Claims Against The Council For A Personal Injury

By Danielle Newton. Last Updated 28th September 2023. You’re in a public park and you slip or trip because a hazard wasn’t removed even though the local authority was aware of it. The facilities at the public leisure centre are faulty and you get hurt. A pothole in the road creates a road traffic injury and you suffer harm. Who is responsible for accidents like these? In many cases, it is the local authority that has the legal duty of care. In this article, we discuss what could qualify for claims against the council for personal injury.

If you have suffered an injury in a local authority-controlled place and need to know ‘what can I sue the council for?’ our advisors are ready to help you now. Their advice is free, there’s no obligation for you to proceed with the services of our panel of solicitors and it could help you decide the best way to make a claim against a council for a personal injury that should not have happened.

Call us on 0800 408 7825 or contact us through our website. You can also use the ‘live support’ option for instant guidance.

Claims against the council for personal injury guide

Select A Section

The Criteria For Suing the Council
When Could You Claim Against The Council For An Injury?
Did The Council Owe You A Duty Of Care?
Limitation Periods For Injury Claims Against The Council
Evidence Needed For Claims Against The Council
Calculating Claims Against The Council For A Personal Injury
Contact A Specialist No Win No Fee Lawyer
Related Council Accident Claims

The Criteria For Suing the Council

While you are in a public space the organisation or individual in control of that space owes you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This means that they must ensure your reasonable safety while you use that space.

So, when you are in a space that the local authority controls, such as a public park, they owe you a duty of care. If you are injured because the council failed to adhere to this, you could be eligible for personal injury compensation.

However, you must satisfy the eligibility requirements. You must be able to prove that:

You were owed a duty of care.
This duty was breached.
You suffered injuries as a result of this breach.

You can speak to one of the advisors from our team about compensation claims against local councils. An advisor can also check your eligibility to claim and if it seems like you have a good case, they can connect you to one of the personal injury lawyers from our panel.

When Could You Claim Against The Council For An Injury?

Below, we look at some of the more commonly encountered accident types that a local authority could be responsible for. There may be other areas in their jurisdiction, so it’s always important to check who is truly in control of the area before making claims against the council for a personal injury. Our advisors can help you with this.

Pavement accidents

The council is responsible for the maintenance of some streets and pavements. If you can prove that you tripped and were injured on a broken paving stone or faulty curb that has been in that condition for a prolonged period of time despite being reported, the council could owe you compensation for your injuries. Generally, the defect should be more than 1inch (2.5cm).

Part of the council’s duty is to regularly risk-assess the condition of roads and highways they control to prevent this hazard.

Parks and playgrounds

Public areas can be prone to broken glass or dangerous litter. Public parks and common land can be frequented by families and small children, so an injury of this type can be particularly distressing. The council has a duty to ensure that areas such as this are well maintained and as free as reasonably practicable from any items that could injure users.

Highway and pothole accidents

Just like pavements, some roads and their maintenance come under the control of the local authority. The authority can be responsible for ensuring that streets are clear of debris, for example.

Failure to rectify tarmac faults and potholes within a reasonable time can create dangerous circumstances for road users and lead to a needless collision or vehicle damage. For example, hitting a pothole at moderate speed can be all it takes to create a neck injury.

Leisure and swimming pool accidents

Slipping and tripping in areas such as this can only be safeguarded against as much as is reasonably possible. But the local authority still needs to ensure that their facilities are safe for all to use.

Because the party in control of the place needs to ensure it as safe as reasonably practicable for use, the council could:

Ensure that staff are well-trained in health and safety
Put health and safety procedures in place
Reduce and remove any hazards as quickly as reasonably possible

Social care negligence

The local authority has a duty of care to the people in its community. Anyone who needs to rely on the services of a council has a right to expect that the level of care they receive will meet the correct standards.

Social services and child protective agencies must follow a strict protocol in their involvement with minors and their families or other vulnerable adults. If you can demonstrate that a breach of the duty of care of social services resulted directly in causing you or your loved one harm, you could have solid grounds for claims against the council for any resultant personal injury.

Did The Council Owe You A Duty Of Care?

Some places that are accessible to the public are run by private companies or individuals. These areas may still be subject to the Occupiers’ Liability Act but would a private party’s negligence would not lead to a personal injury claim against the council. Instead, it could lead to a claim against the private party.

Therefore, it’s essential to have clear answers to:

Who was in control of the area where the accident in a public place happened?
What caused the accident?
How exactly were you or a loved one injured?

If there is ambiguity about who might be liable, speak to our advisors. At Public Interest Lawyers, we can help separate the issues and clarify exactly who might be responsible for your injuries and why. We could help you further understand claims against the council for personal injury.

Limitation Periods For Injury Claims Against The Council

If you wish to make a personal injury claim against the council, you will need to start it within a certain time limit, otherwise, it may be time-barred.

The limitation period is set out in the Limitations Act 1980. You generally should start your claim:

Within three years of the date of your accident or;
Within three years of your date of knowledge – the date you were made aware of your injuries if this is later than the accident.

However, there can be some exceptions to this time limit.

Those under 18 cannot represent themselves in a claim. Therefore, the 3-year limitation only begins on the date of their 18^th birthday.

