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I’m not kidding when I tell you that it’s genuinely quite scary that we take on such a huge volume of claims for personal injury compensation caused by people falling and tripping on defective or missing manhole covers. Personally I don’t walk over them in the street. I’m not superstitious – I’ve just seen the extent of the damage that can be caused.

If you are injured because of a missing or defective manhole cover, you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. But what about if the manhole cover is on your own property? Can you still make a claim? It all comes down to the circumstances, notice to those responsible, and the duty that is in place to make sure the area is safe.

Rented Property

Starting with a rented property, it’s normally the case that the duty to ensure that the cover is safe will fall with your landlord. They normally have the overriding duty to make sure that the premises is, from a structural perspective, safe to use. So if you injured yourself due to a defective or missing manhole cover on a rented property, you will normally pursue your landlord.
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Even if you have been lucky enough to never have been involved in an accident, you might still get calls and texts from companies claiming that they have now valued your claim and they can tell you exactly how much your claim is worth. But it’s generally worse after you have had an accident because somehow your information gets passed around.

It’s a lucrative business and there are claims management firms and lawyers out there who will not leave you alone until you use their services. They will call, and call, and call, and call, and call, and call etc. Our advice about this is simple – don’t panic, and just ignore them, and block their numbers.

How they get your information

It can be from anywhere. You may have used an online calculator to see how much your claim is worth. All it takes is a name and a phone number and you’re on their system. Perhaps you called a company to ask for some advice and they traced your number and they have passed your details around as well.
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When it comes to settling your claim for personal injury compensation, there are always two pieces of vital advice that we give to people:

1: Dealing with the insurers directly is dangerous and you risk under settling your claim.
2: The first offer that the insurers make will almost certainly be less than what you are owed.

Insurers are, ultimately, private profit making organisations whose duty is to their shareholders. To keep their shareholders happy, they must keep their profit margins high to allow their shareholders to get a good return on their investment. To maintain high profit margins, they have to keep costs down. And the way they keep costs down is by keeping payout amounts to a minimum.
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Contact dermatitis is something that is often suffered by professionals, such as hairdressers, as with the nature of their job, they are required to use their hands all day every day, and are required to come into contact with strong substances such as hair dye and bleach. Therefore, although this blog may seem steered predominantly towards hairdressers, anyone that is required to have their hands in contact with a substance for a pro-longed amount of time may end up suffering with the injury.

So what is contact dermatitis?

Contact dermatitis is a type of eczema that can cause red, itchy and scaly skin, and sometimes burning and stinging. It can lead to your skin becoming blistered, dry and cracked. Of course not a particularly pleasant thing to be suffering from.
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Commonly a manhole cover accident may occur due to the manhole being uncovered, or by the cover being unsecured or damaged.

It may not always be clear who the manhole cover is owned by.  Manhole covers can be owned by local councils, water boards, electricity companies, gas boards and many other type of similar company. Each one of these companies and boards have a duty to protect you from harm, as far as is ‘reasonably practical‘ under S41 of The Highways Act 1980 and under the general scope of the Occupiers Liability Act.

There may be a system of inspection in place by the council or company that owns it to ensure that the manhole cover is maintained and is safe. Inspections may check for any defects and ensure that regular maintenance is carried out. If there are any complaints made about the manhole covers, there is a duty to investigate and to ensure that the defect is rectified.
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The Pre-Action Protocol for Employers’ Liability (EL) and Public Liability (PL) claims was brought into force on 31^st July 2013 and applies to most employer and public liability cases which are valued between £1,000 and £25,000.

What the Protocol aims to Achieve

The Protocol goes into detail about what the court would expect the parties to do before the need to commence court proceedings. The Protocol ensures that the damages for easily resolvable claims are paid within a reasonable time. This avoids a lengthy waiting time to be compensated.
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Slips and Trips are common on a night out, usually caused by spilt drink, broken glass or loose carpets, which lead to both minor and major injuries.

Nightclubs and bars are obviously open to the public, and therefore give permission to the customers to be on the premises. As a result of this, a club or bar owe a duty of care to all its customers and therefore must ensure all reasonable steps have been taken to remove or minimise all potential hazards.

A busy nightclub or bar should have procedures in place to ensure that premises are kept safe. Any bar should have an inspection and cleaning procedure in place to ensure that premises are cleaned regularly, and that no spillages or breakages are left to become a hazard.
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Dermabrasion is the act of wearing away the top layer of skin with devices and methods such as wire brushes or salt crystals. This procedure is usually performed under a local anaesthetic and as it is quite invasive and should always be performed by a medical professional. Please note that dermabrasion is different to micro-dermabrasion which is a procedure that can be carried out by non-professionals and is often the type of treatment that is offered in local salons, for example.

Dermabrasion can leave the skin looking bright red, sensitive to sunlight and sometimes leave small scarring as essentially you are removing the top layer of skin. These are common and inherent risks with the surgery – as with all surgical intervention, they come with risks! This can be with the actual treatment or the anaesthesia that is used to perform the surgery. This can become a problem when looking to make a claim for compensation – if your injury is classed as an inherent risk rather than something that was caused by negligence you may not be able to claim at all.
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Ladder accidents result in around 14 fatalities and 1,200 major injuries in the UK each year. It is the duty of your employer to ensure that Ladders must be kept well maintained and must be replaced when damaged.

Accidents can occur due to the employee been given the wrong type of ladder to complete a task. Employers must provide employees with the correct type of ladder with regards to the task in hand, with employees being fully trained and instructed on how to use them. The employee must be able to make an informed decision about the correct ladder to use.

Risk assessments must be carried out regularly, by employers, to assess the risk of falling and the safety of the ladder. The ladder must be inspected for any defects and the employer must ensure that the ladder is fully fit for use. The ladder must not be dented or damaged in anyway, nor should the rubber feet be missing or damaged.
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Chair accidents are common in pubs, restaurants and cafes.  Chair accidents can happen for a number of reasons like a broken or faulty chair leg, chair backs being damaged or loose, chairs collapsing or something sticking out of the chair which shouldn’t be there.

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, it is the duty of the occupier to make sure that the chair is safe for use and is free of defects. An occupier is normally the owner of the premises, and as such it is their responsibility to take all reasonable steps to prevent injury to any visitors to their premises. If an owner fails to meet this duty they could be considered negligent, and you may be able to claim for compensation.

Those with a duty have a legal responsibility, and therefore any chairs must be regularly inspected and maintained in order to prevent an accident happening. An inspection must make sure that a chair is stable, and has no present breaks or defects. Records should be kept.
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