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Stair and staircase fall claims.

Missing handrails, worn nosings and inadequate lighting. Building regulations set measurable standards, which makes these claims unusually evidence-led.

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Stair and Staircase Fall Claims
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Stair and Staircase Fall Claims

What the law requires

Staircases in public and commercial buildings are subject to Building Regulations covering the going and rise of each step, handrail height and provision, and lighting. Those are numbers, not opinions, and a staircase either complies or it does not.

An occupier is not automatically liable because a staircase is old, but a departure from the applicable standard, combined with a fall, is a strong starting point.

What decides a claim like this

Liability is established on records far more often than on recollection. In this kind of claim the documents that matter most are:

  • Measurements of the going, rise and any variation between steps.
  • Handrail presence, height and continuity.
  • The condition of nosings and any anti-slip treatment.
  • Lighting levels, and whether a failed light had been reported.

What to do now

The evidence that decides these claims has a short life. If the accident was recent:

  1. 1
    Report it to whoever runs the place Ask for the incident number or a copy of the report. Occupiers are not obliged to give you one, but a request on record is useful.
  2. 2
    Photograph the hazard immediately The defect will be repaired, cleaned or signed within days, and once it is gone it is very hard to prove.
  3. 3
    Measure it if you safely can Depth and size decide highway and building-regulation claims. A coin or a shoe in frame gives scale.
  4. 4
    Get the injury recorded A&E, a minor injuries unit or your GP. The date on that record matters.

How long you have to claim

The general limitation period for a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident, or from the date you first knew the injury was significant and attributable to someone else. If you were under 18 at the time, the three years runs from your eighteenth birthday. Where the injured person lacks mental capacity, time may not run at all.\n\nThe practical deadline is shorter than the legal one. CCTV is overwritten, defects are repaired and records are archived, so a claim started early is almost always a stronger claim.

How we work

We assess the claim, obtain the records that decide it, instruct an independent medical expert and deal with the insurer throughout. Personal injury claims of this kind are run on a No Win, No Fee agreement: there is nothing to pay upfront, and nothing to pay us for our work if the claim does not succeed. A success fee is deducted from the compensation if it does, and we set that out in writing before you commit to anything.

Common Questions

Questions we are asked about stair and staircase fall claims

The building is very old.
Older buildings are not required to be brought up to current standards in every respect, but they are required to be reasonably safe. Worn nosings, a missing handrail or a step of a different height are hazards whatever the age of the building.
Should I have been holding the handrail?
If there was one, and it was reachable. Where there was no handrail at all, or it stopped short, that argument tends to fall away quickly.

Talk it through with a solicitor

Tell us what happened and we will tell you honestly whether there is a claim, what it would involve and how long it is likely to take. No obligation, and no cost for the conversation.

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This work is No Win, No Fee

Nothing to pay upfront. No fee at all if it does not succeed.

Claims of this type are handled under a conditional fee agreement. You pay us nothing to start, nothing as it runs, and no legal fee whatsoever if the claim does not win. If it does, our fee is a percentage of your compensation — capped, and agreed with you in writing before any work begins.

  • Nothing upfront No deposit, no hourly billing, no invoice while the case runs.
  • Nothing if you lose The fee is conditional on winning. If the claim fails you owe us nothing for our work.
  • Capped, and in writing You see the percentage and a worked example in pounds before you sign anything.

It is not the same as risk-free, and we will not tell you it is. Our fee genuinely is — but the wider costs position has exceptions worth understanding before you start. Read exactly how it works, and what it does not cover →

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