Accidents on Private Land
When you are invited onto private land or are otherwise entitled to be there the owner of that land or property may owe you a duty of care to keep you reasonably safe. Examples of private land include business premises, a shop, a wedding venue, a restaurant, a car park, a sports centre and many more besides.
This duty of care means the owner of the property might need to inspect and maintain their land and the premises on it properly, fix any problems with it that are reported to them or that they find out upon an inspection and protect visitors to the property from any dangers on it or make sure appropriate warnings are given about any dangers on the property. If the owner of the land fails to do that, they might be liable for any injuries you suffer whilst on their land.
A claim for compensation for suffering injuries in those circumstances is usually called an occupiers’ liability claim. Examples of occupiers’ liability claims include:
- Slips on water or wet surfaces in shops
- Falling down stairs due to there being no handrail or the steps being worn down
- Cutting yourself on sharp edges of equipment or fixtures and fittings in the premises
- Injury from poorly maintained or broken equipment on the premises
- Falling down a hole or trench that was not properly blocked by barriers or signposted
If you unfortunately suffer an injury on someone else’s land, there are some things you can do which might help if you later decide to bring a claim:
- First and foremost, seek medical advice to make sure you get the treatment you need and tell the medical practitioner what happened
- If you can, take pictures of the area you fell or the item of equipment you sustained injury upon
- Report the accident to the owner of the land or a supervisor on the premises and, if they have one, put it in the accident book
- Keep a separate note of what you say when you report the accident, who you reported it to and when
- Take names and addresses of any witnesses to the accident
If you don’t manage to do all of that, please do not worry as our experienced occupiers’ liability accident claim solicitors will help you with your claim. At Liverpool Legal, our friendly, expert occupiers’ liability solicitors would be happy to discuss your claim on a no win no fee basis. Click here to email our occupiers’ liability solicitors or call us on 0151 702 5400.