Jodie*, our client, was walking her dog when she fell, suffering a serious head injury. The fall was caused by poorly installed and maintained street works, set up to remove a tree stump from a residential pavement.
As part of the works, the tarmac surface of the pavement had been removed and barriers put up around the excavation. There were also red rectangular metal warning signs at either side of the works across the pavement, warning pedestrians that the footway was closed. Whilst investigating the case, it became apparent that this set up of the street works had been in place for some months, but as it was not a regular walking route for her, Jodie had not come across it before.
When Jodie was injured, it was early evening and dark, with a light dusting of snow on the ground. Unbeknownst to her, the metal warning signs indicating the footway was closed had either fallen or been blown over and were lying flat, hidden by the snow.
As the signs were no longer visible Jodie only realised there was something under the snow when she accidentally stepped on one of them. Being made of metal, the sign was slippery, so Jodie slipped on it and fell forward onto the rough area of ground where the tarmac had been removed from the pavement, hitting her head, probably on a stone or large piece of gravel.
It is lucky that she was not far from home and was able to call her husband for help. He was then able to drive her to hospital, where she received treatment.
What did this mean for Jodie?
Unfortunately, our client’s head injury has had a significant impact on her life, and she has not made a full recovery, to the extent that she has had no choice but to take early retirement from her academic career. Symptoms such as persistent headaches and impaired concentration continue to have a daily impact on her life.
Jodie’s primary focus was on her recovery but after returning home she contacted the local authority responsible for the works who sent her a form to complete. After sending it to them she got a response directly from the council who denied any liability for her accident.
At this point, Jodie who was already suffering from the consequences of her injury, decided to speak to a solicitor. Through a neighbour she was put in touch with our Personal Injury department and Sophie Hamilton, a specialist in Public Liability and Highway claims, took her claim on.
Sophie sent a letter of claim and received the same response, that liability was denied, and the defendant Council accepted no responsibility for Jodie’s accident and injury, with arguments that treated the claim as if it were a ‘straight forward’ trip on the highway or slip on ice. Despite Sophie corresponding with them arguing that they were in breach of their statutory duty under the Street Works Act 1991, and had been generally negligent in failing to properly risk assess and inspect the street works to ensure their safety, the defendant Council continued to maintain their position that they had not been negligent in the setting up and inspection of the site and were not liable for what happened to Jodie.
Working with a specialist barrister, Sophie issued court proceedings against the defendant Council, and, given the severity of Jodie’s injuries and losses (in having to retire from work early) successfully argued for there to be a ‘split’ trial, with the issue of liability being decided at trial first. Throughout the process Sophie tried to negotiate with the defendant Council, but they were not prepared to compromise, and the matter went to trial this summer past.
Sophie was able to obtain invaluable witness evidence from the gentleman whose house the street works were outside of, including photographs of the site taken at various times. It was also particularly important that Jodie and her husband had the foresight to take several photographs on the day and in the days following her accident, showing the street works, as this really assisted the Court in understanding what had happened.
The trial of Jodie’s case on liability lasted two days, and the court heard evidence from her, her husband and the witness who lived in the nearby property, as well as the Neighbourhood Manager in the Highway Maintenance Department for the defendant Council.
The outcome of the liability only trial was that the court found in favour of Jodie, that on the balance of probability there were a number of failures on the part of the defendant Council to properly risk assess the street works, and therefore to identify that the signs (one of which Jodie fell on) were falling over, or being knocked or blown over, with some regularity. It was also found that the defendant Council had failed to comply with several aspects of the Street Works Code of Practice 1991. Finally, despite arguments from the defendant Council, the court found that Jodie did not share any responsibility for her accident.
What are the next steps for Jodie’s personal injury claim?
With the council having been found fully responsible for Jodie’s accident, Sophie is now able to proceed with a proper and full investigation into the extent of her injury and the losses she has suffered as a result. This will involve obtaining several expert medical reports and calculating Jodie’s financial loss due to having to retire early from the job she loved.
In relation to the claim so far Sophie says “Jodie has shown great strength in dealing with this challenging claim and going to trial, whilst also having to deal with a debilitating injury and the loss of the career she had built up over many years and greatly enjoyed. It was vindicating to hear the Trial judge agree with the liability arguments we had put forward throughout the claim. My aim now is to get Jodie the compensation she deserves.
How we can help
In many of our cases, clients have proactively approached the organisation responsible for their injury only to be told that they take no responsibility for it. This is by no means uncommon and should never stop you from speaking to a specialist Personal Injury solicitor if you feel that your injuries were caused by someone else’s fault.
In England, for most personal injury claims, you have three years to start a formal legal claim. This is called the “limitation period.”
Think of it as a deadline. If you don’t start your claim in court before this deadline, you will likely lose your right to get compensation.
The three-year countdown usually begins on one of two dates:
- The date of the accident or injury: This is the most common start date.
- The “date of knowledge”: This applies if you didn’t know you were injured right away or didn’t realise your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence. The three-year clock starts ticking from the day you became aware of the key facts.
There are exceptions to this rule especially in relation to children or young people under the age of 18 at the time of their injury and people lacking capacity, which we can explain to you if relevant to your case.
To have a free, no obligation and fully confidential discussion with Sophie or a member of our wider personal injury team give us a call on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form. You have absolutely nothing to lose by speaking to us and much to gain.
*Name changed to protect our client’s anonymity
