Land’s End airport accident claims guide
One of the UK’s smallest commercial airports, Land’s End airport operates air shuttle flights from St Just in Penwith to St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles just off the coast of Cornwall. Many people may rely on the airport to have access to the mainland. Those that provide a service to the public must ensure that all areas of public space must be maintained to a safe standard so not to cause unnecessary hazards which may go on to cause an accident leading to an injury.
If that duty of care is broken resulting in you suffering an injury from an accident at Land’s End airport, then you could be entitled to claim compensation for the pain, symptoms and effects on your life that the injuries could cause you.
This web page is a guide to how the personal injury solicitors at Accident Claims UK could help you make a personal injury compensation claim for being injured at Land’s End airport through an accident that wasn’t your fault. Read through it for information about various types of possible accidents, how your compensation may be calculated and how you may avoid heavy upfront legal costs through a no win no fee claim. Don’t forget to call 0800 073 8801 for more information or to make a start on your claim.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Making A Claim For An Accident At Land’s End Airport
- What Is A Land’s End Airport Accident?
- Airport Safety In The UK
- Accidents And Incidents In Airports
- Slipping And Falling At An Airport
- Accidents Caused By Baggage Facilities
- Elevator And Escalator Accidents
- Airport Shuttle Bus Accidents
- Accidents In Airport Facilities Such As Shops And Restaurants
- Accidents And Injuries Working At An Airport
- Accidents And Injuries Working As An Airport Baggage Handler
- Calculating Compensation Accident Claims
- Personal Injury Claim Special Damages
- No Win No Fee Accident Claims For Accidents At Land’s End Airport
- Why Choose Our Team To Handle Your Claim?
- Start Your Claim
- Airport Accident Claim Resources
A Guide To Making A Claim For An Accident At Land’s End Airport
The owners and operators of an airport have a duty of care to their passengers and employees to ensure that their health and safety is not threatened by any preventable accidents in or on airport premises.
This guide will cover the basic points of when and how an accident could potentially happen in a manner which would justify making a personal injury claim against a liable party Then, it will move on to explaining how a claimant’s compensation entitlement could be decided by assessing the severity of their injuries and the impact on their financial situation and ability to work.
One of the most important things this guide aims to explain is how the no win no fee claims process which we may offer to clients means that you won’t have to spend any of your own money on upfront fees for the solicitor to start working on your case.
What Is A Land’s End Airport Accident?
The purpose of this guide is to explain how you can claim for injuries you sustained from an accident that wasn’t your fault while in an airport or using its facilities. Please note that to make a valid personal injury claim, there would need to be reasonable grounds to accuse the liable party of being negligent as you would not be able to claim for an accident that was your fault.
Making a successful personal injury claim means proving that:
A) The defendant had a responsibility for your health and safety,
B) You suffered an injury due to a breach in the duty of care owed to you,
C) The injury was a result of a failure of the defendant to meet that responsibility.
This article is about potential accidents that could happen in an airport which may cause avoidable suffering, it does not aim to deal with claims for accidents that happen in flight or onboard aircraft (though our solicitors can handle those as well, call us for details).
You could also claim through the Montreal Convention if your luggage has been damaged, gone missing or you believe it was stolen as a result of poor handling. When claiming under the Montreal Convention there is usually a 2 year limit.
Be aware that in the UK there is a three-year personal injury claim time limit which exists under most circumstances. This time limit may prevent you from claiming if it has been more than three years since the accident occurred or since your injuries or illness was diagnosed. There are slight exceptions so please call our advisors for clarification.
Airport Safety In The UK
There are no statistics at present to look at injuries that have happened to passengers in airports but what we do have are statistics for injuries that have occurred to employees who work in the air transport industry. We can see from the statistics that those who work in handling and lifting suffer the most injuries when it come to airport employees. In 2013/14 353 injuries were caused due to lifting and handling, this was the largest percentage of causes of injuries coming in at 39% followed by trip and slip injuries which made up 24% of injuries.
