Question:
Today, my Mum tripped over a loose pavement in Chelsea. She had to go to hospital. Her face is badly swollen and bruised plus she has a cut lip and her knee is very badly bruised. She's also damaged her glasses.
Not sure whether to contact borough of Kensington and Chelsea direct to make a claim or contact an injury claim company. I've never had to deal with anything like this before, so any advice would be much appreciated.
Thankyou in advance
Sparky
Answers:
This happened to my Mum a few years ago, she broke her ankle in similar circumstances.
I remember the first thing she did was to take some photos of the pavement to prove her case. This was crucial to her case. Also take some pics of your Mums injuries.
She approached the council directly as the claim companies take a chunk of your compensation as comission.
She was paid compensation but her ankle troubled her for years, resulting in surgery.
Good luck to your Mum, hope she recovers soon x
Answers:
Thanks for the reply poochy.
I have taken pictures of her injuries but not the pavement as yet because I went straight to the hospital. I'll take a ride over there tomorrow armed with the camera and take some pics. I want to go there anyway to take some choccies to the guy from Peter Jones who helped her so much.
Thanks again
Sparky
Answers:
I'm sorry to hear about your mum, and i hope she gets better very soon.
No real advice other than to reiterate what poochy has said NEVER EVER EVER go through one of these no win no fee companies.
Make sure you get all the information you need to make your claim, take pictures of your mums injuries and of where the accident happened and keep all details. contact a solicitor as you may be entitled to legal aid.
Good luck x
Answers:
Thanks rushnowt.
I think we'll contact the council tomorrow and find out the procedure. I was wary of these injury claim company's so I'll definitely steer clear of them.
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Sparky, also sorry to hear about your mum and wish her a speedy recovery. Just to add to the others, I would also get the name & address of the guy who helped out at the time as a witness. You may need this with any claim.
Answers:
Sparky, also sorry to hear about your mum and wish her a speedy recovery. Just to add to the others, I would also get the name & address of the guy who helped out at the time as a witness. You may need this with any claim.
Hi Worldtraveller.
We have his details he's a First Aider in Peter Jones and the lady who helped my Mum gave her telephone number etc.
I rang Kensington and Chelsea and they are sending a claim form, hopefully receive it Monday. I also went to the store and took photos of the pavement yesterday.
Thankyou for your good wishes
Sparky
Answers:
Did you take the piccys before or after you informed the council? also do they clearly show a broken paving slab?
I used to work for a council just temping and when this hapened there they would quickly send someone out to fix it and then claim that the person must of just tripped > they are devious people these council bods
hope your mum gets better quickly and isnt in pain to long
Answers:
Did you take the piccys before or after you informed the council? also do they clearly show a broken paving slab?
I used to work for a council just temping and when this hapened there they would quickly send someone out to fix it and then claim that the person must of just tripped > !they are devious people these council bods
hope your mum gets better quickly and isnt in pain to long !
Hi Divadee
I took the pictures before I informed the council. And Mum has a witness who actually saw her fall. Yes the pics show the state of the paving slab and the guy from Peter Jones saw it too.
Most of the pavement outside the store is in a bad state as they had scaffolding up outside for ages and loads of them are cracked and loose. I went past on the bus today and nothing had been done.
Just got to wait for the claim form now. Not sure if they make an offer or if Mum has to request an amount! Hopefully the form will explain the procedure but knowing the Council it'll probably be all legal jargon.
Thanks for the reply
Sparky
Answers:
Hi Sparky
Im currently suiing our local council via a friend who works for a compensation place.
It is taking ages though, so dont expect a quick result.
The main advantage of using one of these companies is that they dont just accept the first offer, they will try and get the maximum that the council should be paying.
Saying that, if our friend didnt work there I would probably have just contact the council direct...
I broke my ankle in Folkestone, there were four paving slabs that had "sunk" - it meant missing my honeymoon (had only been married 2 days!) which was a bummer becuase, although we rebooked it for the January, we got a really good deal as we were flying out on 11th Sept 2002 - no one else wanted to fly so mega mega cheap and the honeymoon cost us double when we went in January.
It cost us thousands in loss of income (I was on SSP for most of the time and husband had to cut down on overtime), honeymoon costs etc etc not to mention the emotional side of things.
So good luck!
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Are you lot American? If not you ought to move there - they'd love you! :
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I fell four months ago in the high street and broke my hip, my partner took loads of pictures and we contacted Injury Lawyers 4U off tv, they promised never to charge me anything or to make me take out an insurance etc. Unfortunately for me the pavement was not cracked enough to sue, although it was all broken and uneven it was not rising up by over 2" so I've had to leave it. But hopefully you will be able to sort something for your mum, other thing to remember is that if you do win a claim which is anything over £3000 it can affect benefits if the person is on any so it can be win some lose some. Good luck.
Answers:
I'm sorry to hear about your mum, and i hope she gets better very soon.
No real advice other than to reiterate what poochy has said NEVER EVER EVER go through one of these no win no fee companies.
Make sure you get all the information you need to make your claim, take pictures of your mums injuries and of where the accident happened and keep all details. contact a solicitor as you may be entitled to legal aid.
Good luck x
Seek advice from a good personal injury lawyer on a no-win no fee basis. My friend's mum was injured in a car accident, has just received £45,000 and all the solicitors costs and experts' fees etc. were paid by the insurers.
If you decide to go it alone, it would still be wise to get any settlement offer checked by a PI solicitor.
Legal aid is not available for personal injury claims.
Answers:
Thanks for all your advice. We're still waiting for the claim form, I've been told by the council that they only send out post by second class.
Answers:
Not sure whether to contact borough of Kensington and Chelsea direct to make a claim or contact an injury claim company.
I would say do both - but don't do it just yet. Work out what you're going to say first - because you don't want to say anything that may undermine your claim.
I would disagree with rushnowt's advice, of never using a no-win-no-fee solicitor. Nowadays, they can usually claim their own separate fees from the defendant, separately from your compensation award - meaning that even if you do represent yourself without a solicitor, you won't necessarily get any more.
That said - in theory, there's no reason why you can't represent yourself in court. But in practice, you might find it difficult without a solicitor.
Still, you're up for finding out how it's done, yes? Good. In that case, the first thing you should do is have a look at the Pre-Action Protocols for Personal Injury claims - which can be found at
The pre-action protocols are a list of guidelines you have to follow before a civil court will hear your case. It might seem long winded, but a lot of it is common sense - for example, you'll have to give RBKC a chance to settle out of court first, and find a doctor who will verify that the injury is real - that sort of thing.
If that seems too much for you, then a solicitor may help you to get through the protocols - but they can't do it all by themselves. Don't expect to be able to tell a solicitor about your claim one day, then forget about it and see a cheque a few months later. You will need to co-operate with them during the process.
If you do want a solicitor, then find one here - - select "Personal Injury" from the list of categories.
Hope that helps.