Suing the council over slippery pavement

[Mr $quandaŁot]

On Christmas Eve I fell on Victoria Street, Glossop due to slippery surface. This was obviously caused by rain.

I have looked further into this. There have been quite a few issues with the type of tiling used in town centre. It looks like the council is more concerned about cosmetics than safety!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....slip-up-883293

What would happen if I decided to sue High Peak / Derbyshire County Council as litigant in person?

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Further, I hit my head and was helped by some good samaritans who took me to Wetherspoons next door. The staff put a bandage over my head to stop bleeding and called paramedics.

I was taken to Tameside Hospital where I had to wait about two hours for treatment. I was lucky as I only required clue to my wound and a tetanus injection.

It could have been so much worse. Does someone have to get seriously injured or die before something is done about this?

[Openlaw15]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

suing a council in person..is very unlikely to win. What type of injuries do you have.. you can't just sue because you slipped. Details please.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

You can only sue for actual losses - ie personal injury of some type - did you just bang or graze your head? Were there any warning signs of slippery surface...what about your footwear, could they have made things worse. Have many persons tripped in this area?

[Celestine]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

You can sue a council. But no need to do it as a litigant in person frankly.

In the article you linked to, it seems a local solicitor has seen '50 complaints' about slipping on this pavement. I'd give his firm a call in the New Year and see if any other cases have had success.

If you do decide to proceed, use a firm of solicitors who offer personal injury. If you have a valid claim they will act for you using a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee). so there is no need to risk court alone, a decent solicitor will be able to negotiate an out of court settlement. Your footwear is utterly irrelevant by the way, the pavement should be fit for any 'normal' footwear and given the sheer volume of complaints, it does seem that the council should have tested their new surface way before it was laid, not 9 months afterwards.
As you bumped your head which required gluing, you won't be in line for a huge amount, but it was a nasty experience for you in the lead up to Christmas and you should receive something.
If the solicitors firm don't agree you have a claim, I'd be minded to take their advice, but come back here and ask if you have any issues.

I hope you're feeling better soon xxx

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

No warning signs whatsoever.

I hit my head and may have a permanent scar.

Not sure about my shoes. They were Timberlands, designed to deal with situations in tough conditions but years old (but only worn occasionally).

Sick and tired of this clear cost cutting and negligence going around!

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Thank you Cel.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

have you approached a no win, no fee solicitor? It just depends whether your scar will be permanent or not. It's hard to value injuries unless they're obvious like broken leg, lost limb, paralysed etc. The council like have a duty to warn the public of danger, and may have breached this duty..but there must be some form of quantifiable loss. You could potentially claim for pain/ suffering too.. but it's normally on top not instead of a main claim.

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Sometimes I feel that things are only taken seriously when you complain to the EU authorities. No wonder IDS and some others are rather desperate to get out!

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Unfortunately I'm almost at the end of my tether with living in this country

There seems to be one thing after another.

If you ask why I'm still here, believe me I've been contemplating alternatives.

When I moved to Glossop a month ago, I kind of instantly felt like I'd found my home.

However, I later discovered that my local council obviously had some issues. It's unclear when the rubbish is collected to start with. State of some streets and pavements is unacceptable.

But what can I do?

[Celestine]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

I have a confession to make....... please don't judge me!

I worked for my local council for 5 years before thankfully moving into full time proper legal practice.

So when you slip on a broken paving slab for example, you only have a claim IF the council had received PREVIOUS complaints/reports and not acted on them, otherwise no claim. But this does not apply in your situation....it sounds like the whole pavement is dangerous AND they know it.

On the other hand, when they have to rip it up and replace, it will come out of local taxpayers money GRRRR!

The tip is to be a royal pain in the ass. Email the Chief Exec, email your Councillors, complain, complain, complain basically.

It shouldn't be that way round but honestly, where in the world is any better? I'm not saying UK is good, far from it, but the same rule seems to apply world wide, be a pain in the ass to get results mate. xx

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

I'm sick and tired of certain fob off sentences such as 'Thank you for bringing this to our attention. we've seen no evidence of any negligence...'

In smaller countries, councillors and even MPs are more concerned about not getting re-elected, hence trying to do something about keeping their voters happy.

Let's see how it goes.

[smallclaimsassistance]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Hi

Until last year I was a partner in a PI firm. The recent changes in PI (only a few!) persuaded me that I needed to get myself a different life, so I now do consumer and small business work.

The point is, I have run a practice running these cases for years, and I'm sorry to say that I cannot see you even getting off base 1.

The relevant law with your case should be the Highways Act (1980). I say "should be", because it would only be relevant if you could establish that there is or was something fundamentally unsuitable with the surface of the slabs on which you slipped (the Highways Act relates to the surface of the road, not substances on it). The chances of you doing that 3 years ago with the law as it stood then would have been slim - courts have always disliked such cases - but you may have been able to achieve it, with a suitable slip resistance report from a qualified expert (I would add that such expert evidence would not be necessary in all highways cases, but would be essential with the facts you relate).

Post LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) - implemented April 2013 - I cannot see a solicitor taking this on, and even if they do, you would very likely lose, for the simple reason that a court would in all probability not permit you to obtain the slip resistance evidence that you would need to win, for reasons of proportionality (see Civil Procedure Rule 1.1, and in fact this principle is embedded throughout the rules, and has been since April 2013). I have seen good cases tried since April 2013 fail, because judges, following the new rules, have ruled that claimants cannot use expert evidence because the claim is "not worth it" - effectively, disproportionate. The same cases may have succeeded before, but not with the new rules.

If you do not have evidence to prove that the surface was inherently unsound and unsuitable for the traffic it carried (and witness evidence would not alone suffice - it would have to be expert), you're left with negligence, and rain, outside, on a slab......you can probably see where this is going.

Dean

[enaid]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Not related to this incident, my daughters PA tripped over a flag stone that was raised, just outside her home. She had a serious injury to her ankle (12 months ago) had an operation a few weeks ago on the same injury. She went to a solicitor taking photo evidence etc.
When put before the council they did admit liability but there was a get out clause that because work had been going on in her street the flag could have been raised by heavy lorries and that then was not down to them.
I did say she should persevere but some folks wont, still think it's awful, as she has really suffered and also lost wages over this.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Suing the council over slippery pavement

Not related to this incident, my daughters PA tripped over a flag stone that was raised, just outside her home. She had a serious injury to her ankle (12 months ago) had an operation a few weeks ago on the same injury. She went to a solicitor taking photo evidence etc.
When put before the council they did admit liability but there was a get out clause that because work had been going on in her street the flag could have been raised by heavy lorries and that then was not down to them.
I did say she should persevere but some folks wont, still think it's awful, as she has really suffered and also lost wages over this.

Lorries drive on roads and do not venture anywhere near the kerbs unless the drivers are drunk or playing kerby. If anything heavy goods vehicles if they were driven over pavement flags would not cause them to rise as they're flat and levelled before laying them. Think of all the heavy goods deliveries where HGVs deliver to off road stores, where they have to drive over pavement to deliver goods to supermarkets. Heavy Goods Vehicles (LGVs) do not mount the kerbs anyway unless the road is very narrow but very unlikely to cause disturbance in pavement flags, for said reasons. For tort (personal injury claims etc), the defendant has a part defence if causation cannot be proved (ie link of causation). If causation were proven by the claimant then the council cannot just wriggle out of liability Is that a get out clause?