Skips are an essential but overlooked part of everyday life, but they also pose a significant hazard to those who work with them or are otherwise near the equipment. The risks should never be underestimated, but accidents and injuries can easily happen when responsible parties don’t follow best practices for using skips. If you are navigating the fallout of an accident that wasn’t your fault, keep reading to learn all about the skip personal injury claims process.
Key Takeaways
- Skips must be transported, placed, and used in accordance with specific regulations.
- Accidents may occur if skips are overloaded, not properly maintained, or poorly placed without a risk assessment.
- They may also happen due to slips and falls, as well as because waste management companies do not provide their employees with sufficient training.
- The British workplace regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), provides information on safe skip hire and the use of skip loaders.
- Our panel of solicitors can take on skip personal injury claims across the country on a No Win No Fee basis.
Our advisors are available 24/7 to answer any questions you might have. There’s nothing to lose from finding out if you can make a personal injury claim, so feel free to get in touch today.
Jump To A Section
- How To Make Skip Personal Injury Claims
- How Much Compensation Can I Get After Being Injured By A Skip?
- What Are The Common Skip Accidents That May Occur?
- Examples Of Injuries Caused By An Accident With A Skip
- What Do I Need When Bringing A Skip Injury Claim?
- No Win No Fee Skip Personal Injury Claims
- Learn More
How To Make Skip Personal Injury Claims
In order to make skip personal injury claims, it first needs to be established how another party’s negligent actions (or inactions) directly caused someone harm. This involves meeting the following basic criteria:
- You were owed a duty of care by the party you intend to claim against.
- This duty of care was breached.
- You were harmed by this breach.
A duty of care is essentially the responsibility that third parties have towards the safety of others. How this duty is met varies by setting, but the principle of protecting another’s safety is always the same.
If you’d like to learn more about the personal injury claims process, all you need to do is get in touch today for a chat with one of our helpful advisors.
How Much Compensation Can I Get After Being Injured By A Skip?
After being injured by a skip, how much compensation you could get in a successful claim will depend on the severity of the harm and the financial losses you suffered as a result. The starting point of any settlement is general damages, which cover the pain and suffering resulting from an injury.
To assess the value of general damages, personal injury solicitors can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication contains guideline compensation brackets for various injuries.
You can see several of the JCG’s brackets in the table below, apart from the first row. You should keep in mind that these brackets are suggestive and do not guarantee how much compensation could be awarded in successful skip personal injury claims.
| Injury type | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple severe injuries & special damages (e.g. medical expenses, lost earnings, and care costs) | Very severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | Quadriplegia, with consideration of level of independence | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Head and brain | Moderately severe, with substantial dependence on others | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Neck | Severe (ii), featuring serious fractures or cervical disc damage | £80,240 to £159,770 |
| Back | Severe (iii), inclusive of disc fractures | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Leg | Severe (iii), serious injuries, such as comminuted fractures | £47,840 to £66,920 |
| Knee | Severe (iii), and there may be movement limitation | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Ankle | Moderate fractures, ligamentous tears, and similar injuries | £16,770 to £32,450 |
| Achilles tendon | Moderate, with partial rupture or significant tendon damage | £15,370 to £25,710 |
| Foot | Modest, including ruptured ligaments | Up to £16,770 |
Special Damages
Skip personal injury claims can also include special damages if the harm you suffered directly had financial repercussions. Special damages can only be claimed for if you have bank statements, receipts, or evidence for costs like the following:
- Loss of earnings or other income incurred due to taking time off work. This includes contributions to pensions and overtime entitlement.
- Medical care, including consultations, medical treatment, and prescription medication.
- Travelling to attend medical or legal consultations and appointments.
- Paying for domestic care or other care-related expenses.
- Making adjustments to your home, such as adding ramps, rails, or lifts.
This is only a snapshot of the recoverable losses, and you can discuss your specific situation in confidence with our advisors.
What Are The Common Skip Accidents That May Occur?
Some of the most common skip accidents include slips, trips, and falls, as well as incidents involving manual handling, lifting, and transport. Below, we examine scenarios involving accidents in public, during skip removals, and at work.
Injured By A Skip In Public
You could be injured by a skip in a public place due to poor placement, a failure to secure the load, or a lack of signage.