Accidents And Incidents In An Airport
It is vital that all services that are open to the public at an airport are well maintained and that operators and managers of public spaces within the airport implement effective health and safety policies to ensure that foreseeable hazards are mitigated. Some of the accidents that could potentially occur if there is a lapse in maintenance and in health and safety could include:
- Slips, trips and falls
- Accidents with luggage or the facilities used to move them
- Accidents involving escalators or elevators
- Accidents involving airport shuttle bus incidents
- Accidents in the airport’s restaurant and shopping facilities
- Workplace accidents involving airport staff
Some accident types may inflict more severe injuries than others and some may even pose a threat to life. Whether it is something like a mild case of food poisoning or an injury that leaves the victim with a disability, if it was caused by a breach in the duty of care owed to you due to failure in health and safety responsibilities then it could be grounds for making a personal injury claim.
Slipping And Falling At An Airport
Slip, trip or fall accidents may result in injuries of varying degrees of severity. Trips and slips can cause people to suffer bruises and cuts, but also fractures and broken bones. For example, someone might suffer a broken knee cap, or fractures in their hands or elbows if they put their arms out as they fall. Someone could hit their head or other parts of their body on something on the way down. Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to getting severe injuries from falling over.
You could be entitled to file a personal injury claim if you can prove that a third party whop owed you a duty of care was negligent in preventing or removing the tripping or slipping hazard that caused your injury. Examples of how this might happen include:
- Falling over an obstacle of a walkway that should have been moved.
- Tripping on a pothole or section of broken pavement on the airport’s property.
- Slipping on a wet floor in the terminal or elsewhere in the airport because no warnings signs had been used.
- Tripping on an unmarked step or non-level section of floor.
For further details about how and when you could file a compensation claim for a slip, trip or fall, click here.
Accidents Caused By Baggage Facilities
Accidents involving baggage facilities at an airport could occur if they are not operated and serviced properly. Airports must ensure that baggage handling staff and other employees handle luggage correctly when loading onto carts and baggage carousels. If they become overloaded or if the baggage is loaded haphazardly, then the baggage could fall off and land on someone. There is also a risk of this happening if the carousels and carts are faulty. Defective carts or carousels need to be taken out of use until they are replaced or repaired and safe for use again. There is also a chance that someone could have an accident in which they get their hands, hair or loose clothing caught in a carousel if it is faulty. This could cause grievous harm.
If you or a loved one have been hurt in an accident related to the baggage facilities in Land’s End airport, and it wasn’t your fault, then call us to talk about whether or not you could be eligible to file a compensation claim.
Elevator And Escalator Accidents
If a business has escalators and lifts on their premises for use by either staff or customers, then they are under a legal obligation to maintain and inspect them regularly or sub contract it to a specialist maintenance service to ensure that there are no hazards or damages that could cause unnecessary accidents. A faulty lift or escalator could cause quite a serious injury. A lift that hasn’t been maintained properly could close its doors on someone while they are still in the doorway, a faulty escalator could easily cause someone to fall down the escalator and suffer very serious injuries if its movements were jerky or if it came to a sudden stop. The steps of an escalator could also become unsafe if there were tripping or slipping hazards on them. Follow this link Health and Safety Executive (HSE) link to find out more about businesses obligations when it comes to maintaining escalators and lifts on their property.
Airport Shuttle Bus Accidents
An airport may operate shuttle bus services. These may be services from surrounding towns and train stations to the airport or internal services from the airport’s car park to the terminal and from the terminal to the runway. It may also be common for airports to have small electric vehicles operating both outside and inside the terminal. Some airports may have dedicated tram and train networks also.
If any of these services are operated by an airport, then the airport is responsible for ensuring they are operated safely. Accidents could be caused by the negligence or lack of training of the vehicle’s drivers or operators or by mechanical faults. Accidents could involve:
- Passengers on bus, tram or train services suffering injuries due to damage to seats on the transport.
- Passengers on bus, tram or train services falling and hurting themselves on the bus, either due to the state of the flooring on the vehicle or because handrails were faulty.
- Passengers being injured in a collision possibly due to third party negligence.
- Pedestrians being injured by an airport vehicle (including electric carts operated within the terminal).
If the services are operated by an ordinary public transport company rather than by the airport, then our solicitors could be able to help you file a claim against that company if injured while using the service through no fault of your own. You may wish to read this guide on bus accidents for more information about how these types of claims work.
Accidents In Airport Facilities Such As Shops And Restaurants
All restaurants and cafes have a duty of care to abide by food hygiene and safety regulations. Meals containing allergens must be clearly labelled as such on the menus and cross-contamination kept to a minimum. Food items must be stored and refrigerated properly, food that is past its sell-by date must be thrown away and the kitchen and dining area thoroughly and regularly cleaned.
