A scary statistic right here from The Injury Lawyers HQ is that we take on a lot of claims for personal injury compensation where people been the victim of a defective or missing manhole / utility hole cover. In fact, I refuse to walk over them; not out of superstition but because of just how many cases we take on involving covers breaking and / or collapsing inwards.
It can be a real fight to win claims for manhole cover compensation, but with The Injury lawyers on your side, you’ve got the best guys possible fighting your corner.
We are pleased to have recently settled a claim for one of our manhole cover victims after she was injured when she fell through a loose and unstable utility cover. Thankfully she escaped with only minor soft tissue injuries and cuts to her body, but after a battle against the Defendants who tried to avoid paying out, we are pleased to have obtained her an award of just under £3,000.
As is common in these sorts of claims, the council who we initially sued redirected us to the apparent owners of the utility hole. They eventually accepted liability on the condition that our client was partially responsible, which in cases like this is very common. They did however suggest a higher proportion than we were comfortable with and we negotiated a more sensible reflection of how the accident had occurred.
Whilst our client was lucky here to have escaped with just minor soft tissue damage and cuts, many manhole accident victims are not so lucky. The mere thought of discussing these sorts of injuries makes me personally feel uneasy – but you can easily badly break (or, here comes the really queasy part – ‘snap’) bones due to the impact of such a fall.
The depth of the hole can lead to worse injuries as well and head injuries are not uncommon when it comes to anyone who has fallen and landed on the ground hard.
Have you been the victim of a manhole cover accident?
Whether the cover has broken, slipped, or moved as you have stepped on it – or where the cover is missing – you have the right to pursue a claim for personal injury compensation.
We’re real lawyers and you can speak to our expert legal team and personal injury solicitors by calling our claims helpline 0800 634 7575.