How Much Can I Claim For A Sports Centre Injury?

In this guide, we will discuss the process of starting a public liability claim for a sports centre injury. The person in control of a public place has a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA) to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to the space. If they breach this duty and, as a result, you are caused harm; you could be eligible to make a claim.  

Various potential accidents could happen in a public space. An injury you could sustain may range from mild cuts and bruises to severe and life-changing injuries such as brain damage. These injuries could have significant effects on your quality of life. 

As you move throughout this guide, you will find information on the evidence you could provide to strengthen a claim and how much compensation you could be eligible to receive. Furthermore, we will explain the benefits of working with a personal injury solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement.

You can also contact our team at Personal Injury Claims UK for free and confidential legal advice. Our team of advisors are experienced in handling personal injury claims for an accident in a public place. They can provide a free assessment of your case to offer insight into whether you may have valid grounds to make a claim.    

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Sports centre injury claims guide

Choose A Section

  1. Can I Claim For A Sports Centre Injury? – A Guide
  2. When Am I Eligible To Claim For A Sports Centre Injury?
  3. What Compensation Could I Receive From An Accident In A Public Place?
  4. What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For A Sports Centre Injury?
  5. Could Our Panel Of No Win No Fee Lawyers Help You Claim?
  6. Learn More About Payouts For Personal Injury Claims

Can I Claim For A Sports Centre Injury? – A Guide

If you have suffered a sports centre injury, certain criteria must be met in order for you to be eligible to claim compensation. The following must be true in all valid personal injury claims: 

  • Firstly, a person in control of a public place owed you a duty of care.
  • Then, they breached this duty of care causing you to have an accident. 
  • As a result of this, you are psychologically or physically injured. 

Therefore, not all accidents lead to a personal injury claim, as there is also a responsibility upon you to act responsibly in public. The person in control of a public space must be responsible for your injuries in order for you to be able to claim.  

Also, you must adhere to the relevant time limits laid out by the Limitation Act 1980. This states that you have three years from the date of the accident or the date that you learned of the connection between negligence and your injuries in order for you to begin a personal injury claim.

There are some exceptions to these time limits. To learn about these exceptions and how whether one could apply to your claim, please speak to a member of our team. 

When Am I Eligible To Claim For A Sports Centre Injury?

Under OLA, certain responsibilities must be carried out by the person in control of a public place. These include carrying out maintenance and repairs within the correct time frame, performing regular risk assessments and ensuring that any hazards to health are signposted if they cannot be removed If they do not carry out these responsibilities, it could cause you to be injured.

For example: 

  • There is a spill on the floor in a sports centre that has been reported but has not been cleaned up or signposted. This leads to you being injured in a slip, trip or fall accident, where you sustain a head injury.
  • The handrail on the stairs in a sports centre has broken off. This had not been signposted or repaired within a reasonable time frame, resulting in you sustaining an injury.  
  • A piece of gym equipment is known to be broken, but a member of staff fails to put up a sign alerting users of this. As a result, you use the faulty equipment and sustain a hand injury and a finger injury.

Please contact our advisors to learn whether you could make a valid personal injury claim for your sports centre injury. 

What Compensation Could I Receive From An Accident In A Public Place?

There are two potential heads of a successful personal injury claim in a public place: general damages and special damages. 

  • General damages – relate to the psychological and physical pain and suffering caused by your injuries. This considers the impact the injury has had on your quality of life. 
  • Special damages – compensate you for any monetary losses you have suffered as a result of your injuries.   

As a guide to potential compensation brackets for different injuries under general damages, we have used the Judicial College guidelines (JCG), updated in April 2022, to create the table below. Personal injury solicitors can also use this document to help them value settlements for public liability claims. 

