Given the nature of work carried out on building sites, they can be dangerous places. Usually the main risks will be to the people actually working on the site, but depending on the work being carried and its proximity to roads and other public areas, others can also be at risk.
A claimant recently approached us to act on their behalf after being injured in Stourbridge while walking along a well-used pedestrian shortcut between two main roads. A building alongside the shortcut had been recently demolished and inadequate fencing placed around the site, which did not appropriately protect pedestrians and allowed for debris to fall onto the path.
In February 2011 our client was walking down the aforementioned path, next to the building site, when he fell into a 3 foot by 3 foot hole in the path. The initial fall into the hole and additional debris that fell onto our client caused a number of cuts and bruises to his face and injuries to his ankle and back.
The difficulty in this claim came in finding who was responsible for maintaining the path, and therefore who was responsible for our client’s accident. Initially the claim was brought against the local Council on the basis that they had not maintained the highway where the accident occurred. This was rejected by the Council, as they denied that the path where the accident happened was a highway.
We investigated the issue further for our client and our research identified the building site owner as being responsible and as such, the claim was aimed at them. Liability for the accident was initially denied by the building site owner as they claimed that they had no knowledge of the accident. We were able to prove that our clients’ accident had happened on their property and that they had not kept the building site safe. As a result, the site owners accepted liability and also put in place substantial and appropriate barriers around the site to stop anything similar happening and temporarily closed the path.
Upon presenting evidence of our claimant’s medical injuries and subsequent lost income and expenses, the defendant’s insurers offered to settle the claim at an amount of £3,500. Nelsons were able to negotiate an increased settlement of £5,495.48.
How Nelsons Can Help
We have experience of dealing with many cases relating to accidents occurring on or near to highways where it can sometimes be difficult to identify the responsible party and who the claim should be brought against. Our team of professional solicitors will carry out full investigation to discover the required information and identify any negligent party.
If you have any questions in relation to the topics discussed in this article, please contact our expert Personal Injury team in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.