Slip, Trip and Fall Claims UK

Slips, trips and falls are among the most common accidents in the UK — and they’re often entirely preventable. If you’ve slipped on a wet floor, tripped on a broken paving slab, or fallen because of a hazard that someone else was responsible for maintaining, you could be entitled to compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.

These claims fall under public liability law. They apply wherever an occupier or organisation owes you a duty of care and has failed to take reasonable steps to keep you safe — in a shop, on a pavement, in a car park, at a workplace, or on public land.

What Counts as a Slip, Trip or Fall?

A slip, trip or fall claim arises when you are injured because of a hazard on someone else’s property or premises. Common examples include:

• Wet or recently cleaned floors with no warning signs
• Spillages left uncleaned in shops, supermarkets, or restaurants
• Uneven or broken paving slabs on pavements and walkways
• Potholes in car parks, private driveways, or access roads
• Trailing cables or obstacles left in walkways
• Loose or worn carpet and matting on stairs and in corridors
• Inadequate lighting that hides a hazard you couldn’t reasonably have seen
• Ice or snow that an occupier has failed to treat in a reasonable timeframe
• Wet leaves accumulating and creating a slip risk

The key question isn’t whether you fell — it’s whether the person or organisation responsible for that location knew about the hazard (or ought to have known) and failed to deal with it within a reasonable time.

Who Is Legally Responsible?

Responsibility for a slip, trip or fall depends on where the accident happened:

The legal framework comes from the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (for visitors) and the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 (for trespassers, where a lower duty applies). In short, an occupier must take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to see that visitors will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which they are invited or permitted to be there.

For trips on the public highway, Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on highway authorities to maintain the highway. A defence exists under Section 58 if the authority can show it had a reasonable system of inspection and repair in place — which is why the depth of a defect and how long it had been present matter enormously.

How Much Is a Slip, Trip or Fall Claim Worth?

Compensation is split into two parts: general damages for the injury itself (pain, suffering, and loss of amenity) and special damages for financial losses.

General damages are guided by the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), which solicitors and courts use to value injuries consistently:

Special damages you can also claim include:

• Lost earnings — time off work and future loss of income
• Medical and rehabilitation costs — physiotherapy, prescriptions, private treatment
• Travel costs — to and from medical appointments
• Care and assistance — paid or unpaid help while you recover
• Aids and adaptations — if your home or vehicle needs modifying

Keep receipts and records of everything — they form the evidence for your special damages.

How Long Do You Have to Claim?

Under the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to start a personal injury claim in England and Wales. There are limited exceptions:

• Children — the three-year clock starts on their 18th birthday, so a claim can be brought any time until they turn 21
• Mental capacity — if the injured person lacks capacity, there may be no time limit
• Date of knowledge — for some latent injuries, the limit runs from when you first knew (or should have known) the injury was significant and attributable to the accident

Don’t wait until the deadline approaches, though. Evidence disappears, hazards get repaired, and witnesses become harder to trace. The sooner you start, the stronger your claim tends to be.

How the Claims Process Works

Most slip, trip and fall claims that are worth up to £25,000 (for the injury element) and arise from an accident on or after 31 July 2013 are handled through the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Portal — officially the Claims Portal RTA/EL/PL system. This is a streamlined process designed to settle straightforward liability-admitted claims quickly.

The broad steps are:

1. Seek medical attention — get your injury documented; this is your evidence
2. Report the accident — to the business, landlord, or council, ideally in writing
3. Gather evidence — photographs of the hazard (with something for scale, like a coin or tape measure), witness details, the accident book entry, and any CCTV reference
4. Start your claim — complete a free eligibility check, then a solicitor prepares a Claim Notification Form (CNF)
5. Liability response — the defendant’s insurer has a fixed period to admit or deny liability (often 15 working days under the Portal protocol)
6. Medical evidence — an independent medical expert examines you and produces a report
7. Settlement or court — most claims settle; very few proceed to a full court hearing

Claims that fall outside the Portal — because liability is disputed, the value exceeds the limit, or the accident predates the protocol — follow the standard Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims and can take longer.

Common Mistakes That Weaken a Claim

• Not reporting the accident — if it isn’t recorded, the defendant may deny it happened
• No photographs of the hazard — the defect will be repaired and the evidence lost
• Delaying medical treatment — gaps between accident and treatment invite disputes about causation
• Accepting a quick “goodwill” offer" — businesses sometimes offer vouchers or small sums to avoid a formal claim; this usually undervalues your injury
• Waiting too long — the closer you get to the three-year limit, the harder it is to build a strong case

Proving Your Claim: What Evidence Helps

A successful claim hinges on evidence. The strongest cases include:

• Photographs of the exact hazard, taken at the time, with a reference object for size
• The accident report — from the shop, council, or employer’s accident book
• Witness contact details — independent witnesses carry particular weight
• CCTV — request that footage be preserved before it’s overwritten (usually within 28 days)
• Medical records — GP notes, hospital discharge letters, physiotherapy records
• Receipts and payslips — to prove financial losses

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I have to go to court? Almost certainly not. The vast majority of slip, trip and fall claims settle without a court hearing. Your solicitor negotiates with the defendant’s insurer throughout.

Can I claim if I partly contributed to the accident? Yes. Under the principle of contributory negligence, your compensation may be reduced to reflect your share of responsibility — for example, by 25% if you weren’t looking where you were going but the hazard was still the main cause. A reduced award is far better than no award.

What if the accident was on a council pavement? You can still claim against the local highway authority, but you’ll need to show the defect was significant (often a trip height of at least 1 inch / 25mm, though case law varies) and that the authority’s inspection regime was inadequate.

Think you have a claim? Check in 60 seconds — our free assessment tells you whether you can claim, with no obligation.

No Win No Fee means you pay nothing if you lose. If you win, your solicitor’s success fee (typically 25%) is deducted from your compensation. Claims must be made within 3 years of the accident.