Making a complaint to the council after injuring myself on a wonky pavement

[itwasnevermine]

On Monday I was walking to the train station when I rolled my ankle on a wonky pavement. The slabs on the pavement must be 2-3 cm out of whack, the entire pavement is pretty uneven.

I’ve got a bad sprain, missed a day of work to sit in A&E (so missed a day’s pay), I’m on crutches for two weeks and I’m in a great deal of pain. I’ve got one hell of a swollen ankle and bruised knee, which I scraped quite badly too.

My parents seem to think I’m going to be able to sue the council for this, I don’t personally think I can? I think they’ll just turn round and say it was my fault.

What’s the likelihood of actually getting anything out of them? I’m going to email them anyway because it’s dangerous as hell, but I just can’t see that the council will actually care

I've attached pictures of my ankle, knee and the pavement.

Why do you think it won't happen now?

I wish I'd done this when I had my accident. The wonky bit is still there. But this was over 2 years ago.
Don't suppose anyone knows if there's a time limit on such things?

3 years. If it hasn't been 3 years yet, you still have time.

So the road (where the pavement defect is visible from) was due to be inspected on 18/09/2024!! That's a positive sign right?

Look online and see if it has been previously complained about (Also search local FB groups to see if anyone says 'I complained' about that spot, because some councils investigate then wipe the issue if they feel it is not worth dealing with - had this with a dying/dead tree I reported 5 times over 3 years on the A4 so not a quiet road, which then came down on the road luckily not injuring anyone)
If it has been complained about you have a case to claim.

It is the responsibility of the highways authority. If it is a trunk road, that is National Highways. If it isn't a trunk road, it is usually the county council. If you are unsure, ring them and ask.

@prh47bridge thank you. Maybe I will do it. I have a metal plate in my femur now and walk with a limp. Also my arm is fucked from where I broke my shoulder. And I still look down at that bastard wonky pavement thinking 'grrrr'!

A friend's retired mother tripped over dodgy paving in our local town & needed hospital treatment as she broke some bones & needed a cast.
She complained to the council & they gave her some compensation & fixed the pavement asap.

Yeah I think I'm just going to email them and let them know, as it's dangerous. Obviously if I can get something for my lost wages (and 2 weeks on crutches!!) that would be ideal but I'm not going to take it to court

I've emailed them, I don't even expect a response but hopefully the pavement can at least get fixed

My Mum complained when she ended up hospitalised from this. She tripped on the pavement that was all wonky (town is well known for wonky pavements.)
She woke up in the ambulance, the garage working on her car saw her go down and called the ambulance.
She had surgery for a broken shoulder and had a metal plate put in. It has never been right since. She looked like she's been in a boxing ring, they thought she had broken her cheekbones and nose but luckily hadn't.
Lost 6 weeks of wages Council didn't give a toss, they fobbed her off and never took her seriously.

I will defer to @prh47bridge as he is usually very knowledgeable and correct but I thought that it depends on whether the issue has been reported and the council haven’t fixed it or marked it to warn people and/or when the pavement was last checked for problems/damage. I believe the council has a responsibility to maintain and regularly check pavements but they can’t be expected to check every paving slave every day.

@GPNightmare last inspected 18/09

My friend sued the council after tripping and hurting herself badly on a faulty pavement (which has caused continuing problems with one of her knees). IIRC it had recently been relaid with the small brick-like blocks - pedestrian area - so was new and should have been hazard free. She had photos, witness statements etc.
It dragged on for several years and she had to have several medical and psychological exams (these had to be paid for). She eventually won, but by the time the legal fees, medicals fees etc had been paid I think she only received a couple of thousand.

Oh I'm not after that. Basically just chancing it that they might see the photos and feel sorry for me and let me have the lost wages, I can't be bothered to do a full court case

The council may be able to avoid paying compensation if they have not been notified of the fault, and the fault was not present the last time they inspected the pavement, and the pavement is inspected regularly at a suitable interval. I didn't mention that on this thread because OP's photo looks to me like the pavement has been in a poor state for some time, in which case it either isn't being inspected often enough, or they failed to spot the fault last time it was inspected, or they know about it and haven't got round to fixing it. If I am wrong and it has only recently got into this state, OP may not be entitled to any compensation.

@prh47bridge it's one of those things you never notice till it happens to you isn't it!

I've walked that way 100s of times, and it's never been a decent way to walk, but of course I could just be being biased by the injury!

That pavement doesn’t look dangerous as hell, if it was there’d be people tripping on it left right and centre.

A very useful comment that adds to the conversation, thank you.

As I explained. In my opinion it is dangerous - if I can trip and do that much damage as an able bodied person what could happen to other people?

This actually isn't going to help your argument, OP. As you've walked there 100s of times, presumably with the pavement in the same state, and not fallen over. So this would suggest the pavement isn't in a hazardous / dangerous enough state to need repair. You've just accidentally tripped on this occasion.

Nothing seems to have happened to anybody else.

@SilverChampagne I'm not there everyday to ask, am I?

Why come on and just argue? I asked a question, it was answered and I've contacted the council.