Have you been injured in an accident due to a wobbly paving slab?
Whether you tripped, slipped, or fell due to a wobbly paving slab, however minor or serious your injuries are, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. It may be that one of several organisations could potentially be liable for your accident. This could be either the local authority / local council, The Highways Agency, or a private landowner if it was a shop front or other places like that. For the majority of claims due to accidents of this nature, the local Council is the one to blame for not maintaining the land on which you had your accident.
How do I make a claim against my local council for my accident caused by a wobbly paving slab?
The fact that you had an accident due to a wobbly paving slab doesn’t necessarily mean you have a winning claim. However, if the paving slab was fully intact at the time of your accident but moved, dipped, or sank, it can be difficult to determine the existence of the defect if it is something that from the surface appears intact and safe.
If there was an obvious crack in the paving slab, splitting it up into more than one piece, then this defect may be more obvious to determine. Although the taxes you pay go towards funding the maintenance of the public highway, pursuing a claim against your local council can be a very tricky matter. Despite a local authority having the duty of maintaining a public highway, there are still ways in which they can defend themselves against such a defect.
Under the Highways Act 1980, a particular council or agency must prove that they have taken all reasonable steps possible to prevent the accident from occurring. One way for them to prove that they had taken all reasonable steps to keep the area safe would be to prove that regular inspections have taken place, and that they have adhered to them.
How can I prevent my local council from defending themselves against my accident due to their negligence?
Undeniably, this is a difficult matter. As mentioned above, councils have certain ways of denying liability to avoid paying out for your claim. To support your claim, possibly the best thing you could do is to take photographs of the defective paving slab from different angles, also ensuring that significant markers close by are present, so that the particular defect can easily be identified using your photographic evidence.
Google Street View may also be beneficial, and can be used to check whether the defect has been there for a long time. If possible, you may even be able to find out when the latest inspection had taken place. If not, gather as much information you can about your accident, and we can investigate it from there.
To find out if you can make a claim, call The Injury Lawyers now on 0800 634 75 75 for free no obligation advice on your accident.
