Claiming after a slip, trip or fall
Slips, trips and falls are the single most common cause of injury in UK public places and workplaces. A claim arises where the occupier of the premises — a supermarket, a pub, a gym, a landlord or a local authority — failed to take reasonable care to keep the area safe, and you were injured as a result.
The legal foundation is the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, which requires occupiers to take such care as is reasonable to see that visitors are reasonably safe. For highways and pavements, the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on the local authority to maintain them. Our solicitors bring slip and trip claims throughout England and Wales on a No Win, No Fee basis.
These claims turn on a simple question: was the hazard one the occupier knew about, or should have known about, and did they do enough about it? That is why evidence gathered quickly matters so much.
Where slip and trip claims arise
We act for people injured in every kind of location. The most common are:
- Supermarkets and shops Spillages left without warning cones, freshly mopped floors with no signage, trailing cables and stock left in aisles.
- Pavements and public highways Raised or sunken paving slabs, potholes, uncovered utility works and tree-root damage. A defect of around 25mm or more is often actionable.
- Restaurants, pubs and clubs Wet or greasy floors, poorly lit steps, spilled drinks and worn or uneven flooring.
- Workplaces Oily factory floors, unmarked steps, cluttered walkways and unsafe ladders or stairwells.
- Car parks and stairwells Broken surfaces, missing handrails, failed lighting and unsalted ice in winter.
- Rented housing Defective stairs, loose flooring and broken external paths that a landlord has failed to repair.
- Gyms and leisure centres Wet changing-room floors, poolside surfaces and badly maintained equipment.
- Hospitals and public buildings Where cleaning regimes or maintenance fell below a reasonable standard.
Injuries from slips, trips and falls
People often assume a fall is trivial. In practice the injuries can be substantial, particularly for older claimants:
- Wrist and arm fractures
- Hip fractures
- Ankle and foot injuries
- Back and spinal injuries
- Head injuries and concussion
- Knee and ligament damage
- Shoulder injuries and dislocation
- Facial injuries and dental damage
- Soft tissue injuries and bruising
- Loss of confidence and anxiety
What to do after a slip or trip
Hazards get cleaned up and defects get repaired, often within hours. These steps protect your claim:
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1
Report it before you leave Tell the manager, duty staff or reception and make sure an incident report is completed. Ask for a copy or note the name of the person you told.
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2
Photograph the hazard immediately The spill, the raised slab, the missing sign, the failed light. Include something for scale — a coin or your foot beside a paving defect is ideal.
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3
Measure a trip hazard For pavement and paving claims, the height of the defect is often decisive. A photograph with a ruler or coin against it is worth a great deal.
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4
Get witness details Other shoppers or passers-by who saw the fall, or who can say the hazard had been there for some time.
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5
See a doctor Attend A&E or your GP the same day where possible, so the injury is recorded and dated by an independent professional.
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6
Keep the footwear you were wearing Occupiers routinely allege unsuitable shoes. Retaining them, unaltered, closes that argument off.
How much compensation could you receive?
Compensation for a slip, trip or fall claim is assessed in two parts, as with any personal injury claim. No solicitor can promise a figure at the outset, but we can explain exactly how the calculation is built.
General damages — the injury itself
This covers the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the injury: its severity, how long it lasts and what it prevents you doing. Courts value this using the Judicial College Guidelines, supported by the independent medical evidence obtained in your case.
Special damages — your financial losses
This covers the money the fall actually cost you: lost earnings for time off, private physiotherapy, prescriptions, travel to hospital and appointments, care from family while you were immobile, and damaged clothing, glasses or a phone.
Take your photographs before you leave the scene if you possibly can. Occupiers clean spills and councils patch pavements quickly, and a claim can fail simply because no one recorded what the hazard actually looked like.
Proving the occupier was at fault
An occupier is not automatically liable just because you fell. The question is whether they took reasonable care. That means we have to show the hazard existed, that they knew or ought to have known about it, and that a reasonable occupier would have done more.
In practice this involves obtaining the defendant's own records: cleaning and inspection schedules, accident reports for the same location, CCTV, maintenance logs and, for pavement claims, the council's highway inspection records. A supermarket that cannot produce a completed cleaning rota for the relevant period is in real difficulty; a council that inspected a street a year late is likewise.
Councils have a specific statutory defence under section 58 of the Highways Act if they can show a reasonable system of inspection and repair was in place. Testing that defence against their actual records is central to a pavement claim, and it is work we do as standard.
Time limits for slip and trip claims
The limitation period is three years from the date of the fall, extended to the eighteenth birthday for children and potentially suspended where the injured person lacks mental capacity.
Evidence in these claims decays faster than in almost any other type of personal injury case. CCTV is commonly overwritten within 14 to 30 days, cleaning records are archived, and the defect itself is repaired. If you have had a fall, it is worth speaking to a solicitor within weeks rather than months.