To sue Royal Mail?

[SickofThomasTheTank]

Just a quick one...

Yesterday whilst coming out of Sorting Office, I managed to trip on/in a small-ish Pot hole in the Sorting Office Car Park. Turns out my ankle is broken. I'll be in a cast for 4-6 weeks.

As a lone parent, living in a 3 storey house this has caused huge upheaval. We've had to come stay with my Mum who lives in a bungalow. Not ideal and a huge break in routine for my possibly-autistic 3yr old.

So AIBU to take it down the Legal Route against Royal Mail?

I contacted the County Council at first as I assumed it would be down to them. However they swiftly informed me that due to this being within Royal Mail's 'enclosure' that it is firmly under their jurisdiction....

Please be nice, I am asking not assuming!

Thanks

You may well have legal expenses cover on your houshold policy. Start there

I really wish you wouldn’t. If too many people do this then they will simply close the car park. Then the inconvience for everyone including single parents will be huge.

I really don’t follow that

OP - get some legal advice and get any compensation due.

But asking here - you might as well ask for advice as to how to drown kittens or slap babies

Umm, I really don’t understand why you are posting. You are within your rights to claim compensation and you already seem to have decided to go ahead with it so its a completely pointless AIBU 🤦🏻‍♀️

If too many people do this then they will simply close the car park

Or just repair the pothole?

OP, try to ignore the arsehole comments - any thread about suing for injury attracts them like flies.

Telephone a reputable PI firm, one of the national ones with actual offices and not just a website, possibly.

They will advise if you have a reasonable claim and how to proceed from here.

Thankyou Shegot x

I really wish you wouldn’t. If too many people do this then they will simply close the car park. Then the inconvience for everyone including single parents will be huge.

Or they could just, you know, fix the potholes.

If you have an accident in your car should you not claims so as not to raise insurance? If your house floods will you not claim the contents and building work because of other people? Ha.

All Royal Mail sorting/delivery offices that I'm familiar with have very clearly marked routes for members of the public to walk along, usually yellow painted borders and hatching... was this "pothole" in one of these designated walkways?

If it's deemed an accident op won't get any compensation. Problem solved. The whole compensation culture is pure myth.

yanbu. If nobody sued they would have no incentive to fix the car park, so it would continue to pose a danger to others.

You don't have to prove any financial loss OP. They just helps them scapegoat bigger amounts and pay several months 'salary'. Just injury is enough for them to be liable. Financial loss is always on top of injury compensation.

Those stating you were tresspassing... landowners/occupiers are still responsible for the safety of anyone on their premises as far as is reasonably practicable. Staff and other people would have been in that area regularly too so it should have been dealt with regardless.

That is utter bollocks @UnicornRainbowFluffball. Accident or not Royal Mail would still be the ones liable to pay compensation.

Why did you lose your holiday? Surely you have travel insurance for that kind of thing?

You've not mentioned a job or being off work so I'm not sure what you want to sue for?

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, they have a duty of care to their customers as well as staff, contractors etc. Access and egress (getting in and getting out) is a key part of this duty.
Did they log the accident OP and did you go straight to hospital from the scene?

It’s the Occupiers’ Liabilty Act ‘57 which is relevant in this case, not workplace regs. Occupiers have to take reasonable steps to ensure that visitors are reasonably safe for the purposes of their visit.

This would be decided by the content / existence of risk assessments, inspections, repair / maintenance records, previous complaints / incidents etc. Every case is individual, based on the facts and the defendant’s paperwork / actions etc.

Just look in future.
There is no way anyone can get around safely by just looking at the floor. If you are walking through rough terrain fair enough but in a car park you would expect a level surface.
This is why potholes need to be fixed, they cause accidents not just for pedestrians but for motorists and cyclists as well. It can take less than an hour to fix a small pothole and potentially save someone a nasty accident.
Sorry you are going through this OP.

They should be doing health and safety checklists at least weekly which should include the car park. Their insurer will ask for evidence of RM's health and safety protocols right away.

I used to manage insurance claims for a big charity; your insurers insist on such measures and actually work with organisations to reduce claims by tightening up on safety measures. In my experience the insurer would be looking at whether RM noted the existence of the hole, when it was noted and when action was taken/was to be taken, and if any warnings were in place for users in the area.

Potholes could be regarded as a foreseeable risk due to the high traffic and footfall in a car park, which means they should be on it all the time.

Thank goodness for health and safety laws, otherwise we could forget compensating people for asbestosis, hearing damage from machinery and all those illnesses and injuries which are 'acceptable.'

Potholes could be regarded as a foreseeable risk due to the high traffic and footfall in a car park, which means they should be on it all the time.

Especially after the harsh winter we've just had which seems to have shredded tarmac around here.