Public Liability

Public liability claims arise when you’re injured on someone else’s premises or land due to their negligence. Occupiers of premises owe visitors reasonable care under Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This includes shops, restaurants, hotels, leisure facilities, and public spaces.

Occupiers must ensure premises remain reasonably safe, warn of hazards, provide adequate lighting, keep floors clear, and regularly inspect for dangers. Public liability insurance covers occupiers against visitor injury claims. You can claim when injuries result from occupier negligence.

Yes, if shops failed to maintain safe floors or warn about hazards. Shops must clean spillages promptly, display warning signs for wet floors, ensure adequate lighting, and inspect regularly for hazards. However, you must prove negligence, not just that you slipped.

Evidence includes how long spillages were present before your accident, whether inspections occurred, whether warning signs were displayed, and whether lighting was adequate. Recent spillages that shops couldn’t reasonably know about may not constitute negligence. We investigate circumstances establishing whether shops breached duties.

You can claim against councils or highways authorities responsible for maintaining pavements. However, councils are only liable for defects they knew or should have known about through regular inspections. Minor defects or short-lived hazards may not be actionable.

Councils operate inspection systems and have a defence if they inspected reasonably and defects weren’t present. Significant defects existing for long periods are actionable. Ensure you take photographs of defects showing size and extent, and measure defects that demonstrate they exceed the thresholds that mean councils should repair.

Proving negligence requires showing occupiers knew or should have known about hazards and didn’t take reasonable steps to eliminate dangers or warn visitors. Important evidence includes CCTV footage, accident reports, witness statements, inspection records, maintenance logs, and photographs.

Ensure you report accidents to premises managers immediately and request accident reports, photograph hazards from multiple angles and identify witnesses. We obtain CCTV footage and other records during the claim investigation to establish whether occupiers breached duties.

Trespassers have limited rights under Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984. Occupiers only owe trespassers duty if they’re aware of dangers, know trespassers may come, and risks are ones reasonable occupiers would protect against. Trespasser claims succeed less often than lawful visitor claims.

However, some people believed to be trespassers are actually lawful visitors, particularly on public land. Children exploring aren’t always trespassers. We advise whether you were legitimately on premises and whether occupiers owed you duties.

Yes, councils are liable for injuries on land they maintain including pavements, roads, parks, and public buildings. Councils must inspect, maintain, and repair defects within reasonable timeframes. However, councils have defences if they operated reasonable inspection systems.

Council claims require following specific procedures including notification requirements. Important evidence includes photographs of defects, measurements, and information about how long defects existed. We pursue council claims understanding their inspection systems and potential defences.

Public liability claims must be brought within three years of accident dates. For children under 18, claims can be brought until their 21st birthday. Report accidents immediately and gather evidence promptly as CCTV footage may be overwritten and occupiers may repair hazards.

Three years sounds sufficient, but investigating claims and obtaining medical evidence takes time. We recommend starting claims soon after accidents to ensure evidence remains available.