- Road traffic accidents: A skip is incorrectly placed, jutting out into a cycle lane without any markers. A cyclist collides with the obstacle and suffers a fractured collarbone.
- Pedestrian accidents: Waste company management places a skip without conducting any risk assessment about potential hazards. This means they fail to identify the risk posed by the uneven pavement, which causes the skip to tip over and leaves a pedestrian with multiple injuries.
Skip Removal Injuries
Skip removal and transportation injuries can happen when skips are improperly moved. This may be due to safety checks being skipped or a lack of proper equipment.
- Crush injuries: A lorry is reversed to collect a skip without the use of warning signals or a banksman. They trap a worker between the vehicle and the skip, causing a severe crush injury to their chest.
- Falling objects: Removal staff fail to secure larger waste items whilst an overfilled skip is being transported. A member of the public is struck on the head by a falling object.
Skip Accidents At Work
Skip accidents at work can include manual handling accidents, slips and falls, and exposure to hazardous materials.
- Manual handling accidents: A worker may be injured whilst loading uneven, heavy waste into a skip without proper equipment or training. They suffer a lower back injury due to improper lifting technique.
- Slips, trips, and falls: A skip is placed in a way that obstructs access routes and reduces visibility. This results in an employee colliding with a work vehicle they were unable to see, leaving them with a fractured hip.
These are just some instances in which skip personal injury claims could be made. Please contact us for an assessment of your case.
Examples Of Injuries Caused By An Accident With A Skip
Skip accidents can cause bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, and trauma to the head or brain.
- Fractured or broken bones.
- Soft tissue injuries, such as sprains, strains, and ligament damage.
- Head injuries, brain damage, and concussions.
- Lacerations and other wounds.
- Psychological harm, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety.
These are just some examples of injuries which may be caused by an accident with a skip. Please contact our team to learn more about how to claim compensation for your injuries.
What Do I Need When Bringing A Skip Injury Claim?
You can bring a skip injury claim by collecting evidence and making sure that you start pursuing compensation within 3 years of your accident. You must submit evidence which proves that someone else was at fault and which shows how you were harmed. To do so, you can submit,
- Medical records, such as those from a hospital or GP,
- Details of any medical assessment arranged on your behalf by a solicitor.
- Photos of the skip that might show how it led to the accident, such as improper placement, etc.
- Video of the accident taking place, such as from a car dashcam or a cyclist’s helmet camera.
- Details of anyone who can give your solicitor eyewitness testimony.
As touched on, personal injury claims generally have 3 years in which to be filed. However, there are exceptions to this rule, which you can learn about by reading our time limits guide and chatting with one of our advisors. They would also be happy to discuss how a solicitor from our panel could help obtain evidence for your claim.
No Win No Fee Skip Personal Injury Claims
The solicitors on our panel are experts at handling No Win No Fee skip personal injury claims, and provide a tailored, nationwide service. If a solicitor from our panel can help you, they will do so using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This type of No Win No Fee arrangement enables their clients to start their claim without paying any upfront service fees.
In fact, you wouldn’t pay any service fees for your solicitor’s work at any stage of the claim, nor if your case loses. If you do win, your solicitor will deduct a fee from your compensation. This success fee is limited, thanks to there being a cap on the percentage that can be deducted.
The benefits of working with our panel of solicitors don’t end at the CFAs they offer; you can also gain from decades of combined experience and training. This expertise means you can expect:
- A personalised service, tailored to your individual needs.
- Help with accessing rehabilitative services.
- Active support with gathering evidence.
- A clear and concise explanation of the claims process and legal terms.
- Professional, dedicated advocacy throughout negotiations to secure a fair settlement on your behalf.
Contact Our Team Of Advisors
If you’re ready to get started with your compensation journey, contact our team of advisors today to take your first steps towards beginning the skip personal injury claims process. You can do so by:
- Calling 0800 408 7825.
- Using our form to contact us.
- Talking to us live.
Learn More
You can learn more about related accident and injury claims in these resources:
- Find out about public liability claims.
- Check if you could claim for a fractured cheek.
- See whether you could claim for an ankle injury.
References:
- Apply for a skip permit or licence in this government resource.
- Get first aid information in this NHS guide.
- Read about personal protective equipment (PPE) at work.
If you’d like to find out more about the skip personal injury claims process, get in touch today for a chat with one of our friendly advisors.