If you’ve suffered an injury from an accident in a public place, you may want to know if you can receive compensation. This guide will explain the legal principles for making a claim and under what instances you may be able to receive compensation. Furthermore, it will clarify the types of evidence you need and the benefits of claiming under a No Win No Fee agreement.
Additionally, if you have any questions or queries, our team of advisors offer free legal advice 24/7. They can tell you if you’re eligible to claim and even provide you with a compensation estimate. Please bear in mind that you’re under no obligation to use the services of our panel should you contact us. However, if you have strong grounds for a claim, we can put you through to our specialised panel of No Win No Fee solicitors who can help you.
Please contact us using the details below.
- Call us using the phone number above.
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- Alternatively, please message us in our Live Chat window.
Read on to learn more about the types of accidents in a public place you may be able to claim for.
Select a Section
- What is an Accident In A Public Place?
- What Must I Prove As Part Of A Personal Injury Claim?
- Potential Locations Of An Accident In A Public Place
- Compensation Settlements For Accidents In Public Places
- No Win No Fee Claims – What Are The Benefits?
- Call Our Team About Claiming Compensation For An Accident In A Public Place
What Is An Accident In A Public Place?
Accidents in public places, such as a park or a petrol station, can have a significant impact on your quality of life. For example, you may be unable to work or suffer permanent health issues. You may also experience moderate injuries that require you to take leave from work for some time. This guide will illustrate the most important aspects of claiming for personal injury. It will also provide examples of the types of injuries you could suffer and what you need to prove in order to receive compensation.
You may be wondering, “what is a public injury?” There are many different locations where an accident in a public place can occur. Public locations can include:
- Parks and public squares
- Schools and nurseries
- Beaches
- Public libraries
- Shopping centres
An important aspect of claiming is confirming who the controller of the space is. If you’ve been injured in a public place, it’s important to identify the correct third party you should claim against. For instance, many parks are owned by the local council. Therefore, if you’ve been injured in a park, you may be claiming for compensation against the council.
The section below will clarify the legal principles behind claiming for an accident in a public place. However, if you prefer, you can contact a member of our team for free legal advice. They can tell you, in just one phone call, whether you’re eligible for compensation and can even put you through to a personal injury solicitor from our panel who could help. Contact our team at a time that works for you using the details above.
What Must I Prove As Part Of A Personal Injury Claim?
Every party in control of a public place has a duty of care. In England and Wales, this is defined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. The ‘occupier’ (controller) needs to ensure, within reason, that the space is safe and secure enough to be used by members of the public. Therefore, if you’re wanting to claim for a personal injury in a public place, the only way you can do this is by proving that it was caused by third-party negligence.
You may be wondering what is meant by negligence. For you to receive compensation, you need to prove the below three:
- Firstly, that the third party had a duty of care towards you.
- Secondly, that their actions or inaction resulted in a breach of duty.
- Lastly, that the breach of duty caused your injury.
To make a successful accident in a public place claim, you need to prove that your injury was primarily caused by the negligence of the owner or occupier.
Evidence is crucial in the personal injury claims process. As the person making a claim, the onus is on you to prove that negligence caused your injury. A solicitor can help you with this, however. Evidence you could use includes:
- CCTV footage
- Photographic evidence of your injury and the scene of the accident
- Medical records
- Witness statements
A specialised No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you gather evidence for a claim. This could improve your chances of receiving compensation. To learn more about this, please contact us at a time that works for you using the details above.
Potential Locations For Public Liability Accidents
An accident in a public place can cause many different types of injuries. The amount of compensation you could receive will depend on the nature of the injury and how negatively it has impacted your life. You may be wondering, “what are the types of accidents you can claim for?” Examples of potential accidents include:
- Falling down a flight of stairs due to a faulty handrail. This could lead to arm, elbow, hand or leg injuries, for example.
- Slipping on ice if pavement hasn’t been sufficiently gritted. You could suffer a serious back injury from this kind of fall, for example.
- Suffering a slip, trip or fall due to exposed wiring.
- Slipping due to the floor being wet with no warning signs present. Depending on how you fall, you could injure your hip, knee, leg or ankle.
- Hurting your shoulder or arm due to a faulty door slamming into you.
Accidents leading to compensation have one factor in common: there is a direct link between the third party’s actions and your injury. You would only be able to receive compensation by showing that the third party’s breach of duty led to your injury.
Compensation Settlements For Accidents In Public Places
The compensation you could receive for an accident in a public place can come from two separate heads of claim. General damages compensate you for the psychological and physical damage from the accident. Special damages, meanwhile, are regarding the financial losses suffered due to the accident.
Special damages include:
- Loss of earnings
- Travel costs
- Loss of future earnings
- Private healthcare costs that aren’t covered by the NHS
- Prescription costs
- Adjustments needed for your home
However, please remember that, if you don’t receive general damages compensation, you won’t receive any compensation for the claim. This is because, by not receiving it, it has been deemed that the owner or occupier was not liable for the injuries caused.
