I fell badly on a dodgy piece of paving at school and they haven'y even apologised.

[ExLondonite]

I'm not a 'pick up the phone and call injury lawyers r us' sort of person, but this really peed me off!!!
To set the scene ... rainy, early evening. I'm late for pick-up, it's dark - before the clocks went back. I'm running because my 7 yr old is going to bollock me for being kept waiting, I leap over a puddle onto 'paving' . 'Paving' is in inverted commas, because 'paving' was actually a very slippery (like ice-slippery) wooden sleeper that 'trims' the side of the length of the pavement. I end up doing a comedy, whole body in the air, landing on my side, in a puddle, car keys flying out of my hand fall. A nice, young guy in his twenties walking past offers me a hand and picks up my keys for me, I'm trying to recalibrate and know something's happened to my knee, a lovely mum I know comes running over and tells me she's mentioned the wooden sleepers to the headmistress ... so I arrive at school entrance limping, my suede coat dripping and feeling like I'm stupidly about to cry!
The first person that sees me is the headmistress who looks suitably sympathetic and tells me she's going to fill in an accident report form. I warn her about the wooden sleepers - they're truly dangerous. And it's great, the next day there's an email warning all parents about them, signs go up, and three days later the metal plates are put on top of the sleepers.
Eight weeks later, after a twisted knee and realigned sacroiliac joint, signed off by my chiropractor, I'm okay but feeling totally peed off. Why should I have to pay for these sessions, couldn't they at least have paid for my dry cleaning and said 'sorry' , an 'are you okay; email wouldn't have gone amiss. I know we now live in a libellous society, but it all felt so wrong.
I called the school and asked them to pay for my four chiropractic sessions. I felt almost fraud-like asking them to do this. I felt like a grabby, faker and very even worse when the accounts dept sent me an email saying 'accidents do happen', no, they wouldn't pay for my chiropractic sessions, their insurance wouldn't cover it and they were glad I felt better. ARGH!!! Just so you know, I've never done this before - claimed for an accident, I have had 3 children at the school - and...and ... argh!
So, I'm left with the sad, realisation - which has probably always been the case with some schools - that they are, after all, businesses, company policy comes in front of all the moral values they say they teach our children - compassion, kindness, respect for others ..and I'm just lucky I came out of it unscathed, but massively peed off/let down/rather sad/disillusioned/peed off etc.

[limitedperiodonly]

What is disgusting about saying that if someone thinks they have a grievance and a situation is dangerous, they should pursue it shadesofwinter? We should always pursue things that we genuinely think are wrong, even when many people are telling us we are wrong.

And no, I'd won't fuck right off whois, if that is all right with you.

[shadesofwinter]

If you genuinely can't see how offensive your analogy is, I feel very sorry for you.

How fucking dare you compare what happened that day with a woman being pissed off because she slipped and hurt her leg and the school won't pay for 4 chiropractor sessions. Christ.

[limitedperiodonly]

The OP wants to gain sympathy and raise a grievance. I don't know or care whether she is genuine. I do care that people have judged her case on the basis that she was running, wearing nice clothes or whether the school's insurance would rise.

All irrelevant but that appears to be the MN way.

[Floggingmolly]

Op's situation was not inherently dangerous, limited. How dangerous can walking down a path be??
If she'd stayed on the path like everybody else instead of galumphing along leaping over puddles without a care as to where she might land, she may have managed the journey upright.
Maybe she needs to weigh up her own personal safety versus the "bollocking" to be administered by her 7 year old and decide what's more important.

[limitedperiodonly]

How dangerous can it be to galumph along the pavement without a care in the world floggingmolly? We're encouraged to do that Couch To 5K thing for the good of our health. Shouldn't we do that, then? Or are the pavements not fit for it?

Accidents do happen. I'm not arguing they don't. But let's say the pavement the OP galumphed upon is dangerous. Given the cut backs in local authority spending because of austerity, they often are.

Would it not be right for her to bring it to the attention of the authorities for the good of people with disabilities, who may be even more vulnerable whether they're wearing a suede coat or not?

[PresidentOliviaMumsnet]

AHEM

[shadesofwinter]

None of the things you quote there are irrelevant when you actually put them back into the context in which they were originally mentioned.

But frankly I'm not wasting any more breath on you if you are gong to continue to defend your disgusting comparisons.

[Floggingmolly]

?? Op left the pavement and ran along the edging... If she'd galloped the other way, into the road; she could have been just a stain on the Tarmac at this point. This does not need to be brought to anyone's attention, we know to stay on the path when we're old enough to be allowed out on our own.

[Palomb]

If you're doing c25k in stilettos then you deserve to get injured. We all have some responsibility to manage our own well being.. Wear suitable clothing for the weather and don't leap about in the sodden darkness and no-one will get hurt.

[limitedperiodonly]

OliviaMumsnet I acknowledge your Ahem and will abide by the rules or be deleted. But I didn't ask for the deletion of Whois post. I don't think there's anything wrong with being told to fuck off. That's what she thinks and that's fine by me. If it was MNHQ's decision to delete, then okay. But I don't want whois or others thinking I complained about her.