It may be possible to file a compensation claim for food poisoning or allergic reactions resulting from lapses in health and safety measure at restaurants, cafes or other catering establishments operating at an airport. Follow this link to see our guide on claiming compensation for suffering an allergic reaction
As well as preventing illnesses caused by issues with food poisoning or allergies, cafes and restaurants also need to minimize the risk of other accidents as much as reasonably possible. This means cleaning and tidying the floor to prevent slips, trips and falls, checking furnishings and repairing or replacing faulty ones and making sure that food, drinks and the cutlery it is served on is not hot enough to cause burns or scalds.
A personal injury lawyer may be able to take up your case if you provide a good reason to believe that the café or restaurants owner’s negligence led to the accident and consequently your suffering.
If you want more information on restaurant accident claims, follow this link to our guide.
Accidents And Injuries Working At An Airport
Just like all other employers, an airport and other companies operating in its space are bound by law to ensure that it provides a safe working environment, promotes and enforces safe working practices and provides their staff with the correct training and safety equipment. Workplace accidents and injuries resulting from employer negligence at an airport could potentially include:
- Developing long term health problems due to prolonged exposure to hazards such as aviation fuel vapours or the sound of plane engines due to no Personal Protective Equipment being supplied.
- Developing mental health problems such as stress or anxiety as a result of overwork, bullying or sexual harassment which the employer was aware of but failed to act on.
- Having an accident involving machinery or vehicles in the airport due to failure to maintain and service machinery.
- Having an accident due to receiving inadequate training for your role.
If you work or have previously worked at Land’s end airport, and your have suffered an accident that could have been prevented which caused you an injury then you may have a case for making a compensation claim through one of our personal injury solicitors.
Accidents And Injuries Working As An Airport Baggage Handler
A report on workplace injuries among UK air transport workers found that the most common cause of injury is is caused through lifting and handling. Injuries like these may primarily involve an airport’s dedicated baggage handling staff. Manual handling of heavy objects will inevitably carry a certain degree of risk, but it is an airport’s legal duty to make sure that this risk is as low as practicably possible. There are a number of steps they could take in order to accomplish this:
- Training the staff in safe and effective ways of lifting and carrying heavy items.
- Using machinery to move luggage wherever practical.
- Giving staff regular rest and breaks.
- Making sure staff don’t handle items too big for them.
- Supervising staff.
If you have suffered an injury while handling baggage at an airport, or you have developed a health problem (for example in your back or your knees) and you have reasonable grounds to believe your employers should have done more to keep you and your colleagues safe, then you could have the right to make a claim compensation.
Why not make a phone call to our team to discuss the matter with them? In the meantime, it may be fruitful for you to read one of our other guides which deals specifically with workplace accident claims.
Calculating Compensation Accident Claims
The purpose of this guide is not to tell you definitively how much you could be entitled to, as this amount might only be ascertained after discussing the matter in-depth with your solicitor and having a medical examination performed by a doctor. The personal injury claims calculator below shows roughly how much compensation certain types of injuries are worth under the Judicial College (JC) guidelines. Although we hope it is informative, we do wish to remind you that if you do make a claim the amount you receive may not match the amounts in this table.
