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If you live in a rented premises, either directly with a landlord or through an agent, there are certain responsibilities that the landlord or agent must take to make sure you are safe in the rented property. Usually the contract will specify what in the house is the responsibility of the landlord, and what is yours.

So if something goes wrong and you are injured, do you have a claim for compensation? Well the first question to ask is: is the landlord or agent legitimately at fault? Were you injured because of something the landlord or agent failed to do, or didn’t do properly? Whether you have a claim or not can come down to whether the landlord ought to have taken reasonable action.

For example, if you have just moved in to a new property and you slip because of a leak in the kitchen, or stumble and fall because of a loose stepping stone outside you may have a claim. The landlord has an important duty make sure a tenant moving in to a new premises is not at risk of injury. They should have inspected the premises to make sure any hazards were rectified before you move in, or at the very least inform you of them and confirm when reparations can be made.
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We take on a lot of claims for people who have tripped up whilst out and about. It’s fairly common for people to ring us up and ask for our help because they have tripped over a raised drain or manhole. The injuries can be devastating – in the majority of occasions you land on a hard floor and end up fracturing something.

Because fractures are typically fairly serious, most people end up facing time off work and therefore lost earnings, a serious lack of mobility means you need lots of help around the house, and a stint of physiotherapy. It’s a serious enough situation to be in to warrant making a claim.

The big question is, as always – do you have a claim?
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Tripping over can result in some serious injuries – especially on hard flooring. I know most of us like to have a little laugh when we see someone trip over, and any slapstick British comedy involving people tripping up is funny to watch. But when it happens to you and you’re injured as a result, it isn’t so funny.

For this blog, I’m going to talk to you about tripping over due to broken tiles.

Broken tiles can be obvious tripping hazards. Commonly the tile, or a section of the broken tile, may be raised due to it being broken and loose. You may be unaware that the tile is broken until you step on it when it rises, which again can cause someone to trip over.

So if this happens to you, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?
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We take on a lot of claims involving accidents in and around swimming pools. The combination of water and a hard surface can usually lead to people suffering some potentially serious injuries. Fractures are extremely common in these sorts of circumstances.

So if you do have an accident involving a swimming pool, can you claim, and who is responsible?

Generally speaking these claims fall within the realm of the Occupiers Liability Act. This stipulates that the occupier of a premises has an underlying duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent injury from occurring on the premises they are in control of. So if it is a swimming pool in a leisure centre, then the owners of the leisure centre have the responsibility. If it’s in a hotel, then the hotel owners have the responsibility.

Slipping is an obvious hazard. It’s difficult to control this kind of thing given that water is bound to end up on the floor nearby a pool. Normally signs will be deployed to warn people of the danger of slipping and to warn people never to run. Mats could be used between doorways (say between the changing rooms and the pool area) to also help combat the problem. If you slip over in a swimming pool , whether you have a claim or not boils down to whether the owners can prove they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent the accident. To win a claim, we still must prove negligence and breach of law.
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Given how difficult it is to secure a mortgage in this tremendous credit crunch we’ve been suffering from for what feels like an eternity, a lot of people nowadays, particularly the younger generations, are renting. Granted, when you think about it, it’s kind of a waste of money as your hard earned cash isn’t being invested in anything. But there are a few bonuses to the renting game.

When you rent, the responsibility for a lot of factors to do with the property fall on your landlord. Whilst it is probably part of the agreed terms in your contract that you are responsible for the upkeep of furniture and certain fittings, things like utilities comes down to your landlord (aside from paying for them!)

This means that there is a duty on your landlord to PAT test any portable electrical items that come as part of the agreed let, and sockets, fuses, generators, and anything else electrical related falls within their responsibility. It’s prudent for your landlord to therefore have a system of inspection and maintenance in place. This can be a simple callout on a regular enough basis for an electrician to come out and inspect the premises.
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Package holidays are fairly common nowadays. Who wouldn’t want to just pay a single fee for an all inclusive stress free holiday, where you don’t have to worry about booking the hotel, flights, transport, and other things separately. It saves a lot of time.

