Whilst difficult to spot at the best of times, potholes can be seen and often dodged, as can raised or sunken paving slabs. But one of the worst forms of defects that are well known for being more difficult to spot is raises or sunken sections in the tarmac or concrete.
Raises or sunken sections can be caused by a number of things – tree roots under the surface lifting the ground up, or defects under ground causing the concrete to lower and sink. But what are your rights for making a claim in these kinds of scenarios?
As with any defect claim against a local highways agency or council , it’s all down to reasonable knowledge of a defect and what steps have been taken by those responsible to prevent an incident occurring. Over time, many things can result in raised or sunken tarmac which is hard to spot and can easily pose a tripping hazard.
But just because you trip on such a defect doesn’t mean you are instantly entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.
The Law
The Highways Act 1980 imposes a duty on the body responsible to ensure they have a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance to spot hazards and rectify them in good time. In addition, if a defect is reported, they must act on the information within a reasonable timeframe to rectify or make safe the area.
This is achieved through ensuring that:
- Roads and paths are inspected at regular intervals; the length of time between inspections often being determined by how busy or well used an area is (i.e. busier roads are inspected more frequently than country roads for example)
- Making safe or repairing a defect within a reasonable timeframe, which is often suggested to be no longer than 8 weeks
As such, the issue is this – they have a special defence under Section 58 of The Highways Act that basically allows them to escape liability if they can prove that they have kept to a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance and show that they had no lengthy knowledge (or no knowledge at all) of the defect.
So to win a claim, we need to prove that:
- The defect has been there for longer than their last inspection – e.g. it was missed, for example
- The system of inspection is flawed in that it is not thorough enough or not frequent enough
- The defect has been reported for, say, longer than 8 weeks and nothing has been done about it
As well as that, we must prove that the defect is what is classed as reasonably dangerous enough. Normally this is dictated based on the size of the defect, and the generally accepted rule is the ‘one inch rule’ – which basically means that any defect of less than an inch in height or depth can make it harder to win a claim.
So there are a few hurdles in place when it comes to pursuing a claim, and it’s therefore always best to act quickly in getting a lawyer to assist with a compensation claim.
For help and advice, call us on 0800 634 75 75 – and take heed of the following steps you can take to help yourself stand a better chance at winning the case:
- Take plenty of photos of the defect, including some showing measurements of depth or height, and from varying views to show the local area as well
- Either with the use of the photos or with a sketch plan or Google Map, have a way of confirming the precise location of the defect (label landmark like nearby shops or streetlight numbers can help)
- Seek medical attention as soon as you can
- Speak to us before you speak to the council and report it!