Aspects that could affect the amount you could receive include:
- The length of the recovery time
- Whether you’ve suffered one or multiple injuries
- The severity of the injury
- Whether there is any permanent damage
Work from the Judicial College can provide you with a better understanding of the amount of compensation for general damages you could receive. They analyse previous payouts, comparing them to the extent and potential effects of the injury. Through doing this, they’ve created compensation brackets which you can see below.
| Injury Type | Severity | Compensation Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | Moderately Severe | £17,900 to £51,460 | In this bracket, there will be severe issues to aspects like their ability to deal with life, work and education and how it negatively impacts relationships with family and friends. However, the prognosis will be more optimistic than in worse cases. |
| Neck | Severe (iii) | £42,680 to £52,540 | Injuries in this bracket include dislocations, fractures or soft tissue damage that results in significant and permanent disability. |
| Neck | Moderate (iii) | £7,410 to £12,900 | This bracket is for injuries that have led to an exacerbation or acceleration of a pre-existing medical condition over a shorter period of time, usually less than five years. |
| Back | Severe (ii) | £69,600 to £82,980 | Cases in this bracket have special features such as nerve root damage causing loss of sensation or bladder and bowel impairment. |
| Shoulder | Moderate | £7,410 to £11,980 | This bracket is for injuries such as frozen shoulder that causes discomfort and pain for around two years. |
| Knee | Severe (iii) | £24,580 to £40,770 | Injuries in this bracket cause continuing symptoms like discomfort, pain and movement limitation or instability that can lead to degenerative changes. |
| Ankle | Modest | Up to £12,900 | This bracket is for less serious, undisplaced or minor fractures, ligamentous injuries and sprains. |
| Foot | Serious | £23,460 to £36,790 | Injuries in this bracket can cause continuous pain from traumatic arthritis and risk the need for spinal fusion. |
| Hand | Serious | £27,220 to £58,100 | Injuries in this bracket can cause the hand to lose around 50% capacity. This can be caused by several fingers needing to be amputated, for instance. |
| Leg | Moderate | £26,050 to £36,790 | This bracket is for injuries such as severe crushing injuries, usually to a single limb, or multiple fractures. |
These figures are similar to ones you’ll find if you use a personal injury claims calculator. They give you a general idea of what you could receive if you want to claim compensation for a fall in a public place, for instance. However, please bear in mind that these are only estimates, not guarantees.
Our advisors can provide you with a more accurate, free estimate. If you’d like one, please contact us by using the contact information above.
No Win No Fee Claims – What Are The Benefits?
If you’ve suffered an accident in a public place, you may want to know the advantages of using the service from our panel of No Win No Fee public liability solicitors. The benefits of using a Conditional Fee Agreement (the formal term for No Win No Fee agreement) include:
- Only paying solicitor fees after a settlement has been agreed upon.
- No surprise charges or hidden fees as well as not paying your solicitor’s fees upfront or during the claim.
- Your solicitor’s fee comes out of your compensation. They will take a portion that is smaller and legally capped to cover legal costs.
This means that our panel of solicitors won’t waste your time. They will only take your case if they feel you have a reasonably good chance of success because they will only get paid for their work if your claim is successful.
Call Our Team About Claiming Compensation For An Accident In A Public Place
To see if you can claim for an accident in a public place, contact our advisors for free legal advice. They’re available 24/7 and can tell you quickly and simply if you’re eligible to claim. They can also put you through to a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel whose expertise could result in you receiving compensation.
Contact us 24/7 with the details below.
- Call us on the phone number above.
- Contact us through our website.
- Alternatively, write to us using our chat window.
Further Resources On Making A Claim After An Accident In A Public Place
To learn more about claiming for an accident in a public place, please refer to the links below.
Have you suffered a sprain or strain? If so, and you would like medical guidance, please read this guide from the NHS.
Read this to learn more about how to treat a broken bone.
The Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) recovers benefit payments from people who have had successful compensation claims. View their statistics to get a better idea of how many people claim for these types of accidents.
Why not check out more of our personal injury claims guides below:
- Can I Claim for a Pub Accident?
- Claiming Compensation For A Swimming Pool Accident Claim
- Compensation Claims Against The Council For Personal Injury
- How To Claim For An Accident In A Shop – if you’ve slipped, tripped and fallen in a shop, be it a high street store or a local corner shop, you could claim compensation. This guide provides lots of helpful information on your legal rights and the steps you can take.
- I Had An Accident At A Train Station – Can I Claim?
- Pavement Accident Claims Explained
- Compensation For Theme Park Accident Claims
- Advice For Making An Accident At School Claim
- Top Tips for Making a Gym Accident Claim
- A Guide To Restaurant Accident Claims
- Compensation Payout For A Nursery Accident
- How To Claim Accident In A Supermarket Compensation
- Making A Claim For An Accident In A Nursery
- If you have been injured by an escalator in a public place, you can read our guide on potentially claiming for this type of accident.
- You can also read our guide on how to claim compensation if you’re injured in a hotel.
- If you have been injured in a health spa, you can read our guide on whether you could claim compensation.
If you still have questions or queries about claiming for an accident in a public place, please contact our advisors at a time that works for you.