Stumbled Down A Pothole

[jaycee401]

my friend stumbled down a pothole and landed on all fours hurting her arm, shoulder and knees, it was in a church car park, she took a photo of the hole, but there is a notice in the car park saying users of this car park do so at their own risk, the management will not accept responsibility for damage, accident or loss. But does this cover everything and everyone or just to the cars?

[black_cat51]

are you saying she'd like to get the church to pay her some money for her fall, or that she'd like to force the church to repair the carpark?

[furrypusscat]

If she is looking at making a claim, the photo will need to show the depth of the pothole and the length/width ie a ruler needs to be on the photo showing the relevant measurements. Think the Church would still be liable even though signs are displayed. If there is serious injury then she should contact CAB for advice.

[furrypusscat]

Also meant to say that the Church should hold Public Liability Insurance to cover such incidents.

[breathe21]

Hi yes she hurt herself and as she is in her 60,s she was shook up. The hole needs repairing as lots of elderly people use the church.

[B00]

breathe and jaycee = same person?

[atalanta]

Just saying you are not responsible does not necessarily mean you aren't responsible. If she had a right to be there, and if other people also have a right to walk where she was walking, the Church may well have some obligation not to cause her to risk being hurt.
Did this happen after dark ? Was it difficult to see the pothole ? Was the lighting inadequate ?

[breathe21]

Breathe is my sis im on her ipad and it is logged in to her account. She had a right to be therr, its a busy place and the hole is near to where you step onto the path leading into the church annex.

[atalanta]

Any chance the incident might have been caught on a nearby Closed Circuit Television camera ? If you could find such a piece of evidence, the Church might not be able to argue. It is one thing to say "if you leave your car here and someone steals it, don't blame us" and another to say " don't expect us to stop you being hurt if we can't be bothered to look after the state of the surface".
Mind you, if they had put up barriers and warning signs while they waited for repairs to be made, you might not have such a good case. But I guess they didn't.

[breathe21]

Thanks for replies. We will check out cctv. No warning signs or barriers

[factor-fiction]

Fair enough, jaycee- it's just a bit easier to follow if people use their own names when answering their own questions.

[breathe21]

Does she write to the church or the borough council?

[black_cat51]

so i'm still not clear what she wants the outcome to be - compensation for her hurt or for the church to fix the hole.
If the latter, i would have thought it would be the best course of action just to ask them and see what they say.

[New Judge]

She will have to prove that the church was negligent. That is, that they knew that the hole existed (or at the very least were negligent in inspecting their property), that they knew it was potentially dangerous and that they did nothing about it.

[factor-fiction]

It's probably a good idea to let the church know as a matter of urgency so they can, it is hoped, deal with it and prevent someone else injuring themselves

[diddlydo]

What is this litigation culture all about? I would expect an adult to look where they were going and one doesn't expect church car-parks to be surfaced to motorway standards.

[cassa333]

I tend to agree qwith Diddlydo. Look were you are going and if you can't (because of some sort of disability) then get someone to help.

But hay, litigation is the way to make a bit of money.

[hc4361]

Liability for personal injury cannot be excluded by any notice so your friend will be able to claim if all the usual requirements are satisfied.

[black_cat51]

i suppose though it depends on how hurt she was. If she fell over, hurt herself, grazed her knees, felt a bit stiff and silly the next day i can't see she would get very much money for her trouble, perhpas £25
if she broke her collar bone, was in hospital for several nights, lost out on pay and so on not £25

[boxtops]

From my days working in Liability Insurance, those signs no NOT exempt the owner of the car park from negligence claims. The signs are merely to indicate that the church is not responsible for the negligent actions of other users of the car park - and the management may well be responsible if the pothole is caused because they had not maintained the car park adequately.

Your friend needs to take photos of the pothole and measure it, then send a formal letter to the Church saying that she wants to claim for her accident on their premises, in respect of.... (whatever she's claiming for).. If she has injured herself it also ought to be entered in the Church's accident book at the earliest opportunity (ideally it should have been straight away). Did this happen at night? - if so was the car park well lit, in addition to having a broken surface? If there are injuries she needs to report to the GP as well, because a medical report will almost certainly been requested by the Church's liability insurers.

[furrypusscat]

If she goes ahead with a claim, in addition to boxtops input, she could also claim for loss of earnings if still working and requires time off, also for damaged clothing in addition to pain and suffering. Photos of any injuries, bruising, swelling etc also would be useful.