which places a duty on councils and authorities to reasonably inspect and maintain land within their jurisdiction.
Although it may be classed as public land, the duty to actually inspect and maintain the cover may remain with whoever owns it – a utility company for example.
If the cover is on private land with free right of access to the public, like a shop car park for example, the claim is likely to fall under the Occupiers Liability Act which also requires the responsible persons to reasonably inspect and maintain their land.
Whether you can win a claim or not comes down to the individual circumstances of your case. If whoever is responsible has failed to properly inspect and maintain the cover, we will argue they have been negligent and must pay you compensation for your injuries.
For accidents at work, the common regulation that your employer must abide by is The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, Regulation 12 which covers the condition of floors and traffic routes.
As lawyers, it’s our job to fight for your rights to claim. In these circumstances the Defendant can be quick to dispute liability for a case so it’s important you instruct an expert law firm like us to fight for your case. We also offer 100% compensation in these types of cases as well.
Making a Claim
It’s helpful, if you can, to take photos of the tripping hazard showing measurements of the depth of the lip, and some of the general locus of the area to help the defect to be easily identifiable. Make sure you have had some form of medical attention as well, as this can help us with evidence for your case.
Call us now on 0800 634 75 75 for help and advice.
