Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
If you were injured in a shop, restaurant, gym, car park, hospital or on a pavement, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and the losses that follow. Injury Law Specialists is a personal injury law firm acting for people injured in public places throughout England and Wales, and our solicitors can assess your circumstances and explain whether you have grounds to claim.
These claims are sometimes treated lightly, as though a fall is simply bad luck. In practice the law places real obligations on those who invite the public onto their premises. We take these cases seriously, including those involving fractures, surgery or lasting effects.
Yes, in many cases. The person or organisation in control of premises owes visitors a duty to take reasonable care for their safety. That duty applies whether you are a paying customer, a patient, a guest or simply a member of the public walking through the door. If the duty was breached and you were injured as a result, you may have grounds to claim. Injury Law Specialists offers a free assessment so the position can be looked at before you commit to anything.
What counts as reasonable care depends on the setting. A hospital, a building site and a corner shop are held to different standards, because the risks they present and the resources they have are different. A supermarket is expected to have a proper system for dealing with spillages. A gym is expected to keep its equipment and floors safe. A restaurant is expected to manage the risks that come with serving food and drink.
One consequence of that is worth understanding early. These claims usually turn on systems rather than on the accident itself. The question is often not whether a hazard existed, but whether the occupier had a sensible system for finding and dealing with hazards of that kind, and whether the system was actually working on the day. That is where a solicitor's work usually concentrates.
The setting changes who the claim is brought against and what evidence tends to decide it. These are the situations we deal with most often.
Spillages, wet floors near entrances, produce left in aisles and trailing stock all cause falls. These claims often turn on how quickly staff responded and what cleaning and inspection records show. Camera coverage is usually good in larger stores, which helps considerably.
Food and drink spillages, slippery floors, poor lighting on steps and furniture placed in walkways all present hazards. Where alcohol is served, the occupier is also expected to account for the way the premises is used and take sensible steps to keep people safe.
Wet floors around pools and changing rooms, damaged equipment, poorly maintained surfaces and inadequate supervision all arise. Gyms are expected to have proper maintenance routines and to make sure equipment is taken out of use when it becomes unsafe.
Potholes, raised paving, broken kerbs and sunken covers cause a great many injuries. These claims are brought against the body responsible for maintaining the surface, usually the local authority, and turn on the size and nature of the defect and how long it had been there.
Poor lighting, uneven surfaces, unmarked kerbs, damaged barriers and spills of oil or fuel all cause injuries. Responsibility can rest with the operator of the car park for its layout, lighting and maintenance, and with a driver where the injury involved a moving vehicle.
Hospitals owe a duty to visitors as well as patients, and falls caused by wet floors, poor lighting, obstructed corridors or defective equipment can give rise to a claim. Where the injury arises from the care itself rather than the premises, we consider it as a clinical negligence matter instead.
This is the response almost every public place claim receives. An occupier is not expected to guarantee that nothing is ever spilled, so if a hazard genuinely appeared moments before your accident they may have a reasonable argument. The law recognises that.
What the occupier has to do, though, is show that they had a reasonable system for inspecting and cleaning the area, and that the system was being followed. A written cleaning rota that nobody checked, a spill procedure staff were never trained on, or an inspection log with entries that do not match the staff rota are all things that undermine the argument rather than support it.
Those records sit with the occupier, which is why the claim is usually driven by requesting them formally and then testing whether the system described matches what actually happened. This is a large part of what a solicitor does in a public place claim.
Suitable personal injury cases may be accepted under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly called a No Win, No Fee agreement. Acceptance depends on an assessment of liability, evidence, prospects of success and the funding arrangements available.
If the claim succeeds, a success fee may be payable. The amount and how it is calculated is explained before you decide whether to proceed, so there is no uncertainty about the position later.
How No Win, No Fee worksMuch of the best evidence is created by the occupier and disappears quickly. Prompt action matters more in these claims than in most.
The accident book and incident report
What staff recorded, and when. Check that the entry is accurate, and ask for a copy at the time if you can.
CCTV and photographs
Most large premises have camera coverage. Footage is routinely overwritten after a few weeks, so ask early and put the occupier on notice.
Witness accounts
Staff members who attended, anyone who saw the fall, and other customers or visitors who were present.
The location and the hazard
Photographs of the hazard and its surroundings, with something for scale, plus the position of any signage or warnings.
The occupier's records
Cleaning rotas, inspection logs, maintenance records, risk assessments and staff training records, all requested formally.
Medical records
A&E and GP records, imaging, and a report from an independent medical expert on the injuries and prognosis.
