If you are injured as a result of a pothole or other defect in the high street, you may have a claim for compensation against the council or the local authority responsible for the area. Here are some important steps you should take that can help assess whether you have a potential claim or not.
Take photos – Lots of photos!
As soon as you can, take photos of the defect that caused the accident. Take several from different angles and zooms to show the defect up-close and the surrounding area. It helps to get a landmark in one of the shots, like a street sign or a shop so the location of the defect can easily be identified.
Make sure you use a ruler or tape measure to show the depth and width and other measurements of any defects and make sure they are clear in the photos.
Most smartphones have excellent video software included – you can help back-up your case even more with including a video of the accident area – especially if CCTV isn’t present.
Having good quality photos and/or video information can help properly asses your claim.
Get medical help
Go and see your GP or a walk-in centre or hospital as soon as you can after an accident. This will allow us to rely upon important medical information in your medical records at a later date. This can be useful for proving that the injury was caused by the accident, and also helpful for our own medical expert, that we will arrange for you to see, to know what the injury was like in the early days.
Make sure you tell the medical staff exactly what caused the injury!
Come to us FIRST
Before you make any reports to the council or otherwise, come to us first and let us assess whether we can help you out with a claim. There is a very important reason for this and we can discuss this with you over the phone when you give us a call.
The legal duty the council or responsible authority has is to reasonably inspect and maintain their jurisdiction of highway, so you do not have a guaranteed claim; in fact, far from it.
It can be very hard to win a claim like this. So come to The Injury Lawyers and let us investigate your claim to see what the chances are we can get a successful conclusion for you.
To discuss a potential personal injury claim don’t hesitate to give us a call – free from a landline or mobile – on 0800 634 75 75.