Slipping or falling on ice - personal injury claims
advice
Slipping or falling accidents on ice
This page offers advice to individuals who have
suffered personal injury following a fall on ice or snow
in the UK. We discuss what circumstances may lead to a
compensation claim being made and what steps should be
taken to pursue such a claim.
Read more about
trips and slips not involving ice or related weather
conditions.
If you have suffered injury in a fall - we
can help you make a claim and offer a totally free UK
legal service. Make an enquiry about your case today -
call 0800 0322210.
The majority of ice related accidents occur on public
roads or pavements and generally fall under the
responsibility of the local council or authority. There
is much legal debate about how far a councils duty of
care should go as far as gritting or salting is
concerned.
Furthermore it has to be accepted that any council
would have an impossible task trying to make safe every
highway, pavement or public area during a cold spell of
weather. This has to be borne in mind when you consider
whether a claim should be made.
Our view is that if the council fail to grit busy
roads at busy times of the day during severely cold
weather, then they may be liable for any accidents that
occur. Liable, that is, at least to a degree. Similarly
if zebra crossings or other public safety zones are not
made safe then this too may amount to negligence.
The law on the subject is varied and different
solicitors will have different views. Many claims fail
because they don't meet vital criteria. Find out today
if you can pursue a claim for personal injury suffered
on a slippy, icy road or pavement.
To make an enquiry - please complete the brief form
opposite or CALL 0800 0322210. Our team will
respond to all written enquiries within one hour
8am-8pm.
Here are some additional points to consider before
bringing a claim in these circumstances:
Some Highway Authorities are under the mistaken
belief that they cannot be liable for claims for
personal injury arising from a failure to de-ice their
roads. They are wrong.
if the liability is for negligence not a breach of
section 41(1) of the Highways Act 1980; Liability under
the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 is also unaffected.
This Act imposes a different duty and a different
standard from the Highways Act 1980. The occupier of
shops, offices, car parks and similar places have an
obligation to take such care as is reasonable in all the
circumstances for the safety of visitors.
For example, a station car park is a place to which
drivers are "invited" as are rail passengers and leaving
it un-gritted on an icy night is a breach of the duty of
the station owner or controller under the Occupiers'
Liability Act 1957; The duty in negligence is the same
as the duty under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957. It
is not that no slipping or skidding shall occur.
It does require the people occupying the premises to:
take account of weather forecasts to have salt in stock;
to clear a safe path through the snow; and to put up
warning notices or shut the premises if necessary.
It is not a defence for a defendant to say that
members of the public are invited onto premises but run
their own risk of skidding on compacted snow that it was
reasonable for the defendant to have cleared up;
It will be difficult for a defendant to raise a
defence on the basis that the cost of remedy is too
high. When balanced against the cost of a compensation
claim, the above measures an only be considered
reasonable under the circumstances. Judges may find
negligence in some of the following circumstances: where
there is no system for spreading grit; where, although
there is a system for spreading grit, the actual
spreading does not follow the system; if the system
itself is inadequate. For example, there is no
consideration of weather forecasts or no salt in stock;
if other occupiers have gritted but the defendant has
not; if there are no tools for clearing snow and ice or
spreading grit; if a Highways Authority has failed to
comply with the "Code of Good Practice" or its own local
practice standards.
As always, the range of factual circumstances will be
large, but the usual test of reasonable foreseeability
of harm and an examination of the reasonable steps taken
to remove the danger of ice will be a good guide when
considering if a claimant has a potential case. T
he Claims Connection trip slip or fall claims section
- UK tripping claim and personal injury compensation
specialists.
trip or fall claims explained -
what you should do after an accident -
supermarket fall -
slipping accidents at work -
ice accidents businesses -
tripping slipping compensation claims -
car accident claims -
whiplash compensation -
accidents at work -
medical negligence
MORE LINKS:
British
safety website -
winter
footwear safety -
CAR PARK ice accidents businesses -
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