Slips, Trips And Falls At Work Claims | No Win No Fee

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 08th March 2024. If you’ve hurt yourself at work after falling, you may want to know more about your legal rights. If so, this comprehensive guide offers vital information on slips, trips and falls at work claims. 

Every employer in the UK is expected to provide its workforce with a safe working environment. When this doesn’t happen and you get injured in an accident, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim.

If you’d like to take advantage of our free case check to see if you could begin a slip and fall claim today, or if you’d simply like advice on claiming compensation after a fall at work, call 0800 073 8801.

Man slipping and falling while carrying boxes at work

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Slips, Trips, And Falls At Work Claims Explained?

If you slip and fall at work, and this causes you to suffer an injury, you might wonder if you could make a slip and trip claim. 

Your employer has a duty of care towards you under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This means that they must take all reasonably practicable steps to keep you safe while you are working.

However, a breach in duty of care alone is not enough to make an accident at work claim. In order to form the basis of a valid claim, you must be able to prove that:

  • You were owed a duty of care
  • This duty was breached
  • As a result, you suffered harm

If your employer has breached their duty of care towards you, and you have suffered an injury at work as a result, you could be eligible to claim compensation. Please contact an advisor who could answer your questions about slips, trips, and falls at work claims. They could also check if you would be eligible to claim compensation.

How Long Do I Have To Make A Slip, Trip Or Fall Claim?

It’s important to be aware of the time limits involved when making a slip, trip or fall claim. Potential slips, trips, and falls at work claims must typically be started within three years of the injury occurring. For example, if you slipped at work, then you must begin your claim within three years of your accident.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. If the claimant is under the age of eighteen, then the time limit does not begin until their 18th birthday and ends on their 21st birthday. Someone else could claim on their behalf while the time limit is frozen as their litigation friend.

If a person doesn’t have the mental capacity to make a claim for themselves, the time limit is suspended. Should they regain the capacity to make a claim, the time limit will begin on the date of your recovery. But, if you do not, then the time limit remains frozen, and a litigation friend can make a claim on your behalf.

To find out more about making a trip and fall compensation claim if you hurt yourself at work and how these time limits could affect you, contact our team of advisors today.

What Are The Causes Of Slips, Trips And Falls At Work?

When it comes to falls, trips and slips at work, several potential hazards cause these kinds of accidents most commonly. These are hazards such as:

  • Food, liquid, oil, and other substances spilt on the floor, causing a slip hazard.
  • Damaged indoor floor coverings such as a warped floorboard, cracked tile or frayed carpet can cause a trip hazard.
  • Damaged walkways and pathways, such as broken paving slabs or curbstones, potholes, and uneven pavements.
  • Inadequate lighting or a faulty handrail in a stairwell or building entrance can cause a fall hazard.
  • Broken handrails on stairways
  • Ice or snow that has not been treated with salt or cleaned up by your employer. Bear in mind that this ice must affect work areas, such as a car park or builders’ yard.

These hazards can lead to you being injured due to a slip, trip or fall. In each case, the employer could be held responsible for not mitigating the hazard that caused the accident.

To find out more about slips, trips, and falls at work claims, please get in touch.

What Should I Do After A Slip, Trip And Fall At Work?

In this section, we answer questions such as, I slipped and fell at work; what should I do? And what happens when you slip on a wet floor? We have produced this list of steps you can follow that will ensure that you cover all the bases, report your accident correctly, and ensure a record of your injuries is kept. These steps include:

  • Ensure you receive medical treatment from the company-designated first responder.
  • Take photographs of the scene of the accident and also the cause of this is visible.
  • Fill in the company accident book at work. You can do this at a later date after you receive medical treatment.
  • Visit the hospital to have your injuries treated, even if you believe them to be only trivial.
  • If there were any witnesses to the accident, make sure you know who they are and how to contact them if they need to provide witness testimony.
  • Begin to document any financial or other losses you suffer due to the accident or injury. Keep all bills, receipts, invoices, etc., for all expenses that relate to either dealing with your injuries or dealing with the claim itself.

Taking steps like this will ensure you have done everything possible to ensure you have the best chance of winning your claim. If you have questions about any of these steps, please talk to our claims team to get some answers.

Compensation Payouts In Slips, Trips And Falls At Work Claims

If you have slipped at work, you could be awarded general and special damages following a successful personal injury claim.

General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering you have endured due to your injury. A legal professional may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) when valuing this head of your fall at work claim. The JCG provides guideline compensation brackets for various injuries. In the table below, we have listed some of the amounts in the 16th edition of the JCG.

It is important to note that a payout in a compensation claim after a workplace accident will vary. This is because the factors of your claim could affect how much you receive.

Please only use this table as a guide. It does not reflect figures of a final settlement. The first entry in this table is not taken from the JCG.

