By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 26th January 2024. Welcome to our guide on pothole accident compensation. Please look at our guide, where we will discuss pothole accident claims and provide free legal advice on making a pothole claim. Throughout the course of the guide, we are going to address how a personal injury lawyer could offer to handle your case under a No Win No Fee agreement and discuss how much compensation you could be awarded, whether it’s a pothole on a private road or one on land controlled by local authorities..
Pothole accident and how to make a pothole claim
Pothole accidents happen in many ways, and they can affect pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists. They can happen anywhere, in the street, or a publicly accessible building such as supermarkets. They can also happen at work.
If you have been injured to tripping on or falling down a pothole, no matter where it happened, Accident Claims UK can help you claim compensation for falling down a pothole for a wide range of injuries as a sprained ankle pothole injury, not to mention your pain and suffering. Call us on 0800 073 8801 to begin your pothole injury claims today.
Select a Section:
- When Could You Make A Pothole Accident Claim?
- Time Limit For Making A Pothole Injury Claim
- Accident Due To Potholes – How Is Compensation Calculated?
- No Win No Fee Pothole Accident Claims
- Useful Links Relating To Pothole Accident Claims
When Could You Make A Pothole Accident Claim?
If you have been injured in an accident due to a pothole, you may wonder if you could claim compensation. To have a valid claim, you would need to prove that the party responsible for the road breached a duty of care towards you, and this caused you to suffer an injury.
Under the Highways Act 1980, those responsible for the upkeep of roads have a legal duty to maintain them. For example, this may be a local council. Should a local authority be made aware of a pothole, they should ensure to fix the issue within a reasonable timeframe.
If a local authority fails to fix a pothole that they were aware of within a reasonable timeframe, and this causes you to suffer an injury as a result, you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim.
To learn more about the eligibility criteria for making pothole accident claims, or to see if you could receive support from one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, please contact an advisor. They can also inform you on how to report a pothole to a local authority.
Time Limit For Making A Pothole Injury Claim
The Limitation Act 1980 sets a time limit of three years to make a pothole injury claim. The three-year period starts from the date of the accident.
However, there are some exceptions to this. For example, pothole accident claims involving injured children would have a pause applied to the time limit until their 18th birthday. They will then have three years from this date to start the claiming process. Alternatively, a litigation friend could make a claim for them prior to their 18th birthday.
Furthermore, the time limit is suspended for those who lack the required mental capacity to make their own claim. It will only reinstate if they regain this capacity and will run from the date of recovery. Or, a litigation friend could claim on their behalf while the time limit is suspended.
To learn more about when you could make a pothole claim against a council, contact our advisors.
Accident Due To Potholes – How Is Compensation Calculated?
If you’re eligible to make a personal injury claim for a pothole that has caused you injuries, you could receive general damages as part of your settlement. These damages cover the pain and suffering you’ve experienced due to your injuries.
It is important to note that compensation is awarded on a case-by-case basis, meaning how much you receive will be affected by the factors affecting your claim. However, to help legal professionals value this head of claim, they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document provides guideline compensation amounts for various types of injuries. We have included some of the figures listed in the 16th edition of this publication in the table below.
The table is intended as a guide only.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries with associated financial losses and costs | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | Serious combinations of injuries resulting in financial losses such as loss of earnings, and care costs, as well as serious pain and suffering. |
| Back Injury | Severe (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Involving spinal cord and nerve root damage for example. |
| Back Injury | Moderate (i) | £27,760 to £38,780 | Residual disabilities that are less severe than above but involve significant pain and discomfort. |
| Neck Injury | Severe (i) | In the region of £148,330 | Associated with paraplegia that is incomplete or spastic quadriparesis. |
| Neck Injury | Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Dislocations or fractures leading to spinal fusion, for example. |
| Arm Injury | Severe (a) | £96,160 to £130,930 | Falling short of amputation but leaving the person as if the arm was lost. |
| Hand Injury | Serious Injuries (e) | £29,000 to £61,910 | Reducing the hand to around 50% capacity. |
| Ankle Injury | Severe (b) | £31,310 to £50,060 | Injuries with pins and plates for example, with a protracted recovery. |
| Ankle Injury | Moderate (c) | £13,740 to £26,590 | Ligament tears or fractures resulting in instability. |
| Shoulder Injury | Severe (a) | £19,200 to £48,030 | Injuries involving brachial plexus damage, for example. |
| Shoulder Injury | Moderate (c) | £7,890 to £12,770 | Including injuries such as frozen shoulders. |
Those eligible to claim general damages for an accident due to potholes may also be able to receive special damages as part of their settlement. Special damages compensate for the financial losses or expenses that can be directly linked with your injuries. For example, if your injuries required you to take time off work to recover, you may be able to claim for a loss of earnings under this heading. Some other examples of the losses you could claim for under special damages include:
- Medical expenses.
- Essential travel costs.
- Care costs.
Presenting a copy of your payslips, invoices, or bank statements relating to these losses, could help support your claim for special damages.
For a free valuation of your potential personal injury claim, you can contact one of our friendly advisors today.
No Win No Fee Pothole Accident Claims
If you are eligible to make a pothole injury claim, it may be a good idea to get help from a solicitor. One of our solicitors who has experience with pothole accident claims may offer to take on your case on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement.
Under this agreement, you will not pay anything to your solicitor upfront or during the course of your claim for their services. You also will not pay them for the work they have provided if your case fails.
Instead, if your claim is successful, they will deduct a small legally capped percentage of your compensation as a success fee.
If you are considering making a pothole claim against a council and would like to see if our No Win No Fee solicitors could help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:
- Call 0800 073 8801
- You can contact us online
- Or, speak to an advisor via live chat.
Useful Links Relating To Pothole Accident Claims
- How To Claim Compensation After An Accident In a Public Place?
- UK Government site to report a pothole
- Dealing with and treating sprains and strains info published by the NHS in the UK
- UK Government database of potholes and road/pavement damage
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on pothole accident claims. We hope you have learned a lot about how to claim pothole accident compensation. If you have questions about making a pothole claim, please don’t hesitate to call us.