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How Much Compensation For A Slip Or Trip Claim | No Win No Fee Claims

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 21st February 2024. In this guide, we discuss claiming compensation for a slip, trip or fall. One of the most common types of accidents that we successfully make a compensation claim for on behalf of our clients is what is termed a “slip trip” accident. The name is pretty self-explanatory; a slip trip accident occurs when the person claiming compensation has suffered an injury by slipping or tripping whilst at work or due to some form of obstacle in a public place.

This kind of accident can have very grave health side effects, including serious long-term chronic back injury, sometimes manifesting far into the future after the initial accident took place. Therefore, if you are involved in a slip trip accident, no matter how trivial you think it was, you really should consider making a compensation claim. If you do not, and it turns out the accident results in health problems further down the line, it will be much harder to press a compensation claim at a late stage.

Contact Our Team

Our advisors can answer questions on slip, trip and fall claims. We can also potentially provide support with our No Win No Fee solicitors if we determine you have a strong case. You can contact us about how much compensation for a fall, slip, or trip you may be entitled to through the following methods:

A man lying at the bottom of a flight of stairs following a slip and trip.

Select a Section

  1. How Much Compensation For A Slip Or Trip Fall Could I Claim?
  2. Can I Claim Compensation For A Slip Or Trip?
  3. How Could A Slip, Trip, Or Fall Occur?
  4. What Evidence Can Help In Slip And Fall Claims?
  5. Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim Compensation For A Slip or Trip?

How Much Compensation For A Slip Or Trip Fall Could I Claim?

You might be wondering how much compensation for a slip or fall claim you could receive. If your claim succeeds, then you will receive general damages, which is the first of two potential heads of claim your compensation could contain.  General damages covers the pain and suffering your injuries have caused, as well as the effect that they have had on your life.

When this head of claim is valued, those calculating it may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document offers a list of guideline compensation brackets for a number of different injuries. You can see some examples of these guidelines below, but please note that the first entry is not from the JCG.

Guideline Compensation Brackets

InjuryNotesAmount
Multiple serious injuries and special damagesThe settlement may include compensation for multiple serious injuries and financial losses such as lost wages and home help while recovering. Up to £250,000+
Knee injuries (severe) (i)The knee joint has been disrupted which may require lengthy treatment and cause significant pain.£69,730 to £96,210
Leg injuries (very serious) (ii)The person will require crutches or mobility aids for the rest of their life, potentially due to fractures that take years to heal.£54,830 to £87,890
Foot injuries (severe) (d)Both feet or heels have been fractured which causes permanent pain and restricts mobility.£41,970 to £70,030
Wrist injury (a)A complete loss of the wrist's function.£47,620 to £59,860
Neck injury (severe) (iii)Dislocation, fractures and severe soft tissue damage that lead to chronic conditions and a permanent disability.£45,470 to £55,990
Back injury (moderate) (i)Crush or compression fractures of the lumbar vertebrae that causes constant discomfort and pain.£27,760 to £38,780
Elbow injury (b)A less severe elbow injury that impairs the elbow's function but does not require major surgery.£15,650 to £32,010
Shoulder injury (serious) (b)The shoulder is dislocated with the lower part of the brachial plexus damaged. This causes neck and shoulder pain.£12,770 to £19,200
Ankle injury (modest) (d)Ligamentous injuries, sprains and undisplaced fractures. Whether a full recovery is made will affect how much is awarded.Up to £13,740

Could I Claim For Special Damages?

Special damages are the second head of claim that you could pursue after a slip, trip, or fall. Under this heading, you can claim back the financial losses you suffered because of your injuries. For example, if you had to take time off work to recover and this caused you to lose out on earnings, you could potentially claim them back.

Special damages could also potentially help you claim back the cost of:

  • Travel.
  • Childcare.
  • Mobility aids.
  • Home adjustments.

It’s important to remember that you need evidence to support slip, trip, and fall compensation claims. To prove expenses under special damages, you could provide invoices, bills, or bank statements related to your losses.

Contact our team of advisors today to learn more about claiming compensation for slips, trips, and falls, or read on to find out how one of our solicitors could help you.

Can I Claim Compensation For A Slip Or Trip?