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Type of Injury? How Severe? Compensation Information
Multiple serious injuries including associated financial losses. Serious Up to £250,000+ Settlements involving multiple serious injuries with financial costs and losses such as care costs, medical expenses and loss of income.
Injured back Severe (a) (i) £91,090 to £160,980 Serious musculoskeletal disorders, damage to the spine or spinal cord and the nerves of the spine. Severe sprains, strains and other soft tissue injuries. And all injuries that will leave th3e victim with some form of disability.
Injured back Moderate (b) (ii) £12,510 to £27,760 From lacerations, cuts, burns and other flesh wounds, through minor soft tissue injuries and hairline or simple fractures, or any other injury that will heal fully within 6 months.
Injured leg Severe (b) (i) £96,250 to £135,920 Injuries such as a severed hamstring, and other severe musculoskeletal injuries such as serious sprains and strains. Also, complex or compound fractures, and any other injury that falls short of amputation.
Injured leg Moderate (b) (iv) £27,760 to £39,200 All injuries that will heal within 6 months, with no permanent disability. Cuts, bruises, burns, simple fractures and minor soft tissue injuries, etc.
Injured arm Severe (a) £96,160 to £130,930 Injuries such as a brachial plexus injury, and other severe musculoskeletal injuries such as serious sprains and strains. Also, complex or compound fractures, and any other injury that falls short of amputation.
Injured arm Less Severe (c) £19,200 to £39,170 All injuries that will heal within 6 months, with no permanent disability. Cuts, bruises, burns, simple fractures and minor soft tissue injuries, etc.
Injured neck Severe (a) (ii) £65,740 to £130,930 Serious musculoskeletal disorders, damage to the spine or spinal cord and the nerves of the spine. Severe sprains, strains and other soft tissue injuries. And all injuries that will leave th3e victim with some form of disability.
Injured neck Moderate (b) (i) £24,990 to £38,490 From lacerations, cuts, burns and other flesh wounds, through minor soft tissue injuries and hairline or simple fractures, or any other injury that will heal fully within 6 months.
Injured shoulder Serious (b) £12,770 to £19,200 A dislocated shoulder with damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus causing neck and shoulder pain.
Injured shoulder Moderate (c) £7,890 to £12,770 A frozen shoulder with limited movement and discomfort. Symptoms will persist for around two years.

Please note that there isn’t an average payout for slip, trip and fall compensation claims. However, we can offer you a more precise estimate as part of our free case check.

What Else Can I Claim For After A Fall At Work?

If successful, slips, trips, and falls at work claims could also result in awards for special damages.

This is a head of claim that compensates you for pecuniary (financial) losses and costs caused by your injuries. Special damages relevant to a slip and trip claim could include:

  • Lost earnings – this can include past losses and future losses. For example, if you slip and fall and suffer a serious head injury, you may have to take significant time off work, meaning you lose out on pay.
  • Medical costs, such as the cost of prescriptions or further treatment 
  • The cost of childcare
  • Nursing and professional care costs – if you’re unable to cook or clean, for example, you may need help and support. If a family member helps you, the time they spend helping can be compensated for. 
  • The cost of home adjustments or mobility aids – for example, if your injuries have left you in a position where you can’t use stairs, you may need to fit a ramp in order to get in and out of your home.

To claim for such costs, you would need to provide evidence that they were reasonably incurred as a result of your injuries. To learn more about the special damages that could be awarded after a fall at work, please contact an advisor. 

No Win No Fee Slips, Trips, And Falls At Work Claims

When making slips and trips claims, claimants may hugely benefit from the support of a specialist who deals in accidents at work cases. Workplace injury solicitors will not only have the knowledge needed to ensure the claim is filed in full but will also have the experience to know how to ensure your compensation claim reaches its maximum potential.

When working with a solicitor, they will:

  • Correspond with the defendant and their insurers.
  • Ensure the compensation claim is filed on time.
  • Collect and collate all the evidence needed to prove the accident claim.
  • Organise your independent medical assessment if one is needed.
  • Take statements from witnesses to use as evidence in your case.
  • Calculate an accurate value for your personal injury claim.
  • Represent you in court should your case need to go to trial.

Here at Accidents Claims, this can all be done on a No Win No Fee basis via a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). All our solicitors work under a No Win No Fee arrangement. This means no solicitors fees are needed for their work upfront, while the case is in progress or should the accident at work claim fail.

If your slip, trip and fall at work claim succeeds, you will be awarded compensation. From this compensation, the No Win No Fee solicitor can take a legally capped percentage as their success fee.

slips and trips claims solicitors.

To learn whether you could be eligible to make a claim with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, please contact an advisor. They can be reached by:

Learn More About Slip, Trip And Fall Claims

If you’d like to learn more about slip, trip and fall compensation claims, these external links could be of some use:

These additional guides could also be of use:

Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on slips trips and falls at work claims. For more advice on making a compensation claim, please get in touch.