[AugustaFinkNottle]

Sorry I am really struggling to understand why you think this is the school's problem

Because they had a potentially dangerous obstacle, namely the wooden sleeper, which they had been warned about but which they chose to do nothing about. Further, by taking precautions after OP's accident they acknowledged that it was dangerous, that an accident was foreseeable, and that there were relatively easy steps they could have taken previously to prevent accidents like this from happening.

[AugustaFinkNottle]

Yeah, so council tax payers like all of us can pay for your fucking coat and chiropractor

You don't know that this is a local authority maintained school. And it's the insurance company that will pay, not council taxpayers. The premium might go up, but the amount would be negligible.

[PresidentOliviaMumsnet]

Thanks Limited - Reporting is confidential and we don't allow personal attacks - which we usually consider telling someone to fuck right off to be.
Thanks

[AddToBasket]

OP, if you are still reading, lots of people have been unfair to you. If you think you have a claim, then make one. If you are BU then the insurance company (not the school) will tell you.

Your claim will be made against the LA insurance - the school accounts department are certainly not the decision makers. TBH, defending claims is what insurance is for, so your claim will be defended by the school/LA but if you have genuine losses (chiropractor, etc) and can make your case then you could recover something.

People make these claims all the time and it has massive benefits. Part of the reason we and our children live and work in safer environments is because insurance companies demand institutions meet high safety standards to avoid the claims in the first place. Don't feel bad.

[limitedperiodonly]

It's a difficult job Olivia. Sorry to be snotty. Going to bed soon, which you'll probably be pleased about

[whois]

I can't believe the death of ninty six people is being compared to slipping over in the rain, whilst rushing, after deviating from the pathway and getting a nice coat a bit mucky. Ninety six people. Who died. Through no fault of their own, as a result of police negligence. Is being compared to a mucky coat. Just.... Argh.

You wear nice things, you risk them getting dirty. You run in the rain, you risk slipping over. It's a natural consequence from not taking enough care.

Being crushed to death is not the natural convenience from following police direction at a sporting event and I think it's shameful and disingenuous to try and pretend you honestly believe it's the same.

[whois]

My friend broke her leg slipping over when running on wet grass. In the park. Where you are meant to run and walk.

Maybe she should sue the council for not putting a 'warning, grass is slippy when wet' sign up?

[limitedperiodonly]

People make these claims all the time and it has massive benefits. Part of the reason we and our children live and work in safer environments is because insurance companies demand institutions meet high safety standards to avoid the claims in the first place. Don't feel bad.

Amen

[AugustaFinkNottle]

If she'd stayed on the path like everybody else instead of galumphing along leaping over puddles without a care as to where she might land, she may have managed the journey upright.

And if the school didn't have a slippery area by the pavement which, as they acknowledged by their subsequent actions, was entirely avoidable, she may also have managed the journey upright.

I never understand this idea on MN that it's somehow dreadfully bad taste to claim compensation where someone's negligence is either the sole or a partial cause of an injury to someone else. Suppose, for instance, you were driving safely when someone else hit your car as a direct result of their negligence, your injuries were exacerbated because you didn't have your seatbelt on properly but you would have suffered serious injuries even if it had properly fastened. Would you really take the view that you should just suck it up?

[Floggingmolly]

Bollocks

[Yourface]

Sounds like the school had some ill advised slippery sleepers installed. Hope none of the children have ever slipped on them, unlike a child at our school, who slipped on decking and ended up having to have a massive operation on her leg. Similarly the head didn't apologise and likewise the parents didn't sue. I say sue the fuck out of the school, so I can feel better about our twat of a headmaster by proxy.

[AugustaFinkNottle]

whois, can you not see the difference with your friend's case? Anyone running on wet grass can be taken to know that it's there and that it's likely to be slippery. There is no reason why someone running along a path should know that in one particular area the stone has been replaced by very slippery wood.

[Makesomethingupyouprick]

Limited - if an entire stadium of witnesses were present and an entire Police force were negligent and subsequently lied to cover up their fuck up and 96 people DIED never mind the trauma experienced by people who witnessed the slow suffocating death of their loved ones or experienced the trauma of believing they were slowly suffocating themselves..

..and that trauma was subsequently negated and blamed on them by hostile media and the very government assigned to protect and advocate for them as citizens of this country. ..

Then.....then you may have a point. But you haven't. All that happened here is one woman fell over running in the dark rain and damaged a coat and paid for private treatment which would be available on the NHS if really needed.

Your reference to Hillsborough is extremely offensive and frankly ridiculous. I won't use offensive words (although they may be justified in my anger and disgust at your posts) as I want my post to stand and not be deleted.

I don't understand you at all and I don't like you or your opinions and I think you should be ashamed for one moment thinking there could be any comparison.

[whois]

whois, can you not see the difference with your friend's case? Anyone running on wet grass can be taken to know that it's there and that it's likely to be slippery. There is no reason why someone running along a path should know that in one particular area the stone has been replaced by very slippery wood

Ah, so you know that grass is slippy when wet? How do you know that?

I know that wood is slippy when wet! Surely anyone taken to running near sleepers or decking knows that wood is really slippy when wet?

So actually the examples are the same. Grass is slippy in the rain. Decking/sleepers are slippy in the rain. This is common knowledge therefore care should be taken.

[whois]

Exactly Makesomethingupyouprick