Claiming compensation for an accident that was not your fault can seem like it will be a lot of hassle. You may believe the accident sounds too petty to be worth bothering about, but this is rarely the case.

What can appear to be a minor slip, trip or fall can lead to quite serious consequences to your health and wellbeing. If you have suffered contact the Accident Claimline. Our Leeds based personal injury specialists will be able to advise you as to whether your claim has merit.

Does my claim have merit?

Whether your claim has merit depends on whether the accident has caused you loss. The law surrounding compensation operates to ensure that those who suffer due to someone else’s negligence do not end up worse off than they would have been had the accident not occurred.

A twisted ankle caused by an uneven footpath may have led to no more than a few days off work. However, if you were not paid for the time you have had to take off and incurred expenses travelling to and from medical appointments, you will have suffered a loss and may be able to claim compensation.

How do I prove my accident wasn’t my fault?

One of the reasons that people can be deterred from making a claim for compensation is because they are concerned that they will not be able to prove that they were not responsible for their accident. What must be shown is that had it not been for the negligence of the responsible person you would not have had the accident. Our expert personal injury advisors in Leeds have the knowledge and skills to help.

Showing what caused the accident can be relatively straight forward. For example, you can show that had the stairs been gritted, you would have not slipped on the ice, fallen down them and broken your arm. Had you not broken your arm, you would not have been required to take several weeks off work from the building site because you could not work.

Showing that there was negligence can be more difficult. Someone will have been negligent if they have not acted as the reasonable person would have done had they been in the same situation. Taking the same example as above, and assuming the stairs were on the way into a shop, the reasonable shop keeper would have anticipated that customers would be using the stairs to enter the shop. They will also be aware that the stairs become slippery when it is icy. Therefore, they would have taken steps to prevent the stairs becoming icy or to warn customers that the stairs will be icy.

If they have not done either of these things, they have not acted as the reasonable shop keeper would have done, so they will be negligent. As they are negligent, they may be liable for injuries caused as a result of their negligence.
The same hypothetical analysis can be worked through for any slipping, tripping or falling accident. It is important to bear in mind that the responsible person must have failed to act as a reasonable person would act not how you would act. Therefore, the help of an experienced solicitor** from the Accident Claimline will be beneficial. They will have dealt with similar cases and be aware of what the court is likely to say a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances.
It is also important to make a claim for compensation against the right person. In some circumstances the responsible person would be obvious. In cases where it does not seem as obvious to you it will seem obvious to a specialist solicitor. So, contact the Accident Claimline in Leeds today to gain the help of a specialist solicitor** in your local area.

Slips, Trips & Falls - Personal Injury Claims Leeds

Serving those who live in and around the Leeds area, our specialist personal injury lawyers have the expertise to help you claim the compensation you deserve following a slip, trip or fall that wasn’t your fault. Contact our Accident Claimline team based in Leeds today for a no-obligation conversation about whether you could be entitled to compensation.

*Other costs may be payable

**TAC have a team of technical claims qualifiers who will speak with you and if you have, in our opinion, a valid claim we can refer your case to one of the personal injury solicitors on our panel.