Feel bad as I jumped on another mumsnetters post.
Last year I slid down a very uneven step in the garden to my privately rented flat. Letting agent verbally discribed it as hazardous when I viewed but being an able bodied 30 something I just poo-poo'd it.
6 months later the inevitable happened and I slide off said step landing in such a way that I dislocated my ankle and shattered my lower leg in so many pieces that the my consultant described it as a fractured he would expect to see on a battle field or following a car crash. He wrote 'very serious break' on my notes should I wish to claim. I have been left with a life changing injury, intermittant pain, a constant limp, neoropathic pain due to the metal they had to put in my leg that cannot now be removed. Huge loss of earnings from my self employment and although I have gradually gone back to it, I cannot take on as much work as I would like otherwise I am unable to walk without crutches for the days that follow. No compensation offered from landlord... nothing. After painful nights where I am unable to sleep I often think is it worth claiming?!
I cannot decide if this is just bad luck or negligance. If the landlord checked his property before I moved in he would see the steps are uneven and unlevel. I took a spirit level out to them and some the bubble is just off centre and some they are trying to escape from the end! Having been a landlady myself before the demise of meeting my ex, having kids, then becoming a single Mum, I was really thorough at checking my property and addressing potential hazards as I had heard so many horror stories. What would you all do?