There are a few different situations where you could suffer an injury in a tripping accident. These include:

  • An accident at work: Your employer has a legal obligation to ensure that they’ve taken all reasonable and practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees while they are working. This is their duty of care as set by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). It is considered both reasonable and practicable for your employer to maintain good housekeeping, including keeping walkways free of clutter and ensuring staircases are suitable for use. Should they fail to uphold this duty, you could slip or trip and suffer an injury such as a broken ankle.
  • While in a public place: If you go to a public place, the organisation or individual in control of that space (the occupier) must ensure that you are reasonably safe while using that premises for the permitted purposes. This is the duty of care that is owed to you while in a public place. This duty of care is set by the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. If there is a breach of this duty, you could become injured in a trip or fall accident.

When Could I Claim?

In order to make a personal injury claim for slip, trip or fall compensation, you must satisfy the eligibility criteria. This means that you must be able to prove that:

  • You were owed a duty of care.
  • There was a breach of this duty.
  • As a result of this breach, you suffered an injury.

If you have any questions about slip and fall compensation amounts, such as ‘Do I meet the eligibility criteria to make a personal injury claim?’, please get in touch with a team member.

Are There Time Limits That Apply To Slip And Fall Claims?

You will need to make sure that your claim is made within the relevant time limit, as stated in the Limitation Act 1980. You generally have 3 years to start a claim. However, there can be exceptions to this.

For example, if the injured party is a child, then the time limit for starting a slip, trip or fall compensation claim is paused until the day of their 18th birthday. A claim could be made on the child’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend before this day. However, if this does not happen, then the child will have three years to start their own claim once they turn 18.

If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to make a personal injury claim, then the time limit is suspended indefinitely. A litigation friend could make a slip, trip or fall claim on the injured party’s behalf. However, if the injured party later regains this mental capacity and a claim hasn’t already been made, then the three-year time limit will start from the date of recovery.

How Could A Slip, Trip, Or Fall Occur?

There are various ways you could suffer an injury in a slip, trip or fall accident. However, in order to claim trip or fall compensation, it is worth noting that a third party must have owed you a duty of care, and a breach of this caused your injuries.

Here are a few examples of ways you could suffer an injury in a slip, trip or fall:

  • You trip over a raised paving slab, and suffer an ankle injury. The local council were aware of this defect but had taken no steps to resolve the issue within a timely manner.
  • While in a supermarket, you slip on a spillage that had not been cleaned or clearly signposted. This causes you to suffer a back injury.
  • Your employer failed to tidy away or secure down some loose wires at your office job. This results in a tripping accident, and you suffer a knee injury and a sprained wrist.
  • There is inadequate lighting in the stairwell at your job. Your employer id aware of this, but has taken no steps into resolving this issue. Due to this, you are unable to see where you are going and you fall down the stairs and suffer a head and neck injury.

If you would like to discuss anything related to slip and fall compensation amounts, such as the circumstances of the accident that caused your injuries, please get in touch with one of our advisors.

What Evidence Can Help In Slip And Fall Claims?

When you make a personal injury claim, you will need to obtain sufficient evidence. If you would like to claim for a fall, this evidence needs to prove that another party breached the duty of care they owed you, and this resulted in you suffering an injury.

Evidence that could be useful for slip and fall claims includes:

  • A copy of any medical letters from your GP or hospital with details about the nature of the injury and what treatment you required.
  • Contact details of anyone who saw what happened. Witnesses can provide a statement later into the personal injury claims process.
  • Video footage of the accident, such as from CCTV or a mobile phone.
  • If you took any photographs of the accident scene, you could also submit these.

Continue reading to learn more about slip and fall compensation amounts, or if you would like to discuss what evidence you could submit, speak to one of the advisors from our team.

Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Make A Slip Or Trip Claim?

Now that you’ve learned more about potential slip and fall compensation amounts, you may be ready to start your claim. However, finding the right solicitor for your claim can seem daunting. Our team of solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis; this means that they can help you claim for a fall through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

Under a CFA, you don’t need to pay any fees to your solicitor in order for them to start working on your claim. Likewise, you don’t need to pay any fees for them to continue their work, nor do you pay a fee for their services if your personal injury compensation claim fails.

If it succeeds, then you will pay a success fee to your solicitor. This fee is taken directly from your compensation, though the amount your solicitor can take is limited by law. This legal cap allows you to keep the majority share of what you receive. 

Contact Our Team

Our team of advisors are on hand if you’d like to learn more about making a claim for a slip, trip, or fall. They can answer any questions you might have in a free consultation, and may be able to connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. To get started:

Thank you for reading our guide about compensation for a slip, trip or fall.

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    • Patrick Mallon

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.