£16.3 million to cover claims, but not a penny to spend on repairing pavements
Another example of how some local authorities can get their priorities wrong when it comes to dealing with accident prevention was revealed by Help the Aged in their Falling Short survey recently. Apparently 65 local councils were asked how much money they put away to cover the cost of any claims against them, and how much they spent on repairs to pavements and walkways. The survey revealed that some councils fear legal action against them so much that they put more money aside to cover any claims than they spend on repairing the pavements in their area.
£250,000 was the average amount of money set aside by the councils, who between them spent around £31.5 million on repairs to pavements. However, one council had only spent £620,000 on repairs to accident black spots, saving nearly £1 million to cover litigation costs. The most extreme example was of a council that had held back funds to cover compensation payouts five times larger than the £62,000 that had been spent on repairs. With the amounts of money being saved for the “rainy day” scenario of paying out compensation, it’s not surprising that 38 of the 43 councils answered yes to the question “Does your council face funding shortfalls in its work to adequately maintain kerbs, pavements and public walkways?”
The survey shows just how bizarre some council’s priorities are. Ironically, by neglecting to spend money on the upkeep of public spaces and pavements, they are leaving themselves open to more claims from people injured after falling over on unsafe paving, or tripping up on cracks and uneven walkways. For many people, particularly the elderly, poorly maintained pavement surfaces can be very dangerous, if you are unsteady on your feet the last thing you want is to get caught by a paving stone sticking up. There has been criticism of solicitors acting for slip, trip and fall clients as a common perception is that firms like Camps Solicitors will take on any case, even ones with no prospects for success, in order to make money.
The truth of the matter is that it is not in our interest to take on claims that fail – quite simply we won’t get paid. If councils and other public bodies responsible for maintaining the pavements and roadways took a more pro-active approach to their statutory duties, then a lot of the accidents that typically occur could be avoided. When deciding accident compensation claims a court will base its decision on whether it was reasonable for the council to repair the defect. This is not the same as saying every chip in every paving stone must be repaired, and many times a claim won’t succeed if, for example, the defect was relatively new, or the claimant already knew there was a problem with that area of pavement.
Compensation claims for tripping on the pavement against a local council do not require extravagant sums of money. In fact simple measures such as signs showing holes in the pavement, lowered kerbs at popular crossing places, and better street lighting can make a real difference to the number of people tripping or falling on the streets.
