Our client Luke* was walking from his office in North London to his car which was parked nearby. Roadworks were going on in the area to replace the gas pipes. At one section a temporary footpath had been created in the road to allow pedestrians to walk safely around the roadworks and rejoin the pavement. A yellow footway ramp had been placed over the kerb to allow wheelchairs and pushchairs to access the footpath. As our client stepped onto the ramp, he felt it move beneath his feet, causing him to lose his balance. He fell backwards landing on the ramp. His wife and his office manager ran out of the office and called an ambulance. He was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured clavicle, as well as fractured ribs, and a soft tissue injury to his shoulder. He was discharged after several days with his arm in a sling and was bedbound for 10 days.
Even though Luke’s injuries would not be considered life changing they had a very serious impact on his life and business.
Luke is a self-employed property developer. He also owns 30 properties that he rents out. As a result of his injuries, he had to be off work completely for several weeks during which time his wife both ran the business and cared for him.
He returned to work after a month or so, but he was unable to do a lot of the work he’d previously done. Before the accident he did most of the repairs and maintenance on the properties he rented out himself other than gas and electrical work. After the accident he had to pay tradesmen to do these jobs. At the time of the accident, he had also almost completed a large development project on a high-end property. Unfortunately, he was unable to oversee the work done by the contractors he brought in to finish the project and they did a bad job, so he had to pay another firm to correct it.
The property should have been ready in November 2019, but he did not sell it until March 2020 as it was not finished in time. The property sold for £2.85m when it ought to have sold for £3.2m. During this time, he would usually have been lining up new projects, but he was unable to do this due to his accident. This had a big effect on his business.
The pedestrian injury compensation claim
Having realised the impact his injury had on his life and business Luke appointed Laura Williamson and Enable Law to bring a claim on his behalf.
We instructed a forensic accountant to quantify the Claimant’s loss of profit. Some of his losses simply could not be evidenced such as the loss associated with the sale price of the high-end property. There could be many reasons for the housing market to fluctuate especially as this was during the pandemic. However, we were able to recover most of the cost of paying tradesmen for work he otherwise would have done himself. The medical evidence supported this loss as both experts agreed the Claimant would have a permanent restriction in his shoulder. They also both agreed he was an extraordinarily active person who would have continued to work full time until 75 had it not been for the accident which meant we could claim a loss of profit past the usual retirement age.
As time went on he continued to suffer from pain and stiffness in his right shoulder and he sought help from a private specialist. He was diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear, and he underwent surgery in September 2020. This required 6 weeks off work followed by a gradual rehabilitation with regular physiotherapy. While the surgery helped, he continued to suffer from some pain and struggled to raise his arm above shoulder height. He had 2 steroid injections which helped in the short term. He was advised that further surgery was an option but decided not to go through with this as the recovery time would be significant and there was no guarantee it would help. Both the medical experts agreed this was reasonable, so he was not penalised for failing to mitigate his losses.
Our argument was structured around the fact that had the ramp been secured correctly in the first place Luke would have avoided his accident. The gas company denied liability, stating that the ramp had been replaced on the morning of the accident and had been secured properly with a sealant material, therefore it could not have moved. When we checked the code of practice for roadworks, we discovered that ramps should be secured to the pavement but they do not have to be bolted down. We discovered that the ramp used was actually meant to be self-sealing if fitted correctly and therefore sealant should not have been required. Luckily, Luke had photos of the ramp and surrounding area showing a large amount of dried tar like material on the pavement suggesting that the ramp had not been laid on a flat surface, but on top of dried-in adhesive. It had also been placed too close to the kerb and we were able to compare the photos taken after the accident of the ramp with the manufacturer’s instructions, showing the ramp had not been fitted correctly.
Court proceedings were served, and the claim was listed for a 3 day trial in March 2025. The pedestrian injury settlement was agreed about a week before trial. The Claimant had many photos of the accident location, taken by his colleague shortly after the accident, and these were very helpful. This highlights the importance of taking photos of the accident scene as close in time to the accident as possible, particularly in a case of this type. The ramp was removed shortly after the accident so without photos we’d have has no way of showing whether it had been fitted correctly.
How we can help you
If you have suffered an pedestrian injury in a public space, our team of experienced personal injury solicitors will go the full mile to explore if your injury could have been avoided and fully quantify how it impacted your personal and professional life. You have nothing to lose by speaking to one of our experts as bringing a successful claim will help you put your life back together. To have a free, no obligation discussion with Laura Williamson or a member of our team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form we can call you back at a time convenient to you.
*name changed for anonymity purposes
