So can you make a claim for personal injury compensation for tripping on a dangerously raised edge? To make this easier, I’ll split this article in to two parts: raised edges on public land which would be against the council or highways authority, and raised edges on private ground where you have access to, like a supermarket.
Council Claims
So you trip on a raised edge and you want to claim compensation – what are your rights?
A claim that falls under the Highways Act 1980 has two primary hurdles – Section 41, and Section 58 of this act. Section 41 states that the council only have to take action of the “defect” or “hazard” is classed as a foreseeable danger. So a raised edge at the side of a path or side of a road may not be classed as dangerous. It may just be a general boundary edging or something like that.
The onus is on you as the victim to prove that this raised edge was a foreseeable danger, and with Judges disliking claims against public authorities due to being funded by the taxpayer in the best of times, alleging that a piece of raised edge should allow you compensation could prove difficult.
Section 58 means that they council must have a system of inspection and maintenance to show they have taken all reasonable steps to ensure no one is injured. If they can prove they have such a system, they can easily defend a claim if a raised edge has become a hazard overtime. Say a paving slab has sunken and caused an edge for example.
Whilst I hate to be the bearer of bad news, a claim under the Highways Act 1980 is inherently difficult!
Other Claims
The applicable law is normally the Occupiers Liability Act when it comes to claiming for personal injury compensation from a place like a shop or a restaurant. If, on their land, there is dangerously raised edging, you must still prove that this edging was a foreseeable risk. It can be easier in this kind of scenario than a claim against the council, but the onus is still on you as the victim.
If it has become dangerous overtime, then systems of inspection and maintenance are required to prove any kind of defence they may have. But the duty is generally higher as you’d expect staff to be frequenting areas of the land on a very regular basis and such hazards should be dealt with. It’s different with local highways authorities as you can’t expect a highways officer to be on every corner of every street 245 hours a day, 7 days a week!