Injury Notes Compensation Brackets
Moderately Severe Injury Resulting from Brain Damage (b)The person will be very seriously disabled. They will substantially depend on others and need constant care. £219,070 - £282,010
Severe Neck Injury (a)(ii)The person will have an injury commonly involving serious damage or fractures to discs in the cervical spine. This will give rise to disabilities of considerable severity. £65,740 - £130,930
Moderate Neck Injury (b)(i) The person will have an injury, such as a fracture or dislocation, resulting in severe immediate symptoms and potentially necessitating spinal fusion. £24,990 - £38,490
Severe Back Injury (a)(iii) Within this bracket, there will be instances of soft tissue injuries, disc lesions or fractures of discs or of vertebral bodies resulting in chronic conditions where, despite getting treatment, disabilities will remain, such as impaired agility. £38,780 - £69,730
Arm Injuries (b)The injury will cause the person to be permanently and substantially disabled. For example, they will have serious fractures to one or both of their forearms. £39,170 - £59,860
Elbow Injury (a)The injury will be severely disabling. £39,170 - £54,830
Moderate Injury to the Pelvis and Hips (b)(i)The person will have sustained a significant hip or pelvis injury, but any permanent disability will not be major, and any future risks are not great. £26,590 - £39,170
Wrist Injury (b)The person will have an injury that results in a significant disability of a permanent nature. Some useful movement will remain. £24,500 - £39,170
Moderate Ankle Injury (c)Injuries within this bracket include ligamentous tears and fractures that give rise to less serious disabilities, for example, difficulty walking on uneven ground. £13,740 - £26,590
Moderate Shoulder Injury (c) Within this bracket, there will be soft tissue injuries, with symptoms that persist after two years but aren't permanent and are considered more than minimal. Also, the person may have a frozen shoulder with discomfort and limitation of movement with symptoms that persist for around 2 years.£7,890 - £12,770

Please consider these figures as a guide, not an exact representation of the amount you will be awarded. 

Special Damages In A Personal Injury Claim

In the event of a successful personal injury claim, you could also be eligible to receive compensation under special damages. This covers financial losses caused by your injuries, such as: 

  • Travel expenses
  • Care costs
  • Housing alterations that you need to cope with your injuries 
  • Loss of income

You must provide evidence to claim monetary losses, such as receipts, invoices and payslips. Please contact one of our advisors to discuss how much compensation you could be eligible to receive for a sports centre injury claim. 

What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For A Sports Centre Injury?

You may wonder, ‘what is involved in the personal injury claims process?’ Following an accident in a sports centre, you should seek immediate medical attention; not only could this be life-saving and give you the best chance of recovery, but it could also provide useful evidence for your claim.

The next action we advise that you take is to collect proof of the negligence that caused your injuries. This may include: 

  • CCTV footage – showing the accident. 
  • Photographic evidence – showing the scene of the accident and any physical injuries you suffered.
  • Witness contact details – so that a statement can be taken at a later date. 
  • Medical records – detailing your injuries and any treatment.

Additionally, we recommend that you seek expert legal advice. Our advisors can offer further insight into the evidence you could use to prove that negligence caused your sports centre injury. 

Could Our Panel Of No Win No Fee Lawyers Help You Claim?

Our advisors can assess your case, and should they find that you may have valid grounds to make a claim, they could place you in contact with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel. Using a solicitor under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee agreement, can provide the following benefits:  

  • You will not generally be expected to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for the services of a solicitor. 
  • Additionally, you will commonly not pay for these services if your claim is unsuccessful.
  • Alternatively, if your claim does resolve successfully, a solicitor under a CFA will deduct a small percentage of the compensation. The law caps this success fee. Therefore, you will not be overcharged, and any expenses will be discussed before entering into the agreement. 

Contact Us For Free To See If You Can Claim For Negligence

Speak to a member of our team to find out whether you could be eligible to start a sports centre injury claim today. Our advisors are available 24/7 to offer advice that is both free and confidential. Therefore, you can contact us at any time that suits you. 

Please:

Learn More About Payouts For Personal Injury Claims

Please explore additional personal injury guides on our website: 

Also, take a look at some of the external sources below:

Thank you for reading this guide to making a public liability claim for a sports centre injury. 

Writer Jess Oliphant

Publisher Fern Stewart