However there is also another benefit to booking an all inclusive visit abroad – you may be afforded the protection of the Package Tour Regulations in the event something goes wrong.

Under the Package Tour Regulations, if you have an accident abroad, you may have a claim against the package provider. The general prerequisites are that:
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These types of claims would have been quite uncommon a few years ago, but nowadays with the rich and famous openly admitting to have hair transplants, it appears that everyone wants perfect hair. However, as this procedure is relatively new it also means that a lot can possibly go wrong and consequently result in unfortunate injuries or adverse affects.

There are three main ways that a hair transplant can be done, which are:

• Follicular Unit Transplantation – this is where a strip of skin is transplanted from where hair grows.
• Follicular Unit Extraction – this is where hairs are “punched” into the scalp
• Artificial Transplant – this is where synthetic fibres as opposed to organic hair sourced from the scalp is “punched” in.

All three procedures come with inherent risks (as with any cosmetic procedure) and therefore all three can lead to a potential personal injury.
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We often like to follow the trends of our American friends across the pond. They’re huge on shopping malls with everything you need under one roof, and that trend is somewhat catching on over here. I live in Derby and a few years ago, what was the Eagle Shopping Centre was transformed in to one huge Westfield shopping centre with pretty much everything all under one roof!

Personally, I like it – because in winter you don’t have to worry about being cold when shopping! But with such a huge building with a variety of outlets, and with the place being packed with shoppers rushing around, accidents can easily occur. A child drops his ice cream, and someone slips on the remains. A gherkin drops out of a burger, and an innocent old age pensioner ends up slipping on it. Because accidents can easily occur, those in charge of shopping centres need to be on the ball for keeping people safe.

If you have slipped or tripped in a shopping centre due to a hazard that was not cleared, cordoned off, you may have a claim under the Occupiers Liability Act. Under this important piece of legislation, whoever is in charge of the centre must take all reasonable steps to prevent an accident from occurring. Commonly, these are:
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Generally speaking, someone or some company is responsible for a pipe (I would have thought!). If it’s manmade, it’s been fitted by someone and is someone’s responsibility! So a pipe shouldn’t be allowed to leak and cause a potential hazard. Rather obviously if the pipe is carrying water or any other liquid, a slipping hazard can result.

If it’s at work, workplace regulations apply. Your employer has an important duty to keep you safe at work , so traffic routes should not be hazardous. If water is allowed to accumulate due to a leaking pipe, and a slipping hazard is caused, this is a failure on your employer’s part to keep the traffic routes and your welfare safe at work. As soon as your employer is aware of the problem and the hazard, the problem needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

If it isn’t at work, then whoever is responsible for a premises or the pipe that is causing the hazard has the duty to rectify it immediately. If it’s in a shop or a public premises, the Occupiers Liability Act should apply which means that the person or company in charge of the premises has the duty to sort it out. The area beneath the pip can be cordoned off so there is at least no slipping hazard.
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We live in an age where beauty is everything. We’re all concerned about how we look, and most people in modern society today follow the latest trends, fashions, and are out to look as good as they can. It’s no surprise therefore that more and more people are turning to cosmetic surgery to achieve this. It’s a common thing nowadays for people to nip down to their local clinic for a bit of Botox or a tummy tuck.

But it isn’t just the little things we’re doing to ourselves. A huge amount of celebrities have had facelifts, nose jobs, boob jobs, and all sorts. The private clinics are (I imagine) making huge amounts of money from the people who will go to any lengths to look as good as they can. As with most things like this in life, with an increase in private surgery comes the obvious increase in people making personal injury claims for surgery gone wrong!

A classic example is those who choose to have their surgery abroad. Whilst people are happy to pay to look good, we’re still in financial meltdown with the ongoing recession and no signs of recovery. My understanding of cosmetic surgery is that it isn’t exactly cheap to have! So people are often tempted to go abroad where they can get a deal at a lower price. But naturally people need to be careful about this kind of thing, as you have to ask yourself why the surgery is cheaper abroad. How can you be confident that the quality of the surgeon is going to be as good? How can you be confident that the regulations over in foreign countries is as good? Ultimately, you can’t.
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