Injury | Severity | Amount | Comment on Severity |
---|---|---|---|
Brain Damage | Less Severe | £14,380 to £40,410 | Injuries will have made a good recovery but may still have persisting symptoms such as impaired concentration ability, memory loss, and mood swings which may affect personal life and ability to work in the future. |
Minor Brain or Head Injury | Minor | £2,070 to £11,980 | There will be little to no brain damage associated with these head injuries, and the bracket may change according to how long symptoms persist for, if there are any headaches present, and on the severity or the original injury. |
Neck Injury | Severe (i) | In the region of £139,210 | This bracket covers injuries that include incomplete paraplegia, or permanent spastic quadriparesis. Injuries here may also result in a person not seeing any improvement in neck mobility despite wearing a collar for a number of years and who also suffers persistent severe headaches. |
Neck Injury | Minor (i) | £4,080 to £7,410 | This bracket mainly covers soft tissue injuries, but can vary greatly according to persistence of symptoms, the type of treatment needed, and over all effect on a person’s life. In general, injuries in this bracket will be expected to heal in one to two years. |
Back Injury | Severe (iii) | £36,390 to £65,440 | This bracket covers fracture to vertebrae and discs, as well as other soft tissue injuries that lead to chronic conditions. These injuries will commonly result in persisting symptoms of pain, discomfort depression, loss of sexual function, impairment to mobility as well as posing a risk to future employability. |
Back Injury | Minor (i) | £7,410 to £11,730 | Again, covering soft tissue injuries, this bracket can also change according to severity, treatment needed, how long symptoms take to pass, as well as affect it has on other parts of the body. Injuries in this bracket are usually expected to recover without surgery in two to five years. |
Hip and Pelvis Injury | Severe (i) | £73,580 to £122,860 | Injuries in this bracket will include extensive fractures which affect the lower back that may require spinal fusion, as well as damage to organs near the hips and pelvis such as the bladder and bowels. This could lead to impairment of these organs, as well as affect women by presenting issue when they are in labour. |
Hip and Pelvis Injury | Moderate (ii) | £11,820 to £24,950 | This bracket commonly covers injuries that require a hip replacement and can include cases where a hip replacement may be possible in the future because of the injury, and there will usually be persisting symptoms. |
Leg Injury | Severe (i) | £90,320 to £127,530 | This includes injuries that are so severe, it leaves a person no better off than if the leg had been amputated entirely. This can include degloving injuries, or fractures that have required extensive bone grafts to treat. |
Leg Injury | Less Serious (i) | £16,860 to £26,050 | This includes fractures and serious soft tissue injuries that do not perfectly heal. They may result in symptoms that persist such as a permanent limp, trouble walking, as well as cosmetic deformity and nerve damage. |
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderately Severe | £21,730 to £56,180 | Recovery with special help. However the effects may go on to have a bearing on all aspects of life and cause significant disability. |
Food Poisoning | Serious but short-lived food poisoning (ii) | £8,950 to £18,020 | For two to fours weeks or so diarrhoea and vomitting. Remaining discomfort and disturbance of bowel function and impact on sex life and enjoyment of food over a few years. |
Personal Injury Claim Special Damages
You may also be able to claim compensation to cover the costs you incurred while recovering or dealing with the after-effects of your injury. For example, if you have had to spend money on the treatment necessary for your recovery which wasn’t provided by the NHS (i.e. cosmetic surgery or physiotherapy for instance) you could claim for compensation to cover the expenses.
If you have had to take time off work then you may be able to claim for your lost earnings. Claimants may also be entitled to compensation to make up for money that they would have earned from their employment but now cannot earn due to a disability preventing them from working. This would be an annuity equivalent to their salary every year until they reach retirement age.
No Win No Fee Accident Claims For Accidents At Land’s End Airport
You may be thinking that making a personal injury claim is just for those who have the means to afford a lawyer to take up their case. This isn’t the case with Accident Claims UK. All of our solicitors can agree to take on your case on a no win no fee basis. This means that the solicitor will only be paid if your claim is successful and you, therefore, have your compensation to give you the means to pay them for their success. When a solicitor takes some of their client’s compensation for their payment it is known as a “success fee”. Success fees are capped at 25% of the compensation, so you won’t lose out by using your compensation to pay the solicitor. For more information about how this works, just call us.
Why Choose Our Team To Handle Your Claim?
Our team is made up of highly experienced professionals, you can access their legal advice and support just by giving us a phone call. Getting advice from our team won’t cost you anything, and with the no win no fee arrangements we could offer to potential claimants, you may not have to pay any upfront fees to a solicitor who takes on your case.
Start Your Claim
To get started on making a personal injury claim or to find out whether your circumstances make you eligible, just call 0800 073 8801 to speak to one of our accident claims team. As well as calling us directly you could also use this page to request a phone call from one of our team members. We also have an email address office@accidentclaims.co.uk, if you send a message we will make sure we reply as soon as possible.
Airport Accident Claim Resources
Claiming Compensation From An Airport
Accident Claims Solicitors Covering Plymouth
Accident Claims For Being Injured At Work
Airport Safety Resources
Health and Safety Executive – Health And Safety In The Air Transport Sector
The Civil Aviation Authority – Airport Safety
The Civil Aviation Authority – Delays And Cancellations
ARTICLE BY JY
EDITED BY PM