People who lack the mental capacity to start a claim can have their time limit suspended indefinitely. If they recover, the usual 3 years will apply.

A claim can still be started on the behalf of these parties. A court-appointed litigation friend could act on their behalf when suing a local authority.

Please reach out to one of our advisers to learn more about compensation claims against local councils or for more information on how to sue a council successfully.

Evidence Needed For Claims Against The Council

In order to be able to successfully sue a local authority and claim compensation, you will need to be able to prove that their negligence led to your injury.

To do this, you can collect evidence to support your case. This can include evidence that establishes their negligence. If possible, document or collect any material that can act as proof of the hazard that led to your injury, or proof of the council’s negligence. This can be:

Photos of the hazard
The contact details of witnesses who saw the accident happen
Recordings, such as CCTV footage

Claims against the council for personal injury will also require evidence of the harm you sustained. If possible, collect and maintain not just evidence of the injury, but evidence of how it is affecting you. This can come in the form of a report from an independent medical assessment. The report can highlight the severity of your injuries and the impact of them on your quality of life. Additionally, you could provide pictures of your injuries.

Other evidence you can provide could include documentation that shows any financial losses incurred due to your injuries. For example, payslips can prove any loss of earnings.

Please reach out to our team for more information about gathering evidence to support compensation claims against local councils.

Calculating Claims Against The Council For A Personal Injury

There are two potential areas of damages you could claim for when making compensation claims against local councils. One is known as general damages. This amount is based on the impact any physical and psychological injuries caused by the accident have had on your life. Aspects of your injury that will be assessed if you want to sue the local authority include:

How severe your injury is.
Whether any permanent symptoms have been caused.
The difficulty and extensiveness of your treatment plan.
How badly the injury has negatively impacted your life.

This may be evaluated in an independent medical assessment that is often performed as part of the claims process. Your solicitor or lawyer can compare the findings of this assessment to injuries listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help calculate your general damages payout. The JCG compensation brackets are calculated by comparing previous general damages payouts to the nature of the relevant injury.

Please refer to the list of injuries below. These figures have been taken from the latest guidelines, the sixteenth edition, published in April 2022.

Injury	Severity	JCG award bracket	Notes
Brain damage	Moderate (i)	£150,110 to £219,070	moderate to severe intellectual deficit with effect on sight, senses and speech
Hips and Pelvis	Severe (i)	£78,400 to £130,930	badly fractured pelvis requiring surgery and spinal fusion. Substantial residual disability and bladder damage
Back	Severe (ii)	£74,160 to £88,430	nerve root damage, loss of sensation, impaired mobility and other acute conditions
Neck	Severe (iii)	£45,470 to £55,990	fractures, dislocations and tissue damage, ruptured tendons and chronic issues
Ankle	(b) Severe	£31,310 to £50,060	extensive period of treatment with need for plaster cast. Increased risk of osteoarthritis
Knee	Severe (iii)	£26,190 to £43,460	continuing pain and discomfort and the need for remedial surgery
Wrist	(b)	£24,500 to £39,170	permanent disability resulting in restricted motion
Shoulder	(b) Serious	£12,770 to £19,200	dislocation of the shoulder, restricted motion and weakness of grip

These figures are not guaranteed as every claim is unique. However, we can provide you with a more accurate estimate if you get in touch. To do that, we would need to understand more about your potential claim. If you’re wanting to make pothole claims against the council, for instance, please contact us for free legal advice using the details above.

Claims Against The Council For Personal Injury: Special Damages

The other area of damages you could seek compensates you for financial losses caused by your injuries. It’s called special damages. After suffering an injury in a council-run area, you may experience a whole array of unwanted additional expenses as you attempt to deal with your injuries. These can include:

Lost wages or missed income as you recover
Costs of physiotherapy or counselling if it’s not covered by the NHS
Medicine costs
Travel costs (to hospital appointments or work if you cannot currently drive, for example)
Domestic care costs as you recover

There could be many more examples. With the correct evidence (such as bills, receipts or invoices), you could prove how the unnecessary hazard directly injured you in a way that means you incurred all these unwanted expenses. Special damages allow you the opportunity to claim them all back as part of your request for compensation from the council.

Contact A Specialist No Win No Fee Lawyer

Suing the council for a public accident may feel daunting. What’s the best way to approach it? Anyone can start a claim for damages themselves but in cases like this, you might want the expertise and insights of a personal injury lawyer on your side.

No Win No Fee agreements can offer you instant access to good legal representation with no lawyer fees upfront or as the case moves forward. When you work with a lawyer under an agreement such as this, there is a fee to pay at the conclusion of successful cases only. There’s no lawyer fee at all if your case fails.

Our panel of solicitors offer their services on this basis. To see if our advisors could connect you with a solicitor from our panel, why not?:

Call us on 0800 408 7825
Contact us at Public Interest Lawyers to see how we can help your claims against the council for personal injury
Use our live chat for instant answers

Related Council Accident Claims

At Public Interest Lawyers, we can offer guidance on a whole array of personal injury scenarios, including the below.

Injured in an accident on public transport
Accidents at work
Slip and fall claim
Crashes on a public road

These external sources could also prove helpful:

We also have some other guides you may find useful:

Thank you for reading this guide on claims against the council for personal injury.

Article by EA

Publisher UI

Make A Claim Against The Council