The claimant’s details have been changed but this is indeed a true case
Phil Mulryne acted for Mrs T to pursue a personal injury claim as she tripped over the edge of a raised paving slab which was adjacent to a row of local shops. As a result of this accident she sustained an injury to her left elbow/shoulder and left knee.
The claim was put to the Council’s legal representatives who denied liability on the basis that they had in place the appropriate system of inspection and maintenance of the area and at the time of the last inspection prior to the Claimant’s accident, no defect to the area was identified.
It was argued on the Claimant’s behalf that the defect was at such a level that it could not have materialised within such a short period of time between the last inspection and the date of the incident. An engineer’s report was obtained to support this contention.
In view of the denial of liability, court proceedings were commenced. Liability remained in dispute and the matter was listed for a preliminary hearing by the court to provide directions for the future conduct of the claim.
Medical evidence was obtained to support the Claimant’s injuries and it was determined that, due to the Claimant’s pre-accident medical history, not all of the Claimant’s personal injury symptoms were related to the accident, although the Claimant benefited from physiotherapy treatment which meant that her symptoms relating to the accident resolved within a period of around 6 months.
The Claimant did not incur the cost of any further expenses so her claim was limited to personal injury damages.
The Defendants put forward an offer of £1,500 which was rejected. A counter-offer was put forward by Ward & Rider in the sum of £2,000 and the claim was concluded on this basis.