You do not need to gather any of this yourself before contacting a solicitor. One of the first things we do is put the occupier on notice formally, which protects the records and the footage while the claim is being assessed.
Compensation is usually split between the injury itself and the financial consequences of the accident. The two are assessed separately.
Pain, suffering and effect on life
The injury itself, how severe it is, how long it lasts and how it affects work, sleep, mobility and day to day life.
Loss of earnings
Pay already lost through time off work, and future loss where the injury affects what you are able to earn.
Treatment and rehabilitation
Surgery, physiotherapy, private treatment and rehabilitation where these are needed and evidenced.
Care and assistance
Help with household tasks, shopping, gardening or personal care that you could manage before but cannot now.
Travel and related costs
The cost of travelling to treatment and appointments, along with other expenses the accident has caused.
Future expense
Aids, equipment, adaptions and other costs likely to arise in future, where they can be properly supported.
Public place claims turn on records held by the occupier and on arguments about what was reasonable. Both are areas where representation makes a difference.
Establishes who was responsible
Your solicitor identifies the occupier and any other responsible party, puts them on notice formally to preserve records and footage, and builds the case on where the system failed.
Obtains the medical evidence
An independent medical expert is instructed to examine you and report on the injury, its severity, your prognosis and any treatment still needed.
Quantifies the losses
Earnings, treatment, care, travel and future costs are calculated and supported with evidence, so that nothing recoverable is left out of the claim.
Deals with the insurer
Correspondence, negotiations and any arguments about the hazard, your own conduct or the level of compensation are handled for you.
Pursues the claim if needed
If a fair settlement cannot be agreed, court proceedings can be issued. Most claims settle long before a hearing, but the option is there when it is needed.
Keeps you informed
You should know where your claim stands at each significant stage. We aim to keep clients updated by whichever method of contact suits them.
If you would like to understand the process in more detail, our page on how our solicitors help sets out each stage from first enquiry to resolution.
Yes, in many cases. The person or organisation in control of premises owes visitors a duty to take reasonable care for their safety. If that duty was breached and you were injured as a result, you may have grounds to claim for your injuries and financial losses. What counts as reasonable depends on the type of premises and the risk involved.
Usually the occupier of the premises, meaning the business, organisation or person in control of the space, whether that is a supermarket chain, a restaurant, a gym, a hospital trust or a local authority. In some situations more than one party can be responsible, including a contractor who carried out poor work or a cleaning company that left a hazard.
Yes. Pavement and highway defects are typically brought against the body responsible for maintaining the surface, usually the local authority, while car park claims often involve the operator of the site in relation to its layout, lighting and maintenance. These claims turn on what can be shown about the defect and how long it had been there.
This is a common defence, and it is worth understanding how it works. An occupier is expected to have a reasonable system of inspection and cleaning, and if they can show the hazard appeared shortly before your accident, they may argue they had no chance to deal with it. That argument is examined closely, because a system that is written down but not followed does not help the occupier.
Witnesses help considerably, particularly where the condition of the hazard is disputed. Staff members can be witnesses too, and what they record in an accident book can be important. If nobody saw the accident, it is still possible to claim, and CCTV, photographs and the employer's own records often fill the gap.
Compensation usually has two parts. The first covers the injury itself, including pain, suffering and the effect on your daily life. The second covers the financial losses the accident caused, such as lost earnings, treatment and rehabilitation, care and assistance, travel and, in serious cases, future losses where they can be evidenced.
For most personal injury claims in England and Wales, the limitation period is three years from the date of the accident, or from your later date of knowledge where that applies. Exceptions exist, including for children and for people who lack mental capacity to manage their own affairs. Early advice is always sensible.
You may still be able to claim. If you contributed to what happened, perhaps by not looking where you were going or by wearing unsuitable footwear, your compensation is usually reduced to reflect your share of responsibility rather than refused. Where the split should fall is often disputed, which is one of the areas where having a solicitor acting for you changes the outcome.
Injury Law Specialists is a marketing and advertising platform and is not a law firm or a provider of regulated legal services. All personal injury legal advice, legal services, casework, representation, legal support, and any free initial assessment or consultation promoted or arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
MB Legal Solicitors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under Company Number 12281731. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under SRA ID 8000764 and is a member of The Law Society. Injury Law Specialists does not itself provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. Any solicitor-client relationship arising from an enquiry will be directly between the client and MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
Read our Regulatory InformationTell us what happened and a member of our team can review your circumstances and explain the possible next steps. The assessment is free, there is no obligation to instruct us, and you will be speaking to someone who deals with these claims regularly.
